Time of Death 01: Induction

by Shana Festa

  "Wrap this around the crowbar. Maybe it’ll muffle the sound a bit." The noise was still noticeable, but the sound of the storm drowned out the worst of it. The shutters were about a foot high each so we only needed to pull two off the window. I peered inside the house and saw Kat’s face looking back at me. She was a mess. Her eyes were red and puffy, and streaks of dried tears lined her face. She kept looking over her shoulder at the door and made panicked motions at us. I mouthed open the window to her and she started fiddling with the lock.

  Jake was working on the second shutter, the last barrier in our way, when the window cracked open and Kat began pushing it up. It stopped after a few inches and wouldn’t budge. The shutter popped free and Jake threw it to the side.

  "The window’s jammed," said Kat. "It won’t budge."

  Jake and I added our efforts to the window to no avail. I pulled on the window with such strain that my nose, which had finally stopped gushing, started to bleed again, and the blood dripped into my mouth.

  "Kat, listen to me. The window isn’t going to cooperate. We need to close it and break out the glass for you to get through." As the last of the words exited my mouth, I heard the sound of a heavy object slide across the wooden floor.

  Kat looked over her shoulder into the darkness of the room. "Oh God, they’re getting in."

  Jake hammered the glass with the crowbar, and it shattered into the room. "Now, Kat! Give me your hands and jump up." Her head and shoulder fit through with ease, but as her torso came through she screamed in pain.

  "Stop! The glass is cutting me." I heard the desk slide against the floor again. The open doorway bathed the room in a dull light, and I saw first the hands, then arms, and heads of Kat’s husband and daughters as they made easy work of the blocking desk. We gave another hard tug on Kat. She screamed in pain as the jagged glass of the window dug into her skin. I could see the blood starting to pool on the window sill as the glass dug deeper with every pull. "We can’t stop! There’s no other way."

  Tears stung my eyes and threatened to spill over when I realized we were fighting a losing battle. Lilly, the smallest of her family, had made it through the opening of the door and was making her way across the room. Our ongoing attempts to free Kat were gutting her like a fish. I raised the gun and took aim at Lilly. Kat, realizing what I was about to do, batted the gun from my hand. Unable to come to terms with the knowledge that her daughter was gone and something else animated her corpse, she sealed her own fate with one final act of protecting her child.

  Kat looked at me and she saw her fate in my eyes. "Help me. Please, Emma, help me. Don’t let me die like this." That unspoken accusation was the last thing Kat said to me as her daughter bit into her foot, severing two of her toes at the same time. Jake was still pulling to no avail, and Kat’s screams of pain cut through the very fiber of my being. I began pulling at Kat’s shirt and torso wildly as I watched her daughter, now joined by her sister and father, gorge on her flesh.

  Kat’s body convulsed as she lost consciousness and Jake pulled me away. "Em, it’s too late. There’s nothing we can do for her now. She’s gone." Her head was dangling out of the window, blood sliding down the wall like dripping paint.

  I fell to my knees and cried for the loss of my friend. Minutes passed as I knelt there in despair. I could hear the wet slurping sound coming from Kat’s bottom half as they ate her. This would be my nightmare for the rest of my life, no doubt to be a short one. I stared at Kat’s lifeless body and remembered all the times we shared. Just twenty-four hours ago we were trading gossip at the salon, discussing our futures. A future she would never get to live. "I’m sorry, Kat. I will never forget you." I rose to my feet and retrieved the gun. I felt the weight in my hand and knew that I couldn’t leave her like that.

  I aimed the gun at her head and exhaled a long breath. I closed my eyes in silent prayer, and when I opened them again, I saw that Kat’s had also opened and were trained on me. Gone were those kind eyes of hers, now replaced with the opaque empty abyss of death. I said a mental goodbye and pulled the trigger before Jake could yell at me for firing a gun with a barrel full of mud.

  * * *

  Chapter 08

  Dutch Oven

  The gunshot acted like a beacon for all the dead in the immediate vicinity and they made their way to us. The nameless, hideous creatures had just one face: Kat’s. I became vaguely aware of Jake shaking me through my haze. I stared down at my hands and the gun I still held. My finger remained on the trigger and I trembled with the shock of my actions.

