Zombie Ascension (Book 1): Necropolis Now

by Vincenzo Bilof

  For all the action he'd experienced as a detective, he never drew his gun on a perp without other officers around him. He used to help hunt down jealous boyfriends and vengeful housewives. He helped find cracked-out gangbangers like the weapons dealers who worked for Vincent Hamilton's group of thugs, but he never had a showdown with a murderer. He never drew his gun to defend himself.

  Griggs could feel the bile rising in his throat as Richard's impossibly burnt flesh was exposed by the fiery nightscape. Boils leaked pus over the man's formerly white wife-beater shirt, and Griggs could smell the familiar rot of an aging corpse. Maggots writhed along the top of Richard's scalp, and they slipped over his forehead and around his ears. The flesh along his face had thinned against the skull, and as Richard reached for Griggs, the former detective could see the shrunken skin along the fingers that had withered; the yellow fingernails seemed much longer.

  "No…" finally escaped through Griggs's mouth.

  The man looked like he had been dead for days, but here he was, standing upright and looking into the porn director's face with rheumy eyes. It had to be a trick of some kind. Griggs was acting like a scared little girl, when Richard was simply playing a joke on him.

  "Let's at least get started," Nikki suggested, wrapping her arms around the strip-club bouncer. "I'll get you in the mood, and you just relax. I know this might be part of the script and all, but you don't have to act the part."

  It wasn't in any script.

  Richard cupped her enhanced breasts in his hands and opened his mouth. He kissed the top of her chest until pools of blood formed over the edges of his lips.

  Nikki screamed.

  Richard ripped a strip of flesh away from Nikki's chest with his teeth. Griggs looked into a mouth full of yellow, crooked teeth. The black tongue rolled out over cracked, blue lips.

  Griggs shoved Nikki aside and found himself wrestling with Richard.

  Richard was incredibly strong and easily jerked Griggs forward. The former detective resisted and his feet betrayed him by twisting awkwardly. He slipped backward and his arm struck the lamp on the way down, knocking it over with a loud crash as the bulb shattered. Richard was on top of him and their legs were tangled together.

  Griggs kept his hand on the wet, leathery flesh of Richard's throat. He reached for the 9mm, and didn’t think twice about what he was going to do with it.

  Distantly, he could hear Nikki's shrill screams as the soundtrack to the violent struggle. Firelight danced in Richard's inhuman eyes. Griggs breathed in the sour smell of his attacker's rotted flesh.

  Richard raised his fist to bring it down upon Griggs's face. The 9mm was yanked free from its holster, and Griggs fired three times into his attacker's stomach.

  Richard didn't so much as flinch.

  Griggs shoved his gun into the man's open mouth and squeezed the trigger. The top of Richard's skull exploded. Maggots rained down upon his face as Richard's body sagged and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Holding the man up with one hand around his throat and the 9mm still in his jaw, Griggs grunted while he attempted to push the dead man aside. He quickly brushed the maggots off his face and clothes, and he grabbed the edge of the nightstand while trying to stand once again.

  Nikki was crouched on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. She rocked back and forth, whimpering and shaking her head in disbelief.

  "Oh, my God, Richard…. you killed him. You killed Richard…. oh my God. I'm bleeding so much… there's so much blood. I don't know what to do, it hurts so MUCH!"

  "Your makeup is gonna run if you keep that up," Griggs stared at the corpse. What the hell was going on? His heart was still racing from the encounter. What had possessed the man to cover himself with maggots? He tried to think of a drug that might be able to affect a man the way it did Richard. Whatever it was, it had to be something new.

  "I just wanna go home…" Nikki moaned through her tears.

  Griggs picked up the portable DVD player that he'd loaned Richard for the evening so he could watch the videos. The tiny device had been burnt to a crisp, and it felt warm in his hands.

  He sighed. "I don't think I'll get my money back."

  MINA

  Jake Wells rose to his feet when he should have been dead, and Mina lost herself in the madness that helped land her at Eloise Fields in the first place.

