PLANET DEAD
BLOODTHIRSTY
SYLVESTER BARZEY
PLANET DEAD:
Bloodthirsty
BY SYLVESTER BARZEY
I want to thank my amazing wife, Angel, for putting up with me and my crazy dream to be a full time Author. I want to thank Joy Yehle who put aside her own work to help me edit these pages you are about to read. Without her and my wife, this book might have never seen the light of day.
I also want to thank my street team,
Melissa
Cheree’
Victoria
Autumn
You guys are amazing and I’m so thankful you joined me on this journey. Thanks to my beta readers and to the little monster that makes life worth living.
I love you Ayden.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Afterword
Afterword
Also by Sylvester Barzey
CHAPTER 1
“ M ommy”
THE WORD SOUNDED SO FAINT that she almost ignored it, but then that faint sound became a roar breaking through the wind.
“MOMMY!”
Her head shot up above the tall green grass surrounding her, she looked from side to side ‘till her eyes finally found him. He was standing on the hilltop, his little hands cupping his mouth as he fought to scream against the wind.
“MOMMY!”
The screams were pulling her to her feet, her eyes took the sight of him in. She could see the sweat running down his neck, she could see the dirt that covered his jeans and the blood that stained his face.
“Jordan?” She said softly as she finally got to her feet.
“JORDAN!” She screamed out and every muscle in her body tightened as she got ready to race towards her son, but before she could take her first step she felt a cool hand run along her bare shoulder.
“He’s alright Cat, just playing games.”
She stood there in the soft summer breeze still staring at her son; he screamed as if he was sending every bit of breath out to deliver his message, but as the cool hand slowly made it’s way from her sun-kissed shoulders to the spot where her neck and her jaw line meet, the cries of the little boy started to fade back into the wind as she closed her eyes.
“Boys will be boys, he’s fine.”
His voice was so relaxing, it caused the waves of emotions running through her to be still. She felt him lean into her and her eyes closed as he softly whispered into her ear.
“Catherine.”
Catherine’s eyes opened with a smile, but it dropped as she saw the tears in her son’s eyes. The little boy’s mouth was open wide and he screamed out a word that was far clearer than any word she had heard in years.
“RUN!”
Before her mind could react, she felt that once sweet hand pull her down into the tall grass. Catherine watched as a monster she once called a husband, hovered over her. His chocolate, brown skin was now a dark, grayish black. His white eyes scanned over her, and for a moment she swore he was smiling. At that moment, she could feel hands shooting up from the ground. Grabbing hold of her body; she felt them on her arms, her legs, her neck. Nails and bones tearing into her skin, exposing blood and fresh meat, she wanted to scream but no words came out. Catherine felt herself being pulled into the darkness of the earth, her husband, or better yet, the zombie with her husband’s face, leaned down and softly said, “Run Catherine!”
Catherine shot up screaming. She was kicking and punching, but as her eyes took in the rundown bedroom and the sheets that had been kicked to the floor, she knew it was all a dream. She sat there for a moment, and as she let her racing heart calm itself, her eyes just slowly moving about the room until they landed on the curtains dancing along in the cool night’s breeze.
“Fuck.”
The word softly slipped from her lips, she pulled the window down quickly, but carefully enough to avoid slamming it closed. She avoided loud sounds these days; loud sounds brought attention, and attention was sure to get you killed.
She stood there gazing out into the darkness of the night. Her hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. Her body was toned, her skin was far darker than it’s normal caramel brown, and she was covered with cuts and bruises from her new found life on the bottom of the food chain. Catherine's eyes closed, resting her head on the cool glass window, she sighed for a moment before turning around and grabbing hold of her shotgun that rested on the bed. The double barrel beauty was the only object she held dear to her in this new world, well that and the double edge knife she kept in her boot.
She walked through the doorway and down the dark hall of the old home. It had been days since she saw another living person, she was torn about it. On one hand she was free to travel without worry, she didn’t have to care for anyone's needs, or wonder if they’ll make it through the night. Thinking about others took up too much brain power, and she needed all of hers to make it through the coming days. Sadly, there was something to be said about having someone around. Someone that could share in the pain, someone that could pull you out of the darkness from time to time.
Catherine was alone in the madness and quickly getting used to it. Her footsteps echoed throughout the house as she made her way down the staircase with her shotgun in hand. She was doing the normal nightly checks before turning in. Walking into the kitchen, she looked over everything; the boarded up windows, the boxes of supplies on the counter, and the shotgun shells sitting next to her escape bag on the kitchen table.
She ran her hand softly over the wood, it was a simple thing, but it kept her safe. She smiled for a moment, but her peace of mind quickly faded as she heard a pounding on the front door. Her head spun around quickly, she stood there, listening to the frantic pounding coming from beyond the wood.
