Age of Z: A Tale of Survival

by T. S. Frost

  LS was clearly shaken, but after a moment he nodded. “I... right. Right. Sorry. It's just...”

  “Surprising. Disorienting. I know. I get it too sometimes, still, and I've been watching everything fall apart slowly for three years. And D.C. isn't even the worst of it, other places got hit way harder. You can't even get into the larger cities anymore–too full of zoms.” And she'd tried. Lord knew she'd tried, trying to find her family again.

  “But like I said, it's not all bad. People are stubborn and we don't just roll over and die as easy as that. There are some places where we're still holding out and things are good.” She grinned for a moment, but then it turned more serious as she added, “But we've gotta survive long enough to get there, and that means we've got to be careful and go now, okay? We can talk more later. Right now, quiet.”

  She gave LS's shoulder a quick squeeze and then gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. LS didn't exactly look happy, but he didn't look completely shell-shocked anymore, so that was a start at least.

  “Alright,” he said, quieter this time. “Where are we–” Then he paused, cocked his head like a listening dog, and asked, “What's that noise?”

  “Noise? What noise?” Alexa strained her ears, but didn't hear anything.

  “It's... I'm not sure. None of the things I know can identify it. Sort of... groaning?”

  Alexa paled. “What direction?” she asked immediately, gripping LS's arm tightly.

  LS blinked in surprise at the abrupt change in Alexa's demeanor, but pointed up the street to their left. “That way.”

  They were coming from the bridge. “We need to move,” she said urgently. “Now.” She grabbed for her bike, balancing the crowbar across it. If she had to she'd abandon the bike in favor of running, but it was too valuable a tool to ditch otherwise. “Let's go.”

  She took six steps before realizing LS wasn't behind her again. Glancing back, she realized the clone was staring down the street in the direction of the noise, eyes narrowed. Frustrated, Alexa propped the bike up against the nearest building again, hooked the crowbar on her belt, and darted back to her friend, latching both arms around one of LS's and trying to haul him away.

  She was about as effective as trying to move a mountain single handed; LS was as rigid as a marble statue and impervious to Alexa's efforts.

  “I'm not kidding around here, LS,” she hissed as she kept tugging, the first edges of real concern slipping into her voice. “We have to move, now–if they see us...” Alexa could hear the moaning now too, which meant they were close. Too close for comfort.

  And then the first of them came around the corner two intersections away, and Alexa felt dread drop into her stomach like a heavy weight, felt the first fingers of an icy terror gripping her heart.

  Back in the day, Alexa had actually been a bonafide geek, and like every other geek alive she'd loved zombies. She'd always thought zombie horror flicks and video games were awesome, and marveled at the creative details they would always get into the zombie designs, with the rotting flesh and missing eyeballs and bony protrusions and occasional weird extra mutant abilities.

  Real zombies were not like that. But in some ways it was a lot worse. Unless the animated corpses were particularly old, or distended or burst from consuming too much flesh, or had been damaged somehow in a fight or an accident, they rarely showed such obvious and grotesque signs of decay.

  Actually, other than a bloodless pallor, empty expressions, and the disjointed, shuffling movements of bodies that lacked the coordination to move fluidly, zombies typically looked like normal people, which in Alexa's opinion was what made them far more frightening.

  When you were regularly attacked by people that looked like your soccer coach or your best friend or the nice girl at the cafe that used to give you refills for free, it started getting harder and harder to stave off growing paranoia of living human beings.

  Alexa had even heard stories of other survivors who finally just snapped, assuming everyone around them was a zom in disguise, only to break down or–in nastier situations–go postal, killing other innocent survivors in the process.

  These zombies shuffling around the corner were the same as any others Alexa had seen. There were at least ten of them, and any one of them could have sat on the plane next to her three years ago when they flew into D.C., or served them at the restaurants, or taken them on tours through the museums.

  She could even take a few guesses at the things they'd done before they were turned. The one with the blood-stained black suit might've been secret service, the woman with the badge still miraculously pinned to her shirt had to be a reporter, and the kid with the torn Batman T-shirt–school kid, definitely.

  That last one made her cringe, because the kid was eternally frozen at around twelve years old–that could have been Alexa if things had gone down differently.

  “LS, come on!” she rasped, more desperately now, and gave another useless tug at the clone's arm. “Before they–”

  But it was too late. The zombies had caught on that they were there, somehow–Alexa was still not sure if it was sight, sound, smell, movement, or maybe a combination of all four that let them hunt–and the guttural moans increased in volume and regularity as they started to shuffle forward faster.

  Alexa wasn't ashamed to admit she was getting closer to resorting to begging, as she circled around LS and tried to forcibly push him back with both hands. LS still didn't budge, and his gaze was violently intense as he watched the walking dead shambling closer to them. “We have to go, LS! Remember what I told you down below!”

