Creatures

by Michelle Khonsari

  “Matt, Trey, if that’s you, and you’re still alive, stop making noise,” Cassie told them. The noise stopped and all was silent. Cassie smiled with relief. “Okay, great guys, thanks. Now make noise again so I can find you.” They started back with the mumbling hum sounds.

  Finally her hands touched what felt like a male chest. She moved her hands up. She felt his neck, chin, and face. He was taller than her. It was Matt. She felt for the edge of the duct tape. Finding it, she ripped it from his mouth.

  “Cassie, are you okay?” Matt asked, his voice a bit strained.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” Cassie answered. “Are you?”

  “Yeah,” Matt returned. “My hands are tied above my head. He’s got me stuck against the wall.”

  “Okay, let me see,” Cassie told him as she stood on tiptoe and reached as high as she could.

  She couldn’t quite reach his hands, and hers were still tied together. She felt around Matt, trying to find something that would give her some height. He informed her that his ankles were tied together as well. She pulled at the rope with her fingers, trying desperately to untie the rope. It made it difficult that she couldn’t see how the rope was tied. It took several long minutes, but she finally freed his ankles from the rope.

  “I can’t reach your hands,” she told him. “Let me find Trey. Maybe if I can get him loose, the two of us can get you loose.”

  “Okay,” Matt replied. “He’s just a little to my right.”

  Cassie moved down with her hands out. They bumped Trey after three steps over. She felt for his face, then the duct tape, and pulled it from Trey’s mouth. She could reach Trey’s hands, and she worked another couple of minutes to free his hands from the rope. She then squatted back down and untied his ankles. Trey hugged her tight, then got the rope off her wrists. The two moved back over to Matt, and Cassie squatted down on her hands and knees.

  “Okay, Trey, stand on my back, like a step stool,” Cassie instructed.

  Trey was much heavier than she realized, and the weight on her back made her arms tremble. It took Trey a couple of minutes to work the rope loose and free Matt’s hands.

  “Any way out?” Matt asked, rubbing his liberated wrists.

  “I don’t know, probably not,” Cassie answered. “I think it’s just the one way.”

  They made their way to the entry door and pushed up on the door. It wouldn’t open. They had been locked in. The three struck their lighters and looked around for anything that might be useful in opening the door. There was nothing.

  “Maybe he’ll come open the door before too long,” Cassie suggested. “Then we’ll attack him and make our escape.”

  “I guess that’s the only option,” Matt agreed. “Why don’t you two get some rest, and I’ll keep a watch for him.”

  Cassie and Trey snuggled together on the ground and closed their eyes in an attempt to rest, although it was quite difficult to relax enough to sleep. It was early the next morning, just before 6am, when they heard the lock rattling on the door. Matt was resting now, and Cassie hurried to wake him up. He was sleeping lightly and jumped up quickly. The door opened, but not much light entered, since it was still dark outside. They heard Harvey coming down. As he reached the bottom, Matt punched Harvey in the face, taking him off guard and making him loose his balance. He then wrapped the rope around Harvey’s neck and pulled tight. Harvey struggled to free the rope from his throat, but Matt held it too tightly, holding it with every bit of strength he had.

  Harvey gagged and kicked his feet, trying to beg for mercy. Matt’s adrenaline pumped hard as he held tight to the rope. Cassie and Trey stood right there, ready to assist if needed. Finally, Matt had to let go. However, he had gagged Harvey enough to make the man fall to the ground, gasping for air and coughing. Cassie and Trey started kicking him wherever they could hit. Trey was at Harvey’s face, while Cassie was at his torso. Matt gathered up his strength once more, came up, and kicked Harvey as hard as he could directly in the nose. Blood poured from his nostrils, and he collapsed. Trey kicked him again. There was no sound, nor movement.

  “Did we kill him?” Cassie asked.

  Matt squatted down and felt for breath. “Well, he’s not breathing. Let’s get out of here.”

  The three scrambled up out of the root cellar and ran for the Suburban. Matt dug in his pocket for the keys as Greta came running out.

  “Hurry!” begged Cassie.