  Jim Traverse gently grabbed her elbow and lifted her to her feet. When she collapsed again, the Artist effortlessly scooped her over his shoulder.

  Her shrieks burned her throat.

  How could they be real?

  The helicopter still circled overhead, and its noise drowned all of her thoughts in its immensity. Several of the former inmates, orderlies, and doctors stumbled awkwardly over the lawn, and Mina saw them for what they really were.

  She was only afraid whenever she closed her eyes and dreamt. Now, for the first time since Daddy began to punish her for taking Mommy away, Mina was afraid.

  "Please don't let them get me!" Mina pleaded, though it was unlikely Traverse could hear her over the helicopter.

  Jim sat her down against the side of a car in the parking lot and looked into her face. His roving eyes found hers, and he gently stroked her face to get her attention.

  "Some friends of mine are coming to get me," he said. "But we can't go with them. We have other things we need to do. Stay with me, and follow my lead, and I'll be able to help you."

  "Are they... zombies?" Mina managed to say through fearful gasps.

  Jim looked over his shoulder at the slow-moving crowd. A swarm of dead inmates were kneeling around another body, and limbs were being dragged across the concrete away from the scene. The dead were covered in their own blood; some of them were missing limbs, while another trailed its intestines through a gaping hole where the stomach used to be. The corpses were distracted by the buffet of flesh, and only a couple of them were aware of Jim and Mina.

  Between them, the only weapon they had was the bloody club in Jim's fist.

  "The living dead," Jim nodded as if it hardly mattered. "You and I are both responsible for their existence. It will take some explaining on my part, but I've been looking forward to this for a while, now. We'll have a lot of fun with it. You'll see."

  Several concrete-camouflaged military Humvees and trucks arrived on the scene, along with other armored vehicles Mina didn't recognize.

  "This is going to be confusing for a few minutes," he explained. "Just follow along, and you'll be well-rewarded."

  One of the Humvees stopped directly across the street from them, and the other vehicles stopped. Several soldiers leapt out of the vehicles and began to take up positions while orders were shouted at them.

  Jim pointed to commander, who barked orders at his men as the crowd of corpses noticed them. "That's an old friend of mine. Nick Crater. I should have killed him a long time ago, but I never took him seriously. He's here for me, but he thinks I'm inside. We have the element of surprise on our side."

  The helicopter shined a spotlight down upon Eloise Fields as Mina watched entire groups of people surround others and fold on top of them, taking down their prey like pack animals. Everyone she knew from Eloise Fields, besides Jim, was likely dead.

  Mina heard one of the soldiers demand that someone stop coming toward them. Even when Jim said the word, she still found it hard to believe. How could the creatures from her nightmares exist? They were nothing more than movie monsters, right?

  Zombies.

  "Stop, or we’ll open fire!"

  "Stay where you are!"

  "Don't come any closer!"

  The helicopter's spotlight swept over the green lawn in front of the hospital.

  Gunfire erupted all around them. Car windows shattered while tires popped and sagged. Bullets pinged off the concrete and made holes in the cars while the former inmates from Eloise Fields moved toward the soldiers.

  Mina tried to plug her ears against the noise, but Jim grabbed her hand once again and pulled he
r to her feet.

  "Stay down," Jim said while leading her in a circle around several shambling corpses, their bodies shaking wildly from the storm of gunfire. But Mina wasn't afraid. Not with Jim leading the way. The bullets would be an easy death for her. She knew what it felt like to have her flesh consumed, her limps ripped from her body.

  Jim suddenly let go of her hand when they stood near the driver's side of one of the Humvees. A soldier had taken up position in front, kneeling on the concrete while his finger leaned on the trigger of his assault rifle.

  "Over here!" Jim shouted. "We need help! Behind you, please!"

  The soldier pivoted around and pointed his gun at them. "What the hell?"

  "Help us!" Jim pleaded. "This woman's hurt!"

  "Goddammit!" the soldier put his hand to his helmet in an effort to communicate with one of his fellows. In the darkness, he couldn't see Jim or Mina's faces clearly, something that was working in their favor if he was specifically looking for Jim. He waved them toward the vehicle with his weapon while he attempted to shout into his headset, his body bulging with armor and gear.