  We got in the SUV, and Jake drove slowly away from Kat’s. His hands gripped the steering wheel like it was a white-knuckle ride. We rode in silence as Alicia lay dead to the world in the backseat. I pulled out my phone and was greeted with the ominous no service icon. Figures. As if I expected my touch to be magic, I tried calling my parents, then Jake’s parents, with no success. We drove slowly to avoid the obstacle course that now obstructed our path. In addition to the cars and staggering figures, the storm gifted us with branches and debris.

  We turned down a side street and a flickering on the phone’s screen caught my attention. I examined the phone and discovered the data connection was active. We were picking up a wireless connection from one of the nearby houses. "Jake, stop. I've got a Wi-Fi signal."

  Jake eased the car to a stop and looked around the neighborhood. We spotted a few zombies, but they were close to the end of the street, and no immediate danger to us. The phone showed two bars. We reversed the car until we found a sweet spot and the signal strength jumped up to four bars. Gotta love smart phones. Even in the apocalypse, my iPhone came through for me. Once again, I tried to place calls to our families; once again my attempt failed. I decided to change tactics. "Siri, call The Fords." I figured there was always the possibility that I could get through to my parents through Siri—my phone’s automated assistant. The whirlygig (my technical term since I had no idea what else to call it) turned and I held my breath in anticipation. The phone beeped and Siri responded, "Calling the Morgue."

  "Okay, that's just sick, and wrong...it's just plain wrong. Emma: zero. Siri: five-hundred thirty-eight. Snarky bitch wins again." Of course, my curiosity won over and I let the call go through. The no service icon flashed on the screen again and the call failed. Siri and I had a love-hate relationship. She loved to screw with me, and I hated her. I brought the phone close to my face and pushed the button to talk.

  "Siri, you're going to hell for that."

  "If you insist, Emma."

  "Fuck off."

  "Did I do something wrong?"

  "While I love me a good Siri bashing, do you think now is the best time?" Jake was still scanning our surroundings, ready to hit the gas at the first sign of danger. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was annoyed.

  I tried the phone’s browser, but I couldn't get any sites to load. "So much for Wi-Fi. Now what?"

  "Now, we need to figure out a safe place to hide for the night. I'm hungry, too. And that sky is making me nervous." The sky had turned from a dull gray to nearly black. Lightning shot down intermittently, followed closely by loud claps of thunder that made me jump. Daphne began whining from the floor by my seat. Jake eyed me questioningly. "When was the last time she went to the bathroom?"

  "Not since last night. Her highness refused to get her fur wet." I looked down at my pooch, and she was making little circles on the floorboard. "I think I'll be able to amend that answer in about thirty seconds, though. If we don't want to deal with that mess in the car, then we'd better let her go. Now that you mention bathroom, I have to pee like nobody’s business. Do you think it's safe to pop a squat here?"

  Jake sighed. His shoulders sagged, and he looked drained of energy. "Define safe," he said. "I'm not sure anywhere is safe anymore, but I don't see anything close. So I guess this is as safe as it gets. Just don't wander away from the car and make it fast."

  I took one more look around, seeing nothing, and opened the
door. Daphne shot out of the car like a cannonball and ran to the closest patch of grass. If a dog could express relief, her face was definitely saying it. I dug in the center console for some napkins and uttered a well-deserved thank you to the Dunkin Donut's drive thru attendant for always packing more than I needed into my donut bag.

  I got out and noticed Daphne was finished with her little dance and was refueling out of a puddle. I gave one more cursory glance around and dropped my jeans to the ground. My cheeks grew red from embarrassment when I thought of all the nearby residents seeing my bare ass as I hovered over the asphalt. Then I realized there probably weren't any left alive to see me. Finishing quickly, I scooped a wet Daphne into my arms and moved back toward the car. Jake had relieved himself in half the time it took me and waited behind the wheel for us to finish.