"Hello is anyone in there? Oh God! Someone please!" The young girl screamed out as she kept slamming her hands into the wooden door. She turned her head quickly to look over her shoulder. The girl’s heart was pounding louder than her hands. A mix of sweat and tears covered her rose pink face as she parted her lips to scream out once again.
"PLEASE! OPEN THE DOOR! GOD! PLEASE!"
With the butt of her shotgun tightly pushed into her shoulder, Catherine slowly made her way over towards the door. Her heart wasn’t racing, she wasn’t panicking, she was working on a battle plan. The screaming and pounding was drawing them near. She could walk away and ignore it all, but then there would be no telling how many would be outside in the morning. She could open the door now and put an end to the screams with one fast pull of a trigger, but what would that make her?
Catherine was planning a battle on the inside as she took her hand off the forend of the pump action shotgun and placed it on one of the locks of the door. She could have done a number of things, but there was only one thing she could do that she could live with in the morning. She shouted, "Who are you?"
The young girl on the outside stopped her pounding, and her tear filled eyes came up from the ground and cast upon the door in front of her. She had given up, she was coming to terms with the end. In her head she had said goodbye to about a thousand people before the voice came through the door.
"Who am I?” The young girl paused for a moment then started pounding at the door
harder, as if she were trying to break it in with her bare hands as she screamed out,
“Who fucking cares?! Just open the damn door!"
Her head spun back around when she heard a loud splash, as a bucket fell into the dark waters of a nearby well. Two figures slowly moved in the distance, making their way through the darkness towards the old farmhouse. The young girl started once again pounding and kicking at the door, her wrist was bloody from the small layer of skin that was being torn off as she slammed her hands into that door for dear life.
"Please!"
"PLEASE!"
The cries took over the sounds of the night, they filled up Catherine’s head and surprising to even her, she started turning the lock on the door. She pulled it open and the young girl ran right past her. Catherine didn’t know what it was that made her open the door, maybe it was the tears or the fear of never forgiving herself if she didn’t, but something in her pulled that door open and made both the women’s problems become one.
Now it was them against the monsters. Staring into the darkness, Catherine could see the figures making their way slowly through the high grass blades on the lawn. They were twisted and broken, one had no lips, just blood stained teeth that were chomping as he slowly dragged his left leg along the grass. While the broken legged man seemed to have been infected for some time now, the other looked newly infected. His clothing wasn’t as dirty, his face looked the same as any other normal person, aside from his gray pale skin and his grayish white eyes. He wasn’t slowly moving, he was walking at a brisk pace compared to the other. They moaned as they made their way towards the house.
"What are you waiting for? Close It!" The young girl screamed out from behind her reluctant hero.
Another scream filled the air causing the two being's heads to snap up; their gray eyes focused on the women in the doorway. The newly infected zombie’s walk turned into a sprint towards the house. Both zombies started cutting through the high grass. One like a track star, the other dragging his leg along so fast and with such force, it seemed as if it would rip it off.
"Fuck this!" The girl shouted as her hand grabbed a hold of the door. Black combat boots kicked into the door, forcing it out of the girl’s grasp.
"You touch that door and I'll blow your damn head off! You hear me?" Catherine quickly let the words fall from her lips, her cold carefree tone caused the young girl to take two steps back, her eyes were racing back and forth between the figures moving through the night and the crazy woman standing in the doorway with her shotgun at the ready. Catherine didn’t turn around to reassure her of their safety; no she didn’t break her focus from the oncoming threat that was breaking through the darkness into the moonlight.
The women just watched as the zombies started quickly making their way towards the front steps, she cocked back the pump handle of her shotgun, sending a large red shell into the barrel of the shotgun. She kept her eyes locked on the figures, watching them racing towards her, she pulled the trigger back and sending a shock into her shoulder. Her ears rang from the barrel releasing a booming blast.
The newly infected zombie flew back, his body landed on the floor like an old rag doll. However, just as fast as he hit the floor, he shot back up running towards the steps. Catherine pumped back the rifle again, sending an empty shell flying towards the ground and a new one leaping into the barrel. She took aim once again. She pulled the trigger back and another roaring blast was heard. The young girl covered her ears. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The girl screamed as the blast took off the broken legged man's head.
Pumping once again, Catherine sent a shell flying, but this time, no shell filled the barrel, she was out. The sound of the click sent a chill down her spine, as the last man was still running towards her. Her eyes widened and her hand went to her pockets, but came up with nothing but lost hope.
"Fuck!"
"Fuck!"
"FUCK!" Catherine shouted and spun her head back to look at the young girl as she continued, "I need bullets! Hurry up!" The young girl just went running towards the living room. Catherine saw that from the corner of her eyes and she screamed out "No! The red box in the kitchen!"