  Mina never would have expected what came next. Jim moved in a blur of motion, kicking the assault rifle aside and slamming Jake's club into the soldier's throat. The man collapsed, and Jim shoved his head against the door, knocking him out completely, the helmet sliding off his head. Jim moved efficiently, opening the door and lifting the unconscious soldier off the ground with strength that the lanky serial killer shouldn't have possessed.

  After throwing the soldier into the Humvee, he waved Mina over, and she leapt into the vehicle.

  With gunfire and screams all around her, she knew what she had to do, and what she wanted to do. Her stomach grumbled.

  She could hear a soldier's voice, maybe Crater's, shouting to his men while the dead kept coming. "Headshots only! Move out and secure the building!"

  The soldier on the seat groaned, and Mina looked back to Jim.

  He smirked broadly. "Well now, darling, I'm sure you're quite famished. Go ahead and dig in. I'd love to see your pretty smile."

  She wanted it, more than anything. Maybe if she enjoyed this man's flesh, the zombies would disappear completely, and she would awaken from this vivid nightmare. She had to hope.

  "Don't move! Put your hands up! Now!"

  An assault rifle was pointed at them from a soldier who stood outside of the door. Jim put his hands up and rolled his eyes. Mina's hands rose slowly.

  "Get those hands up high! HIGH!"

  "Your friends are getting killed," Jim said, "and you're standing here pointing your weapon at two escaped nut-jobs. Seems like you got your priorities straight, buddy."

  "I've got a John Doe who might be our target, need confirmation," the soldier said into his headset. "I've got a man down…"

  The helicopter's spotlight swept over them, Mina could see the familiar afro appear behind their captor, and Mina opened her mouth to scream. She could feel her heart throbbing against her chest, and instead of screaming, a single name escaped through her mouth.

  "Jake," she squeaked.

  The dead version of Jake Wells grabbed the soldier's arms and bit into the back of his neck, spraying blood across the windshield and all over Jim's face. Jim dove over Mina as bullets sprayed over their heads while the soldier screamed in agony. Jake pushed his prey to the ground, and the gun continued to fire wildly into the sky. Jim and Mina kept their hands over their heads until the machine gun abruptly stopped. The dying man's tortured gurgles had replaced the sound of his weapon.

  "Jake was such a nice young man," Jim said. "I hope he enjoys his meal. And you do the same."

  Jim grabbed the assault rifle that belonged to the unconscious soldier they had captured. He sighed and said. "I'm not really a fan of guns, you know. There's nothing pretty or even remotely artistic about shooting a gun. But, well, troubled times call for drastic measures."

  He slid out of the window and positioned himself over the Humvee's roof. He squeezed the trigger for a short, controlled burst, and the rear of the chopper exploded, causing the entire bird to spin chaotically. It lost altitude and tipped awkwardly until its blades slashed across the roofs of several cars. Corpses were chopped into pieces by the grinding blades, as metal screamed with the chopper's crash into the parking lot.

  Jim eased himself behind the steering wheel again and positioned the smoking assault rifle against the dashboard. "Good to know I've still got it."

  He turned the key in the ignition and stepped on the gas pedal. As suddenly as she had been thrust into the nightmare scenario, Mina was leaving Eloise Fields behind. She watched as the hospital faded into the distance while soldiers struggled in their battle against the undead.

  Her stomach grumbled again.

  Mina wanted to ask questions, but Jim turned to her just as the soldier they'd taken captive groaned.

  "I've got a lot of fans who adore me," Jim said. "But let's talk about you for a moment."

  Mina didn't know what to say. "Well, um, thank you, for um, saving me. I liked it. You're strong."

  "They’re not going to find us. I grew up here, so I know these streets a lot better than they do. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Let me drive and you can… eat."

  Mina shuddered. "I want to make them go away. Maybe if I do this, I'll wake up, and I’ll be back in my bed beneath the covers. Maybe the doctor gave me a really heavy dosage of something new."