  I put on the best smile I could muster and asked, "Where to, Captain?"

  Jake didn't answer at first. He wore his thinking face. Finally, he looked out my window at the houses lining the street. "I think we should find a house and hunker down for the night." The zombies at the end of the street had taken notice of our loitering and were on their way to roll out the welcome wagon. "Let's try to find a street with no activity and find something safe."

  "And then what?"

  "And then we batten down the hatches and try to find food and a soft bed for the night."

  I looked at Jake, exhaling like a deflating balloon, and said solemnly, "No, Jake, and then what? We can’t settle down in someone else's home and expect to survive. What about our family? Our friends?"

  "One day at a time, baby. Let's get through tonight. Tomorrow we can discuss what to do next." He pulled the car off the shoulder and made a U-turn.

  As Jake drove in search of a zombie free neighborhood, I fiddled with the dial on the radio. The satellite was out due to the weather, so I switched over to FM. We were greeted with static. Either no one was broadcasting, or the storm was affecting them as well. For my own sanity, I opted for option B. I was still drenched from the rain and shivering from cold. I turned on the heat and cranked the windshield defrost to give Jake as much visibility as the rain allowed.

  The smell hit me and I recoiled from Jake. "Jesus, Jake. Why didn't you just take a shit when we stopped?" I wrinkled my nose in disgust and gave him a dirty look. "You could have at least cracked a window or something! Today is not the day for ninja farts!"

  "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

  "Riiiight. I know you let one rip," I said, dragging out the word. Daphne growled and her body went rigid in my arms. "See? Even the dog doesn't believe you! Your ass smells like death warmed over, buddy."

  Realization hit both of us then. Our eyes went wide and we started to turn in our seats. Alicia's upper body plunged through the opening between the seats and she grabbed hold of my hair. Daphne went ballistic, drowning the car with her shrill barks. She lunged at Alicia but was knocked to the floor by one of my flailing arms.

  "Get her off! Jesus fucking Christ, Jake! Get her off me." Alicia snapped at my face as I tore my head out of her reach and effectively ripped out the handful of hair she still held in her grasp.

  The car swerved as Jake and I tried to fight her off. Jake managed to keep one hand on the wheel, but considering that he was turned in his seat and using his other hand to bat Alicia away, I was pretty sure we would lose our safe driver discount. To an onlooker, the scene probably looked like a bad Jerry Springer episode. You stole my man, bitch! He ain’t your baby’s daddy!

  Arms flailed, mostly mine, and we managed to hold Alicia at bay. I took hold of her wrists and spread them apart to keep her from gouging out my eyes. This strategy would have worked if she hadn’t been attempting to eat my face. With our arms held out, our faces were mere inches apart. I was up close and personal with the stench I wrongly accused Jake of making. I could feel Daphne scratching at my jeans unsuccessfully trying to gain purchase to climb onto my lap.

  Alicia opened her mouth and snapped at me, which caused a line of spittle to land on my cheek and ooze down. I was thankful I hadn’t eaten since lunch because I had no doubt that it would have made a second appearance.

  Her skin looked sallow and dark spider veins crept up her neck and onto her cheeks. Each time she opened her mouth, little cracks at the corners split and grew bigger. She snapped at me like a rabid dog, biting her tongue as she clamped down on nothing and severing it from her mouth. The tip of her tongue fell limply to the center console as coagulated clumps of blood leaked out of the wound and stuck to the interior of the car.

  I did my best to look for the gun with my peripheral vision but came up empty. The crowbar lay between Jake’s seat and the center console and I yelled at him to use it. As he reached down, his hand on the wheel slipped and the car swung hard to the right. He righted the wheel and swung the crowbar wildly in our direction. And the motherfucker missed Alicia and clipped me in the side of the head. Dazed, I fell backwards and my ass got stuck in the foot well, effectively trapping me. Jake whacked away at Alicia while I was folded up like a sandwich and virtually kissing my knees. My lower legs bobbed and weaved to avoid her deathly bite. Daphne, now completely trapped in the tiny space behind my back, made muffled noises and sniffed for an exit. She found an exit, all right, but not one she was going to escape through. I squealed as her wet nose burrowed into the crack of my ass.

