The Reaper: No Mercy

by Sean Liebling

  When he woke this time, it was getting dark again. He was hungry and ate more dog food, then drank some water sharing it with Tolly. Tolly didn't drink too much. She probably had her own water bottle wherever she went too. He saw her push the cupboard door open again and leave the house through her doggie door. He didn't know where she went but she always came back. He played with some Styrofoam cups he found in the back of the cupboard. They could be stacked like his building blocks. He was learning to do it in the dark because there was nothing else to do. After awhile he fell asleep again. Tolly had returned but left again. Maybe next time he would follow her. Where did she go? Did she go to mommy and daddy? If so, why didn't mommy come get him? He missed her and daddy so much. Where were they? Then Tolly was back. Jumping up and down but not making a sound. He noticed that Tolly hadn't barked in days. He had his blankie wrapped around him for warmth and Tolly grabbed its edge with her teeth and started tugging it and him through the cupboard door. Where did she want him to go?

  The first thing he saw as he crawled out of the cupboard was the open back door. The second thing he saw was the large figure silhouetted in the entrance. His eyes widened in fright.

  *****

  DAY 4: 2000 ET

  It had been a nightmare of a day, from the morning rescue, through the drama here, then a break in of the damn zombies on the north side of the property. Hadn't lost anyone that time but it had been too close. The women got the RAC granary straightened out with the help of Miguel's crews and about half of the group was over there. The place was all concrete and steel, very easy to defend with only a few doors leading in or out. Those silo towers also offered great vantage points to survey the area and I had some ideas on more protection later but it could wait until morning.

  Sam's crew had raided the State Police post just up the road in Newaygo while Wayne's crew was raiding Parsley's. Sam had used the simple expediency of backing his truck through the side wall to gain entry. They stripped it of everything usable: guns, ammunition and clear plastic riot shields. Now those shields were great news. They would help in cleaning zombies out of buildings and homes, while the city snowplows cleared them off the roads.

  I didn't know when I started referring to them as Miguel's crew, Sam's crew, Rosita's crew and Michael and Wayne's crew but I did. It was certainly more convenient than having to figure out which extra man went with whom. I was letting them add new people as more survivors came in; it was simply easier that way. I was also bone tired and it was time for bed. I turned over the to-do lists I had been putting together to Miguel. Miguel was turning into an excellent quartermaster and organizer. His days in the Federales had evidently prepared him well for it.

  "Okay gang, I'm going to bed. I'm totally bushed. We have more, a lot more to do but right now I'm getting some sleep. I'll be in MY bedroom if you need me." I had emphasized the words, my bedroom; because even as packed as we were with refugees, I was not giving up my only private refuge left.

  I climbed the steps slowly. I hadn't seen Bridget in awhile but didn't feel like searching for her. I was just too tired. She had gotten over Danielle taking off. Not easily, but she understood. Danielle had left to find her husband, but since he'd received the vaccination I figured we'd never see her again.

  I was letting myself in then remembered I had forgotten a lantern for the bedroom as most of the house was still unpowered. It was not needed though. Someone had thoughtfully left one here for me turned way down. I could barely see but I was fine, I knew my bedroom. I dropped my holsters in the chair next to the bed. Sitting on its edge, I started on my boots, then the rest of my clothing. I decided to leave my long underwear on as it was already down to forty or lower in the room. The nights were getting colder. Winter was coming.

  I heard a soft giggle and the covers stirred behind me as a small female hand and arm reached out and curled itself around my waist as I finished undressing. So that's where Bridget had gotten off to, I thought. I smiled and quickly removed the rest of my clothes including my long underwear sliding under the covers and rolling over her to get to the other side. I had a side I preferred, like most men. As I did, my outstretched hand landed on more female flesh and a different sounding giggle erupted from the covers next to Bridget. A black haired head poked up from the blankets. Cara. Holy shit! Both girls sat up and even in the dim light, I could see they were buck-naked. They wasted no time dragging me under the covers where it was warm.