Catherine just watched the man making his way closer and closer to the steps of the house. She saw the blood dripping off of his teeth, he was just like the others, a mindless killing machine, whose only concern was where his next bite was coming from. Catherine had no plans of dying anytime soon, but fate and Catherine were never on the same page.
The young girl doubled back around, her eyes glancing through the open door for a moment, she could see the ugly looking figure racing towards the woman. Everything felt slow in that moment, for the first time she could see what she was running from. It wasn’t just a photo on the internet, it wasn’t some grainy video on the tv, or sounds coming from beyond a locked door, it was real and it was moments away from ending her life. She bolted into the kitchen and started pulling open cabinet doors, she was racing around the room until her eyes rested on a small red box on the table. She grabbed it and ran towards the doorway once again. She tossed the box at the woman, who snatched it out of the air. Catherine's fingers dug into the box and pulled out a red shell. She dropped the box to the ground and started to reload.
She quickly raised the shotgun, pressing her cheek against the butt-stock, her eyes were locked in a stare down with the monster, it was looking right at her with those dead gray eyes. There was no blinking, no moving, just her staring at the monster and it staring right into her soul. Her fingers were sweating as they pressed hard against the metal.
A cool wind blew and caused the door to smack into the wall, with that one sound the being took a leap forward, landing him at the top of the house steps. She pumped the handle and the shell leaped into the barrel. She pulled the trigger. Cold blood flew through the night and onto her face as she tightly closed her eyes and mouth.
The headless body fell to the floor and the young girl stood there looking at the sight.
"Nasty." The girl said softly.
"Damn it. I hope I didn't get any in my eyes!" Catherine said as she pulled up her shirt and started cleaning off her face. Walking past the young girl, Catherine made her way up the steps as she sharply let out,
"Close the door!"
The young girl slammed the door shut and her fingers quickly twisted the metal locking the door. She rested her forehead on the chipped paint of the door, she was alive, she was safe. Two things that she never thought she would be just a few short minutes ago. The girl turned around slowly, her head hung low, as she started to mumble the words, but she forced herself to look up towards her hero and let them out, "Thank you."
Catherine came to a full stop on the staircase, she didn't turn around to face the young girl, she just softly asked, "For what?"
"For saving me," the girl replied.
Rolling her eyes slightly, Catherine turned around and smiled. She had rubbed most of the blood from her face and into her white torn tee-shirt, but still there was a dark red stain on her caramel skin. She stood in the middle of the staircase, with her black bra tightly strapped to her like a chest plate of armor, she held her shotgun in her hands. Taking a few slow steps down as she said,
"You make it sound like I had a choice in the matter. If they would have gotten you, then you would have turned, and there would have been one extra freak to put down.”
The young girl nodded and started walking towards the steps.
"Yeah but still, I….." she said but she was quickly cut off when the woman pointed the shotgun into the girl’s face.
The young girl’s eyes were fixed on the dark hole the lead into the barrel of the shotgun, her hands slowly went up, they were shaking as they stood there in the air just above her shoulders. That feeling of her heart leaping out of her chest was back again, but this time, she wasn’t running from the infected, that was before, and this time she thought she was safe.
"Don't come any closer,” the blood-stained woman softly sa
id causing the young girl take a step back. She survived all of that madness, to be unlucky enough to lock herself in an old house with a crazy person.
The young girl swallowed really heard, trying to get the dryness out of her mouth. "What the hell lady?" She said and she hoped that it sounded unafraid. She knew in that moment, she had made a mistake. Her eyes burned with tears and she knew. The young girl knew that all the blood-stained woman saw was a weak intruder, who almost got them both killed. The young girl continued taking steps back as the blood-stained woman started walking down the steps, never lowering her shotgun from the middle of the girl’s face. She kept backing up ‘till she felt the locked door pressed up against her.
There was nowhere to run, she just stared back into the darkness of the shotgun barrel. It was an odd thing to go from feeling like you’re going to die, to being saved, to be right back at death's door once again. An odd feeling that she wouldn’t wish on her worst of enemies.
"You stay down here,” the woman said softly as she pulled back the forend of the shotgun one more time, sending a red shell flying through the air once again. She drove her point home by pushing the hot barrel into the bare-skinned shoulder of the girl as she continued, “ And you leave in the morning."
Questioning a crazy person was never a good idea, even before the world went to hell. It could lead to yelling, fighting, shit being thrown at your face, but with the world coming to an end and everyone grabbing every form of firearms they could get their hands on, questioning a crazy person now could only lead to one outcome, death. Even with that thought in mind, the shock of being cast out into the madness in the morning once again, kept the girl from holding her tongue. The young girl's eyebrows quickly went up and her hands dropped, pushing the shotgun away from her shoulder.
"What’s your deal lady? It's not like I'm one of those damn things out there! I'm human!" the girl screamed into Catherine’s face.
Planet Dead (Book 1): Bloodthirsty Page 1