  Fumbling, Matt stuck the ignition key into the slot and turned it. He threw it into drive and mashed the gas pedal to the floor. The tires spun, kicking up a cloud of brown dirt, and they sped down the long drive. They got a mile away before their pounding hearts slowed back to normal, and they all lit a cigarette as they calmed themselves.

  “That meat they served us, I think it was survivors that came before us,” Cassie replied. “They were going to eat us, the crazy fuckers!”

  “Ugh, I’m so glad we didn’t eat it,” Trey said, looking as though he might still throw up. “That really sucks I was almost the guinea pig.”

  “Well, at least we trusted your judgment, and you thought it tasted like shit,” Cassie pointed out. “Okay, so no more stopping anywhere that has people. It’s pretty obvious it won’t turn out well.”

  “The community worked out perfect had it not been for that army of assholes,” Matt replied.

  “It’ll happen again,” Cassie predicted. “People will come along and see how good they have it, and they’ll try to take it over. I’m glad we didn’t stay. I don’t think I could bear it having to watch any more of those precious little kids die like that. The ones that did survive are probably traumatized for life after all that’s happened to them.”

  Four hours later, they had reached the state line and entered Pensacola, Florida. It gave them a sense of accomplishment, and they didn’t stop until they reached the ocean. Matt stopped the Suburban, and they ran out onto the sand.

  “We made it!” Cassie cheered. “All we have to do is follow the coastline, sleep by the water, and we should make it.”

  “I don’t know about sleeping on the beach,” Matt replied. “Just because zombies can’t swim doesn’t mean they won’t come near it. They’re like rabid animals. They have no thought process. Once we can actually get out on the water, we’ll be safe from them. We’ll need to get as much food as we can find. And some fishing gear wouldn’t hurt.”

  As they continued their drive, they noticed that creatures loomed around the strips and didn’t really stray onto the beach. However, at one point, they noticed a whale washed up on the shore, and creatures were feasting on it.

  “See?” Matt pointed. “They’ll come onto the beach if they think there’s something to eat. We stay down there, they’ll smell us and come running.”

  “There’s more creatures here than I thought there would be,” Cassie admitted.

  “Well, yeah, Florida’s full of fucking tourists,” Matt replied. “Wait till we get to Tampa and Miami. Everyone goes there. There’s probably twice as many creatures in those two cities.”

  They decided to find houses to search when it was time to find more supplies. They figured the many resorts, hotels, and shops along the coast would be overrun with creatures. They located more ammunition as they searched the houses and a few retail stores further away from the coast. They still had to fight off creatures, but nothing they couldn’t handle. They reached Tampa before they ran into another survivor. The girl was hiding in a house they were raiding. They probably wouldn’t have found her, but they heard a noise in the closet. They tiptoed over, ready to fire, and opened the door. The girl screamed, startling everybody.

  “Oh, shit!” Matt blurted out. “God, no, it’s okay. We won’t hurt you.”

  The girl looked terrified, but stood up and emerged from the closet. “I’m Kaylee.”

  “Hi, Kaylee,” Matt greeted. “My name’s Matt. This is my wife Cassie, and her brother Trey. Are you all alone?”

  Kaylee nodded. “I guess so. My dad w
ent to find food and supplies and stuff about a week ago and never came back. He’s never been gone this long. The most has been two days.”

  “What about your mom? Any other family?” Cassie questioned.

  “No, my mom died when I was four, and so did my brother. Connor was his name. He was just two. They died in a car crash,” Kaylee informed. “I’m the only one that lived. My dad was at work.”

  “Oh, you poor thing,” Cassie replied. “How old are you now?”

  “I turned twelve in August,” Kaylee told her.

  She was a petite little girl, with a child’s face that made her look younger than she was. Her crimpy, sandy-blond hair was nearly to her waist, and she had emerald green eyes. She had a tanned complexion, and was wearing jean shorts and a black tank top depicting the band Metallica on the front.

  “I like your shirt,” Trey told her. “It’s a good band.”

  Kaylee gave a small smile. “Thanks. My dad got it for me.”

  “Well, do you want to come with us, Kaylee?” Cassie offered.

  She looked afraid suddenly. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t really know you, and what if my dad comes back?”