  Four hours later when they knocked on the bedroom door to get me for guard duty I was still awake with Cara. Bridget was already exhausted and was lying beside us asleep and I knew Cara would soon follow her. Me? What sleep? I was also ten minutes late getting downstairs. The grins when I arrived, told me they understood.

  *****

  DAY 5: 0200 ET

  My guard duty never materialized. Miguel had replaced Bridget and I on the list then forgotten to tell me or the previous guards before my supposed shift started. He was still up working on his lists and schedules when I came downstairs. I made a mental note to get him some help. I decided since I was awake I'd do something that needed doing. I was wired now. Sex does that to me for some reason. I wanted to get an idea of our zombies travel patterns. It had been bugging me all through yesterday afternoon. So yeah, I figured we needed to get a handle on this. Lots of stuff were coming over the shortwave but the news was all contradictory. Since I was up and not sleepy anymore I figured to do some recon.

  Michael was right. It was an outbreak and much worse than anyone could have imagined. Some might call it attack of the zombies. Some might call it judgment day, as some were. Some might say you were still asleep and it was time to wake up. The short of it was the flu killed some people, maybe ten percent, and mostly older people. The vaccinations on the other hand killed most people over the age of twelve or so. I breathed a sigh of relief thinking of Emma. Her fever was down to a little over a hundred degrees and steadily decreasing, she would be fine I felt. However, those that died from the vaccinations did not stay dead. Or rather, they did not really die. They went into a high fever coma of a hundred-ten to a hundred-fifteen degrees for a few hours. Then they died, or some semblance of it. Shortly after that appearance of death, their bodies cooled to room temperature very quickly. Too quickly, and they appeared clinically dead. Then they woke. Then went into a murderous rage and tried to eat the people around them, or anything alive from what we heard. Dogs, cats, pet fish. No source of live meat was sacred to the newly risen.

  The airwaves were wild with speculation, but the few seeming reliable sources claimed it was some kind of crazy animal rage thing. The intense fever killed off all higher brain functions and what was left operated off lower function animal instincts. They were mad enraged beasts! When they ate, they would eat only flesh and then only living flesh. Like a wild carnivore. They would even eat each other but mostly those not infected yet. They could eat normal food but would not if they did not think it was alive. Weird. What was disturbing also was that they had changed. No longer being warm-blooded humans, but instead some kind of cold-blooded beasts. Not a lot was known, just that it was happening all over the world at once. It was not surprising after all, as America had been the producer and distributor of the vaccine worldwide. Well, actually the pharmaceutical companies in the United States along with a few major ones in Europe.

  There was little from the government on the emergency channels just what FEMA was saying. The usual about staying inside with doors locked. That order would be restored shortly. Yeah right. We listened and drank coffee in the kitchen.

  As I entered the back room, Miguel muttered something about being sorry for the mix-up, barely looking up from his writing but I waved the apology away. This was actually the perfect time for what I had planned. I looked around the house moving from room to room silently. I had perfected the silent walk technique years ago while married. It had been the only way I could sneak a couple of beers late at night without the ex-wife knowing. As I said before, I lov
ed my beer. There he was. I had spotted Jason's brown bedroll and squatted beside him. I had meant to wake him gently with a tug on his foot; instead, I found his eyes staring at me. Jason, a.k.a. the Lord's Reaper, had helped us save almost sixty survivors yesterday. A retired Marine Corps sniper, he was par none with a long rifle.

  "Your knees creak when you crouch," he whispered. Was that a grin on his face? Jesus, everyone's a comedian. I quickly explained what I intended. He nodded. He was in. We decided on pistols and machetes. Machetes for any dirty work we needed to do, and pistols if we were boxed in and had to make a run for it. I alerted the guards to our little recon: they and many others would come running if they heard us shooting. I hoped it wouldn't come to that. This was a recon, not an attack.