  He didn't even appear to hear her, and he was obviously not going anywhere. Alexa was ashamed that a very tiny part of her–the primal part that had whipped her into shape and kept her alive for the past three years–had already written him off as a loss, and was insisting now that she run away and save herself, at least.

  But no. No. She was not going to abandon LS now. It had only been a day, but she staring to see him as family, and she'd never forgive herself if she abandoned her little brother to the undead. So she kept trying, while her mind screamed all the while that she had to get away now or she would never find her real family again.

  He did not even remotely appear to be on the same page. Alexa could feel a faint vibration under her fingers as she tried to push the clone away, and realized a moment later that he was growling, the sound so low in pitch she could barely hear it. Then LS said his first words since the zombies had appeared. “That is the enemy?”

  Alexa felt her heart plummet even further. She did not like where this was going. “Doesn't matter, we have to go now–”

  “These are the ones you are so scared of?” LS looked almost scornful. “They're nothing!” And to Alexa's horror, he brushed her aside like she was nothing too, roared a battle cry, and hurled himself directly into the middle of the moaning pack of zombies.

  Alexa felt her heart stop for one eternally long second.

  Then time sped up so alarmingly fast that if she'd been moving, she was pretty sure she'd have gotten whiplash. Alexa watched in horror as LS smashed into the front of the group, sending three unsteady zombies staggering backwards and toppling over on the ground.

  With another primal roar, the clone snatched up the secret service zombie–it moaned and snapped at him, but missed skin by inches–spun, and hurled him at four other approaching zoms. All five crashed to the ground as well, and LS yelled wordlessly, an almost feral challenge, as he glared around at the writhing zombies, daring them to get up again.

  But he didn't understand. Zombies were not like normal human opponents. They didn't feel fear or pain or pride, you couldn't demoralize them, you couldn't incapacitate them. You couldn't use normal codes of conduct for a fair fight, because a fight against a zombie was never fair. They couldn't be saved–there was no cure, no chance to reverse the turning, no way to make them see sense. They could only be run from, or killed.

  Already the zombies were clawing their w
ay forward again, and a few of the cleverer ones had figured out to clamber slowly to their feet. The moaning increased, and Alexa felt ice slither through her veins when she heard the call taken up from other directions all around them now. They were surrounded, all the noise had attracted attention.

  LS still didn't seem to understand the danger, and snarled a challenge at the closest dead head, apparently insulted by its inability to recognize him as a dangerous and superior opponent. He didn't even turn around to watch his back, where the eternally young zombie with the Batman shirt was shuffling forward, arms raised, jaw snapping.

  “No no no!” Alexa screamed. Panic flooded her, and she threw herself up the street. She didn't even register crossing the distance, it happened too fast, and made it just in time, right as the kid started leaning forward for a bite. With a strength born of severe desperation, wild fury, and a great deal of terror, Alexa wrenched the thing back by one arm and pushed it away.

  Then she lashed out with the crowbar, smashing it into the kid's head with as much force as she could muster. The first smash dented its head in, and its jaw hung awkwardly, tongue flopping out. The backhanded second smash was enough to split its head open completely, and it dropped to the pavement with a muted gurgle, dripping rancid brownish fluids. It didn't move again.

  “What is wrong with you?” LS snarled at her, eyes wide and glare full of hatred.

  Alexa didn't have time to explain that she was not crazy, thank you very much, and it might look like she had just mercilessly beaten a twelve-year-old to death with a crowbar but actually she had just saved the clone's life.

  She was in full fight-or-flight mode now, hyper-aware of every tiny detail relevant to her own survival, and didn't have time for debates or psychological profiles right now. All she said was, “They're not alive! Undead! Don't get bitten or you're done for, aim for the head, and run!”

  “I'm not running!” he snarled back, and carelessly picked up another zombie to hurl at the approaching pack again.

  Alexa was horrified to realize he wasn't even trying to avoid the snapping jaws, and only sheer dumb luck had saved him so far. “This is my new place–I can fight. These things can't hurt me, they're weak–”

  “No!” Alexa nearly shrieked at him. She whipped around and smashed in another zombie's head frantically. This one was the reporter; her news badge showed a pretty face, Alexa found herself noting strangely, as she turned the real thing into brown mush. The reporter went down too and didn't get up again.

  “No, you can't. That's wrong! The military thought that too and the zoms still killed all of them, so run, run as fast as you can now!”

  Alexa had thought this would get through to LS, if anything did, he was most likely taught to hold the military in high regard. Instead it had a more terrifying effect: he froze completely, rigid as a statue once more, and his eyes went wide and staring, as if he were seeing something very, very far away.

  “What are you–no!” Alexa dodged around her companion and lashed out with the crowbar again. The strokes both missed hitting any heads, but she was able to knock the unstable zombies back for a moment, at least, as she frantically tried to keep them away from her friend.