  “We could stay here with you for a little while if you’d like. We have some food we could share with you,” Cassie replied. “I just hate to leave you all alone. Your dad’s been gone an awful long time.”

  Kaylee teared up a little. “I’m afraid he’s dead, or one of them, but there might be a chance he could come back. Maybe he just had to go farther or something. I don’t want to be alone, though.”

  “Well, let us stay here with you for a couple of days, and if he’s not back by then, we’ll leave him a note. That way if he is alive, he’ll be able to come to us,” Matt told her.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Kaylee asked.

  “We’re heading to Miami. We’re hoping to find a boat and get out on the water,” Matt answered. “Since those things can’t swim.”

  Kaylee stared at them for a moment. “Okay. I am pretty hungry. There’s not really any food here. I’ve been eating peanut butter crackers. I have two packs left, and some water.”

  Matt and Cassie went out to the Suburban and brought in some food, the playing cards, and the CD player and CDs.

  “You know how to play Gin Rummy?” Cassie asked, holding up the cards.

  “Yeah, I played with my dad all the time,” Kaylee smiled.

  “Great! We can play after we eat then,” Cassie replied. “How about music? You like Metallica, I see. All I have is metal, but if you have a CD you’d like to listen to, this player works.”

  “Yeah, I have Metallica, AC/DC, Korn, Disturbed, stuff like that,” Kaylee told her, brightening up.

  They ate some food, played Gin Rummy, and let Kaylee listen to her CDs. She went to her room after playing Gin Rummy and brought down some board games.

  “My dad played board games with me a lot,” Kaylee told them. “Want to play them?”

  “Sure,” Cassie answered. “How about Monopoly? That’s a classic.”

  They played Monopoly, then Life, then Clue, and then Sorry. She also had Backgammon, and Trey nearly burst with excitement.

  “That’s my favorite!” he exclaimed.

  “Well, it’s just two player, but if your sister and her husband don’t mind, me and you can play,” Kaylee replied.

  “That’s fine,” Cassie put in. “We’re going to start lighting some candles before it gets too dark.”

  “And step out to smoke,” Matt added.

  “Don’t go out there,” Kaylee said, almost in a pleading voice. “They might come over here. You can smoke inside, I don’t mind. Daddy keeps an ashtray under the kitchen sink. He started smoking inside after the creatures came.”

  Matt located the ashtray, and they sat at the kitchen table to smoke. Trey lit a cigarette, too, and grabbed a saucer from the cabinet to take back to the living room with him.

  “You smoke, too?” Kaylee asked with surprise.

  “Does that bother you?” Trey asked.

  “No,” Kaylee replied. “I’ve had a cigarette before…once…with my friend. We snuck one of my dad’s.”

  “Do you want one?” Trey offered.

  Kaylee shrugged. “Sure, I guess so.”

  He was surprised that she didn’t choke when she inhaled it, but he didn’t say anything. He and Kaylee played three rounds of Backgammon. She beat him twice. He was quite impressed with her. After their game, she took him upstairs to show him her room and go through the rest of her CD collection. He picked up a family photo sitting on her night table.

  “Is this you?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Kaylee answered. “That was the spring before my mom died. We had the wreck in June. She was taking us to the pool and this truck ran a red light. Mom died later in the hospital from massive internal bleeding. Connor was killed on impact. He would have been three the next September. I had some broken bones, some cuts, and some internal bleeding, too. They were able to stop my bleeding in surgery, but I almost died. I was in the hospital for a month. Dad had to have the funeral for them without me, but he says that’s a good thing.”

  “Do you still remember them?” Trey asked.

  “A little bit,” Kaylee replied. “I remember the accident. I remember we were excited about going swimming at the pool that day. We hadn’t been yet that summer.”

  “I’m really sorry that happened to you,” Trey replied. “My parents are dead. My dad got bit, and then bit my mom, and Cassie had to shoot them.”

  “Oh, that’s awful,” Kaylee replied. “Where did you live?”

  “In Nebraska,” Trey answered. “We grew up in an apartment in the city, but then our grandma passed away and we moved into her house out in the country. It used to be a farm. We lived there about six months before the creatures happened.”

  “Wow, you guys have come a long way,” Kaylee commented. “Your sister looks really young to be married.”

