Zombies! (Episode 6): Barriers Collapse

by Ivan Turner

  Virtually alone in the ring, Arrick marched around, studying his "opponents", the crowd, the keepers. Between Jeremiah and himself, these people had witnessed a lot that was out of the ordinary that night. There was a space in between two zombies and Arrick took it, standing shoulder to shoulder with them, looking out at the people beyond the cage.

  "What the hell are you?" a keeper asked.

  "I will not fight," Arrick repeated.

  "Get him out," A different voice yelled. "Marcus wants him out."

  All at once, there were four men at the cage door. Three of them used long prods to keep the zombies back while the door was opened. Arrick didn’t give them any trouble. Since he hadn't wanted to go inside in the first place, coming out was something he did voluntarily. He was ushered away by one of the men while the others went in to secure the stock. The noise in the crowd grew. Arrick was taken toward the back of the arena where there was a set of stairs leading up to a makeshift second floor and some offices. He wasn't sure what was about to happen to him and, frankly, a bit more frightened now. But he knew that trying to get away would be a mistake. Not only were the men working the arena upset with him, but the crowd seemed to be calling for his blood. Every time they caught sight of him something was thrown. He was moved quickly up the stairs and into an office.

  The office was in a bit of a shambles, though not totally disorganized. There was an old desk with a chair in the back and some papers on it. There was a computer that seemed state of the art. Its plug and the plugs of its components trailed away to a couple of power strips that were plugged into exposed outlets. The man behind the desk was the complete opposite of his office. Despite his gangster clothing and fierce look, Arrick could instantly detect his upper class air. Of course, he could detect it. He had grown up in its ranks. In addition, this new man exuded a commanding authority.

  "You can go," the man in the office said to the Arrick's escort.

  "You sure?"

  "What? Do you think that because the zombies won't touch him that he's a match for me?"

  Arrick shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Without an answer, the young man just left the room, closing the door behind him.

  "What's your name, Long John Silver?"

  "John Arrick."

  "Scottish?"

  "That's right."

  "My name's Marcus. Nice to meet you."

  Arrick coughed. "Likewise, I suppose."

  Marcus laughed at that. "So what happened? You showed up, ready to take on ten zombies. Everyone thinks you're crazy until you get into the ring and we see that they don't even notice you. Then, instead of fighting and winning, you just stand around doing nothing. It leaves me with a lot of questions."

  "I don't know if I should answer any questions."

  "Mr. Arrick, I want you to understand that there have been a lot of people that came into this warehouse and not all of them got to leave. With all of the people going missing because of the plague, there are very few missing persons investigations nowadays. You understand?"

  Arrick nodded. "I understand. You're threatening me."

  Marcus spread his hands wide. "There you go. So why don't we agree to be honest with each other."

  "Okay," Arrick said. "I agree. You start."

  Marcus raised an eyebrow, surprised by Arrick's guile and boldness. But he conceded. "Okay. You ask the first question."

  "How long have you been doing this?"

  "A few weeks. Brilliant, don't you think?"

  Arrick nodded.

  "My turn. How come the zombies didn't eat you? Did you find some way to camouflage yourself?"

  "More or less," Arrick said. "I've had the disease and recovered."

  Marcus' eyes grew wide. He wasn't sure if he was more surprised by the fact or Arrick's casual admission of it.

  "My turn now," Arrick said. "Why haven't the police shut you down?"

  Marcus almost didn't answer the question. He didn't want to play this game. Still, there was a lot he wanted to know about John Arrick and determined that playing was the best way to get that information. "We have cops who come in to watch and to bet. People tend to see things on Friday and Saturday night and forget about it for a week. You know what I mean?"

  "I suppose I do."

  "You tell me more about you now. I want the whole story before I decide whether or not I believe you."

  Arrick laughed. "You believe what you've seen, don't you? Anyhow, you're the first I've told. I'm not worried that you'll be giving me up to the authorities."

  "So you knew that they wouldn't touch you. We could have put our entire stock in there and you would have been perfectly safe."

  "It seems that way."

  "Then why didn't you fight? You could make a lot of money."

  Arrick lowered his head. "I couldn't. I'd watched all of the other fighters and then Jeremiah…"

  "That guy was a crackpot, one of those zombie rights nuts. You're not one of those guys, are you?"

  Arrick shook his head. "Once you've seen one up close, been bitten by it, you know that there's no person left in there. But it becomes too easy to forget that there was a person in there once. I thought of what I would have to do to kill those ten…zombies and couldn't see myself doing it. Where's the respect for the dead?"

  "Hmmm," Marcus nodded.

  "It was my girlfriend, you see, who bit me. I had to kill her, smash her head against the bathtub."

  "I guess that leaves a mark on a guy," Marcus agreed.

  Nodding, Arrick found himself lost in thought. He was thinking of Suzanna. Had he ever seen her laugh or even smile? Hers had been neither a long nor happy life. Maybe he didn't miss her but he did pity her.

  "I've got a proposition for you," Marcus said. "When I look at you I see a guy who wants some action but doesn't have the heart for it. Still, I think I've got a nice compromise for you. There's good money in it, too."

  Arrick looked up.

  "I understand about respect for the dead but I've got to tell you that the money trumps all of that. Maybe you understand that and maybe you don't. If not, you can just walk out of here and forget you ever saw this place. We wouldn't want to be sharing each other's secrets now, would we?"

  "No," Arrick said. "We certainly would not."

  Marcus smiled. "Capturing and keeping zombies is dangerous work. I lose guys. Not a lot of guys because we're pretty careful about it. You've seen them with their hands tied and the rubber balls in their mouths. But I guess it's a lot safer for you."