  We made it to the north corner of my property without any trouble. We walked slowly and quietly letting our eyes adjust to the moonlight and darker shadows. Contrary to popular belief, it actually takes several minutes for your pupils too fully dilate. The difference in seeing ability is significant between the first minute in the dark and ten minutes later. With the moon out it was practically like dim daylight by the time we reached my property line and we used it to our advantage, scurrying from tree to bush to house, staying as hid as possible. The zombies were definitely out and while not actively looking for prey, as close as we could tell, they were pausing before houses and watching. We had to low crawl a few times but made it to the edge of town and kept watching.

  What we saw scared the hell out of us. In ones and twos, zombies of all ages and genders were slowly coming from the woods and less settled areas just outside town and converging on the larger buildings. It was almost supernatural. We watched them carefully. Slowly over the course of the next two hours larger groups were formed. It must have been close to four in the morning by now. During this time, the zombies stood silently before some of the larger buildings in the town central. Between us, in whispers barely above a breath, we discussed the ramifications of their method of communication and intelligence for they appeared to be waiting. Waiting for what, we did not know.

  Without anything to mark the event, most of the groups we were watching slowly shuffled into the buildings. I don't know about Jason, but that just freaked me out. I had been doing a scan, my eyes slowly moving up and down the street in front of us slightly out of focus to take it all in and it appeared to me as if they all moved at once. Oh no, this wasn't good at all, I thought as we watched them disappear into the dark interiors of the buildings. I estimated in two hours at least a few hundred had come out of the woods and nearby rural streets. Where in fuck were they all coming from? My main theory had been answered. They were indeed moving in during the night, and then hiding. This was scary shit.

  Wordlessly Jason and I exchanged glances. I turned to head back and stopped. Directly behind me was a small dog. A Border Collie or miniature Collie I think. All black or brown and white. It was sitting there just watching us. Moving very slowly I held out my hand. It came forward a couple of steps and sniffed at my outstretched fingers then licked them quickly before backing up several paces watching us. Then it struck me. I hadn't seen any family pets since the virus outbreak. I had assumed they had been eaten by the zombies but I simply didn't know. I never asked any of the refugees about their pets. It hadn't occurred to me. But where there was one, there were more I was sure.

  It whined in a very low tone, almost inaudible. Obviously, this dog recognized the need for silence. Then it took off running to the corner of the house and disappeared from view. I sighed rising from my crouch and nodding at Jason, we started back. The dog darted out from the corner as we moved away huffing at us. Jesus Christ I hoped it didn't bark. I made calming gestures with my hands and it ran to the corner again, then ran back to us turning a couple circles and again ran to the corner looking back at us. I was intrigued. It was as if it wanted us to follow. Well I had read all the news stories about this kind of thing. So, we crept to the corner as it backup up. I looked around and saw nothing, but the dog ran another thirty or forty feet, and stopped waiting, while watching us. I glanced at Jason. He nodded. We followed.

  Carefully taking advantage of every cover, we proceeded further into town. We were now three houses north from where we had originally hid while watching the zombies. The dog was at the back of this property at a row of hedges waiting. Shrugging, I ran in a crouch to its edge taking advantage of cover provided by some bushes. Another house was behind this one and, of course, another street. The canine led us forward. I crept out and was immediately surprised by two of the undead who had been standing motionless. Jesus, they were hard to spot in the dark when motionless. They advanced with that weird breathy whispering moan. It took only seconds; Jason and I took them down with machetes to the necks. I had quickly learned to swing just about as hard as possible. I needed the machete’s razor edge to cleanly cleave through the neck and tough vertebrae incased within in a single strike. Two heads bounced away and the bodies slumped boneless to the ground. I noticed one was a woman but it was too dark to see if her tits had been large. God, I am what I am, and even though I had been in some hot little Mexican only two hours ago, I still couldn't help looking. I made a vow then and there that if things ever got back to normal I would at least consider counseling for a few minutes.