  With maybe a second's worth of breathing space Alexa glanced over her shoulder and groaned. She'd somehow managed to put the guy she was trying to look out for into shock.

  “Snap out of it!” she yelled frantically, as she beat back another reaching zom hand. “LS, wake up, now, wake up and run! You'll die if you don't!” She couldn't hold back the hordes forever, and more were coming; if they didn't move soon...

  There was a rattling gasp behind her, reminding Alexa of the noise a drowning man might make when he reaches air again. LS sidestepped around her a moment later, snatched up another zombie–carefully this time–and hurled it at the others. They fell back again, moaning in agitation, giving the living a little space.

  Then, before Alexa could argue, LS wrapped an arm around her waist and launched himself into the air towards a nearby solid brick privacy wall that surrounded a nearby building.

  It was a new and not entirely pleasant experience for Alexa. LS shot up and forward fast and Alexa was hyper aware of her stomach being left behind her with the crowd of zombies. She yelped when he landed balanced atop the wall and hastily dug her fingers into his shirt, just to make sure she didn't get dropped, and focused on keeping a tight hold on her now very gory crowbar with the other hand.

  Two more leaps landed them further down the wall, and back into the street respectively. The growing horde was about twenty feet behind them now, leaving them with a little breathing room and Alexa's feet gratefully met the ground.

  Alexa gingerly tried to catch her balance, still leaning against LS a bit dazedly to recover from the crazy jumps. LS had already recovered, sturdy as ever, and looked once more focused on the horde. Alexa glanced over her shoulder at the zombie hordes, which were growing larger now and had figured out where their prey was again.

  She eyed the roads and the surrounding buildings consulting her mental map for the most direct route to where they needed to get. “Think you can keep that up?”

  LS hesitated, but then nodded. “Yes. Which way?”

  Alexa pointed towards a chain link fence and the alley behind it. “The bridge. We need to get across and go north. If we can–hey!” Her instructions turned into an indignant yelp as LS crouched and this time scooped her up like a child. “Do I look like I'm five?”

  “Hard to keep a grip the other way when landing, with the backpack,” he growled back at her, in a surprisingly no-nonsense tone. “You want to keep your stuff, we go this way.” And without waiting further he ran a few steps and launched himself into the air once more.

  Alexa complained foully under her breath. It didn't help much–based on his smirk, he could hear everything she said. Awesome.

  But Alexa had to admit, he was able to cushion her from the impact a little easier this way–and more importantly it was fast. In ten minutes they'd left the horde behind and after setting Alexa back on her feet, they crossed the bridge. In half an hour they covered a few miles, and had made it far enough into relatively safe no-man's-land that Alexa could give LS the cue to halt.

  He dutifully slowed to a stop in a decaying field that had probably once grown crops but had long since gone dead and stony. It gave them enough of a vantage point of the surrounding area that they'd know for sure the moment something tried to attack them.

  “Okay,” Alexa said, as she tried to shake a little feeling back into her tired legs, “Not gonna lie, that is going to be really useful in a pinch.”

  Of course, they couldn't use it all the time. Alexa didn't want to put too much strain on her friend if she could help it–LS was breathing a little harder from the half-hour non-stop jump and run, and Alexa didn't want to wear him out or make him sick. She didn't know what limits the clone might have, and had a hunch he'd ignore them if left to his own devices.

  LS gave her a weak smile, but then his expression turned stony. “Alright,” he said, tone hard, “Explain... what happened to military. And everyone else. What's going on?”

  Alexa winced. She'd known this was coming, but even with almost an hour to think about it, she still wasn't really sure how to answer the question. She sighed and settled for wiping her messy crowbar on a few old, dead leaves, trying to organize her thoughts. LS watched, eyes narrowed, but waited without interrupting.

  Finally Alexa sat down on a particularly large rock and said, “Look, LS. I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this. And like this, too. I didn't want to, but...” She grimaced.

  “Okay. When Z-day happened, well, the military... when the outbreaks first started, they were at the center of everything. They were trying hard to figure out how to reverse it, what caused it... they did everything they could to stop it. And... it got them killed. This isn't something you can fight. It's not something you can reverse or fix. You just have to keep running, and survive. It got t
oo big for us too fast.” She shrugged.

  LS asked slowly, “They just... all died?”

  Alexa grit her teeth. “I just saw news stories, heard rumors. I don't know exactly what happened. All I know is, they thought the same way as you–figured the zoms were weak and slow, so it made them cocky. It took a lot of zoms to bring them down, but from what I heard, they just... overran them.”

  And when LS looked disbelieving, Alexa added dully, “They don't stop. You saw'em back there. They aren't scared of you or of pain or of dying. They don't feel anything. They just keep coming, forever. But people, they aren't like that. They get scared, or tired, or hurt, or afraid of hurting those things. They try to save them, try to connect with them, and it wears them down until they overrun you, and all it takes is one bite...”