  "You want me to be a keeper?"

  "I want you to be the keeper. You handle them when they're free. If my guys find a bunch of them, then you go in and tie them up. What do you say?"

  Arrick thought about it for a moment. "What's the pay?"

  At that, Marcus just smiled.

  ***

  WORKING out the details was surprisingly easy. Despite the inordinate amount of money Marcus was offering him, he was loath to give up his teaching job. In the end, he actually liked teaching. Some people say you only remember the bad students, but that wasn't really true. He remembered the good. It was terribly satisfying to spark an interest in a student. Not because he felt that English literature was so important for the development of a mind, but because it was a tremendous thing to be a part of a discovery. For every student that found an interest in the material Arrick presented, it was a discovery for that student. And it was Arrick, the teacher, who had led the student to that discovery.

  So he would work at night and on the weekends. He had nothing better to do. For a couple of weeks, he would simply do behind the scenes work. Marcus had made good on all of the bets from the debacle that had been Arrick's fight but he still might not be the most popular guy around the arena. He wasn't sure that Marcus trusted him, and even caught sight of a couple of the young men following him the next morning. If it continued, he'd have to say something about it.

  Still, it was only a couple of days later when Arrick found himself in the warehouse an
d unescorted. Late on the weeknights, there were hardly any people there and something urgent had come up. Since it didn't involve zombies, Arrick wasn't needed. Marcus seemed uncomfortable with the prospect of leaving him alone, but Arrick didn't feel like getting involved in other affairs. So Marcus had gone and Arrick had been left free to wander around, check out the grounds and the pens.

  So he did. He didn't feel like going down to the pens, though. Why would he want to see a bunch of bound and gagged zombies? Instead of heading downstairs, he explored the offices upstairs. Most of the rooms were storage rooms. He found paper goods and some snacks and soft drinks. One room was filled with medical supplies. Good stuff, too. There was a refrigerator with some bags of blood and IV pouches. There were needles and medicines. There were even surgical supplies. He wasn't sure which of the street trash he'd run across had the skill to perform surgery. Maybe Marcus himself was a doctor. He was certainly much more than he let on. Everything about him said he was an educated and successful man.

  There was one door that Arrick found was locked. His first instinct was to leave it. He was not the inquisitive type. But as he turned away, he heard a curious sound from behind hit. It was like a moaning. Zombies? A special zombie? But he didn't smell anything. Studying the lock, he found that it was nothing more than the locks you find on a bathroom or bedroom door. If he had something small and flat, he could easily open it. First, he ran his fingers along the top of the door frame but there was nothing. He thought for a moment. Perhaps he would find something among the medical supplies.

  As he made his way back around the front, he spared a moment to peek at the arena. It seemed deserted but he guessed that he didn't have a whole lot of time. Quickly steeling into the medical room, he chose a selection of narrow instruments and went quickly back to the locked door. Before he went to work on the lock, he pressed his ear to the door. Moaning. Breathing. Definitely someone was behind there.

  Before he could think twice about the decision he was making, he fiddled with the medical instruments, found a probe that fit into the tiny hole, and jiggled it a bit. When it caught, he turned it and felt the knob on the other side turn with it. Carefully, he opened the door and peaked in.

  The room was dark and mostly empty. There was a bed and a bedside table with a small light on it. The light gave off a faint glow. There was someone in the bed and there was an IV stand with a tube trailing to the person's arm. Arrick went in and closed the door behind him. His first thought was that Marcus was conducting some sort of zombie experiment. As he got closer, he could see that the person in the bed was shirtless but wrapped around the middle with bandages. A red spot spread out from the middle.

  "Hello? Are you all right?"

  The moaning grew and the patient's head turned.

  "My God!" Arrick exclaimed. Never sure what to expect, what he saw took him completely by surprise. The person in the bed was no zombie. It was one of his students. It was Shawn Rudd.

  ***

  The walls protecting the characters of Zombies! are beginning to crumble and their conflicts are coming to bear. Next month, John Arrick must search his soul and make the choice he's been avoiding ever since recovering from the infection. Abby's need to face her trauma starts to take its toll on her marriage, leaving her feeling as if she's choosing between two men, Martin and Peter. The zombies may be out there eating the flesh of the living and spreading their foul germ, but they are not the most dangerous thing these people have to face. How could they be when the people now discovered each other? Resolve some Conflicts of Interest in a month's time with Zombies! Episode 7.

  Author's Note: Zombies! is designed as a ten part series. Come June, I will release the last episode to a group of readers who I desperately hope will be satisfied. As the story progresses, I find myself thinking more and more about what happens next…after Episode 10. The question is whether or not anyone else is interested. So I'm asking you. Would you like to see a second series of Zombies!? Send me an email or message me on facebook or just tweet at me to let me know if you want these books to start up again in September.

  As always, you have my immeasurable gratitude for your readership.

  ***

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  Spread the infection! If you like this series, please recommend it to friends and family and other lovers of zombie stories. Writers put words on paper, but readers bring those words to life.

  Have questions or comments for the author? Send me an email at gnrlwoundwort@gmail.com. You can also look me up on facebook or start following me on twitter. Your comments are always welcome!

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  Be sure to check out what happens when the Jury starts punishing people for their crimes in past lives and sets their sites on a rabbi who is believed to have been Adolf Hitler in The Book of Revelations, available for all your reading devices from all of your ebook stores.

  For an epic (and involuntary) journey through time at a breakneck pace, join Mathew Cristian as he narrates his adventures as a Forty Leaper. Forty Leap is available for all your reading devices from all of your ebook stores. Read the first half for free.