  The house was typical and quite unremarkable from the others around it. Well, unless you counted the large pile of bodies off to one side in the backyard. Other than that, what made it stand out was the little doggie entrance inset within the back door. The Border Collie disappeared through the doggie door, then poked its head out of the flap seconds later watching us, waiting. Yeah we get it, we're coming, I thought.

  Easing the door open and stepping very quietly into the interior I found myself in a small room, another opening leading into a kitchen. A washer and dryer were across from me. A mudroom, as we called them here in Michigan. A place for shaking off the mud during warm months and snow during cold and of course that's where most of us put our washer and dryer if not in the basement. It was a convenient location.

  I saw the Collie at one of the cupboards. It had forced it open and was tugging at something inside. I advanced to the kitchen opening. Then my eyes widened beyond anything I ever thought possible. A small child crawled out. Oh My God, I think it was a boy and had to be all of two years old, maybe three. The child was petting the dog then straightened when he saw me. Moonlight shining through the kitchen windows showed me his scared visage and he quickly crouched behind the dog hugging it tightly. I saw him looking at me not saying a word.

  "Hey, little man," I whispered. He hugged the dog tighter, still not saying anything. I moved forward very slowly not making any sudden moves. I crouched mere feet away and held out my arms. Instinctively, I knew. I simply knew. It all hit me at once: the cupboard, a blanket, a couple bottles of water visibly lying on the ground nearby. His parents had hid him when the zombies attacked and the dog was his only companion. I knew we wouldn't find his parents or if we did, they wouldn't be what he was waiting for. I simply knew they had given their lives to protect their offspring. I sighed. It's what we do after all. Who knew how many days he had been alone. Even in the cold, the place smelled and the boy only had a light shirt and pants on. Jesus. I stretched my arms out further and whispered urgently.

  "Mommy and Daddy wanted me to come get you, little man." The little boy perked up and mostly released the dog and stood straighter. His hand waved slightly.

  "Mommy?"

  "Yes, little man. But we have to be quiet. We have to whisper or not talk. Mommy is away and is waiting for you. She sent me to bring you to her. She needs her little man." I was hoping like crazy he would come to me; my arms remained outstretched.

  With a rush, he ran into my arms hugging me tightly. I held him as I hold my own. Tightly until they squirm. He squirmed and I slowly eased off my hug. He smelled of sour milk and dog food.

  "Daddy." he whispered, pointing with his tiny finger to the openin
g of a hallway leading away from the kitchen into the interior of the home. I slowly rose with the little guy in my arms, moving to the opening and looked. I almost cried at that point. I could easily see what happened. A large shape, what had once been human, was in the center of the short hallway with arms outstretched to the sides. I could see where the walls had been gouged in as his daddy dug through the sheetrock, gripping its supporting members to make a last stand against the horde. My heart and prayers went out to his soul. He had been successful after all. I didn't know where his mommy was but I suspected the backyard, and the pile of bodies in the corner. It simply fit. You didn't need to be psychic to see some things clearly. I ducked back into the kitchen and held the child against me. A figure loomed before me. It was Jason. He took everything in at a glance. God, I needed at least forty of him. I pointed upstairs and whispered, "clothes," pointing at the child in my arms. He didn't bother nodding, just took off in a stealthy glide.

  How we made it back without being seen I'm not sure. I think God had a hand in it, protecting the young and the foolish, but we did. There were a couple of narrow escapes as the little guy rode on my back giggling occasionally. No amount of hushing could get him to stop. He was having fun. The first in days I suspected. I estimated he was two and a half and to this day, I'm surprised he survived. Jason had grabbed up a bunch of his warmer clothes from his room upstairs and stuffed them in several pillowcases. I had put his winter coat on him and off we went. Rosita took him from me when we finally arrived. Yeah, it was almost five in the freaking morning and she was still up. She cried when I described the scene within the house and just outside and hugged the little guy tightly. Miguel didn't get any sleep and I didn't see any coming my way either. Many people were up. I called a meeting. Jason and I had information to impart and our lives just became an order of magnitude busier.