  “Yeah, she’s seventeen and Matt’s nineteen. We were living in this really nice gated community in Alabama before we got here. There was a whole town of people. There was a minister there, so they got married,” he told her. “Then these guys came and attacked us. They killed a lot of people, but we killed all of them. We couldn’t stay, though. They burned half the condos and set off bombs. When it was over, there were so many bodies, it just couldn’t be fixed.”

  He told her about the girlfriend he’d had, and how she died in the attack. He told her about the crazy people at the plantation that wanted to eat them.

  “Where can we sleep?” Cassie suddenly asked at the door.

  “You can sleep in my dad’s bed,” Kaylee told her. “Just lock the door, and keep your gun close.”

  “I guess I’ll go sleep on the couch,” Trey replied.

  “You can sleep on the one in the spare room. Dad’s got it set up like an office now, but the couch in there is one of those that fold out into a bed,” Kaylee told him. “It used to be Connor’s room, but after a couple of years, Dad changed it.”

  She took him in there and removed the cushions. She then pulled out the bed. She got sheets out of the closet, and Trey helped her make it up. With that, she said goodnight and went back to her room. She changed into pajamas and crawled under the covers, snuggling up with Connor’s favorite teddy bear, just as she did every night since she came home from the hospital. In the master bedroom, Matt was snuggled up to Cassie, his arms wrapped around her.

  “You know, it’s a good thing we stumbled onto her,” Cassie whispered. “Her dad’s probably dead.”

  “Yeah, I feel bad for her. She’s just a little kid, and she’s been on her own a whole week,” Matt whispered back. “I’m sure she was going crazy not knowing about her dad.”

  “Well, we can’t leave her here,” Cassie decided. “We’ll have to take her with us. Besides, Trey seems to like her, and he needs someone, you know. I hate to think he’ll grow up without a companion, you know.”


  “Yeah,” Matt agreed. “He does seem to like her. They have a lot in common.”

  “She does listen to all the same music that Trey used to listen to before I got him hooked on metal,” Cassie pointed out. “And she plays Gin Rummy and Backgammon. I’m sure he’s still upset about Emily, though.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure he is,” Matt agreed. “But she’s gone, and Kaylee might be good for him, and I can tell he likes her. He’ll keep her close as a friend until he’s ready to move on.”

  Cassie woke up feeling well rested the next morning. Matt was awake already, but still snuggled up to her. She gave him a kiss. They got up shortly and headed downstairs. Kaylee was already dressed, sitting on the couch in the living room holding a gun.

  “You know how to use that thing?” Matt asked.

  Kaylee looked up at him. “I’ve been going to the shooting range since I was eight.”

  “Awesome,” Matt beamed. “I think you have a pretty great dad. I guess you two were pretty close.”

  Kaylee nodded. “I guess my mom and Connor dying, and almost losing me too, just brought us together. We were all we had through everything.”

  He spotted the bear in her lap. “Did he give you that bear?”

  “Not really,” she replied. “It was Connor’s. Dad got it for him the day he was born, and it was his favorite. He slept with it every night and took it everywhere. He didn’t have it that day, though, cause we were going to the pool, and Mom told him Bear couldn’t go to the pool cause he couldn’t get in the water. She convinced him to leave it here for a nap. So he tucked it in his bed. When I came home from the hospital, I knew Connor had died, so I took it. I’ve slept with it every night since. I guess at the time, I thought the bear missed Connor, too, and I didn’t want him to be lonely. I wanted to take care of him for Connor.”

  “That’s really sweet, Kaylee,” Matt replied. “I’m sure Connor would appreciate that.”

  Cassie was in the kitchen, digging through the food to decide what to feed everybody. There was some Cheerios, but obviously no milk. She figured Kaylee had been eating them dry. There wasn’t much left, though. Maybe a bowl. She asked Kaylee if that’s what she wanted, and Kaylee agreed. Cassie poured it in a bowl, added a spoon, and brought it to her. She decided on peanut butter and crackers, which they had brought with them. Matt opened a can of tuna for himself. A few minutes later, Trey came down the stairs. He helped himself to some of the peanut butter and crackers.