  "This is real," Jim said. "You need to wrap your head around it. This was going to happen at some point, it was only a matter of when. Especially after what I saw in Egypt. You have no idea what's in store for the human race. The end of the world will be the most beautiful moment in history."

  "You said I had something to do with it."

  "You're the temporal gateway, but that's a little complicated. I'm worried about you. I always thought the doctors would screw you up, maybe get a little too curious, but I'm not exactly sure how it happened. We can talk about that later. We'll have plenty of time."

  Mina remembered the video she made for Patrick before the cops arrested her. She never intended for anything terrible to happen, but she couldn't help herself. The strange voice that spoke to her while she ate the actor was something she could never forget.

  The memory of that meal reminded her of the opportunity she had, once again. There was no moral ambiguity at stake, because she had been more than willing to eat Jake.

  The soldier groaned again, and Mina took a deep breath.

  ***

  Her victim's eyes fluttered open while she loomed over him. His stale breath warmed her face as she kissed his throat. His skin was cold, and his sweat was salty. She kissed him below the chin, gently biting him as a lover would. She could feel the tension in his body loosen as he slowly awakened.

  "It's just a bad dream," Mina softly caressed his face.

  His hand was on the back of her head when she bit hard enough to fill her mouth full of his blood. He cried out, and she held on to his shoulders while he tried to wrench her head away from his bleeding jugular. He finally managed to jerk her back, and she could see the blood gush all over the Humvee's upholstered seat.

  The soldier wrapped his strong hands around her throat. She smeared his own blood across his face while she choked. His hands were incredibly strong, and he was desperate to live. He slammed her against the dashboard, and strands of her red hair obscured her vision momentarily. Blood oozed over his gear, and it was all she could to grab his bleeding neck and hold on while he slammed her back against the dashboard again.

  The butt of the assault rifle struck him hard in the side of the head and he wavered, his strength failing as consciousness fled. His grip slackened, and Mina turned to see Jim smirk.

  "I just want to make you happy," he said. "Bon appétit, my dear."

  Mina's heart raced from the excitement as she plunged her face into his throat and tore at his exposed skin with her teeth. She wrapped her arms tightly around his body
and gorged herself. Her body tingled, and she could feel warmth flood her body, a sensation she didn't know she missed, a feeling she associated with the videos her and Patrick made together.

  She writhed against the soldier's warm, urine-wet crotch while his blood filled her mouth. His skin tasted like dirty rubber, but as she swallowed a mouthful, her body shook with pleasure. She gasped and spread her legs across his waist.

  Mina greedily plunged her face into his throat again, rubbing her face in his blood. She grinded her pelvis against him while she bit where she believed his veins might be hiding.

  Thick, syrupy blood sprayed her face and temporarily blinded her. She opened her mouth to welcome the gory shower. She ran her fingers through her hair and felt the rush of warmth that flared up from her groin. Stars exploded in front of her eyes and the tips of her toes tingled. Her body felt numb and weak; she could no longer hold herself upright above him. She collapsed against his face and took another bite out of his cheek.

  The soldier finally died. She tugged on his ear lobe with her teeth.

  Jim's voice finally crashed through her distorted sense of acoustics. "You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, Mina. You've inspired me to do something… memorable."

  He fumbled with the radio; static screams and gunshots replaced the ordered reports they expected to hear. The radio was useless.

  Mina licked at the blood on her lips. She shoved her fingers into her mouth to suck on her bloody fingertips. Her victim's body was still warm, but she felt satisfied. She used to think if she had the chance to eat again, she would greedily devour each inch of flesh and leave nothing but a pile of bones.

  Jim drove casually through the fiery city, ignoring the people who ran into the street. Mina couldn't tell if they were alive or dead.

  Jim said, "I'm interested to know what foul tragedies deprived you of humanity. While I find a haven for us, share those terrifying images that would shake the soul of a man. Tell me who you are."

  Mina briefly explained her story.

  "I think you can predict something happened to me when I was a little girl. It shouldn't surprise you," she began.