  Alicia turned her attention to Jake and I thought all was lost when she got close enough to brush his ear with her teeth. He let go of the wheel to fend her off, and there was a sickening crunch as the SUV collided with a parked car. The momentum caused Alicia to fly forward. Glass shattered as her head impacted with the window and her body went limp. Her legs dangled lifelessly in front of me, an inflamed bite clearly visible on her left calf.

  Dammit, I hate when he’s right.

  The airbag deployed, disorienting Jake for a couple seconds. He shoved it down and flinched at the grisly sight.

  "A little help over here, please?" I said.

  The collision had caused the hood of the car to invert, making the pressure from the pushed in dashboard painful. Jake ran around to my side and pulled me free. I dove back into the car in a tizzy and reached for Daphne. She leapt into my arms and nuzzled my neck. I found the gun under the seat and put it down the front of my pants, its cold metal a shock to my skin.

  The front of the car was ruined. Alicia’s head stuck out of the gaping hole in the windshield, her features an unrecognizable mass of gore. I followed the trail of blood and broken glass to see the demolished hood of the SUV twisted around the rear of a blue Volkswagen Beetle. The back window had one of those Baby-On-Board stickers in the corner and various other stickers that I couldn’t make out under the wreckage that lined the bumper. The rest of the car looked pristine; the only thing out of place, other than the fact that my car was humping it, was the single bloody handprint on the driver’s side window.

  * * *

  Chapter 09

  Bachelor Pad

  With Daphne still shaking in my arms, I walked to the window and peered in. At first I didn’t see anything, until I moved to the backseat window. A woman knelt on the seat. She was covered in blood and bent over something obscured from view. Daphne growled at the figure and let loose a stream of high-pitched barks. Before I could clamp my hand over her muzzle, the woman noticed us outside the window. She looked up at me, those dead eyes drilling fiery holes into me. The movement revealed a child’s car seat. I struggled to catch my breath as I took in the horror scene before me. Strapped into the car seat was an infant. Both arms had been eaten away and her stomach cavity ripped to shreds. Intestines covered the seat and hung from the woman’s hand as she bit down and savored her banquet.

  I stumbled backwards in revulsion and ran into Jake. I turned and buried my head in his chest. "I can’t take this. It’s too much," I cried. "No one should have to see this stuff."

  "I know, Em, but you need to be strong. It’s real, and it�
��s happening. We need to make sure it doesn’t happen to us." Daphne pushed on my stomach with her paws, her way of letting me know we were squishing her between us. "We need to get off the street. Find a safe place to sleep before it gets dark. God’s really decided to fuck with us today, and the storm is getting worse."

  Daphne woofed her displeasure at still being smushed and Jake reprimanded her. "You need to keep her quiet. Her barking is like ringing a dinner bell, and we’re the main course." I pressed my lips into the fur behind her ears and began whispering to her. She liked that for some reason; it relaxed her. Of course, I followed it up with kisses so it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why she enjoyed it.

  The neighborhood became more active as we stood there wasting time. If we didn't move fast, we would have some unwanted company in minutes. Jake took my free hand and pulled me through the nearest lawn. "We need to find a different street," he said. "One where the natives don't already know we're here."

  We crept behind the row of houses and into a new subdivision. The rain continued to come down in torrents. The area on the street looked untouched by debris though. With our backs to the wall of a nearby house, we poked our head around the corner to check for any undead, and simultaneously scanned for potential places to hide for the night.

  One house in particular stood out as a possibility. Unlike neighboring houses, this one had no cars in the driveway. Since there was no garage, we didn't have to worry about one hidden away. A weeks’ worth of newspapers were piled at the front door and the mailbox, its broken door hanging limp, was filled with mail. A six-foot privacy fence bordered the backyard, gate intact.

  "I don't think we're going to find anything better. We need to move before we're noticed. On three, we'll run to the back gate. Stay low and stay quiet. Ready?"

  I nodded my head and prepared to run.