by catt dahman
“You just like to bite young girls?” Hannah asked, “what’s wrong with you? That’s sick. Were you playing at being a zombie…seeing what it felt like?”
“Pervert,” Sadie added.
“He didn’t do that,” Peggy said.
“I have no reason to lie. The tissue was bruised and bitten before her death. You can see it in his eyes; he did it, or was it Thomas? Both maybe?” Ponce suggested.
Peggy looked at her husband in confusion.
“They are masters of lies,” Hank said.
For some reason, the old arguments were wearing thin, and four of her children were dead and unburied. Hank should just stop saying the same old things.
“He bit Shelly; he tortured her,” Ponce said.
Peggy stood but didn’t make any moves at those holding guns. “I’m just tired. They can have me.” Ponce reached for her, but she pulled away and walked to the door.
Any one of them could have forcibly pulled her back, but instead, they just watched her. Things George drilled into them filled their minds as they wondered what the woman’s terms were. Her children cried out, but her husband didn’t make a sound as she opened the door, went out, and closed it behind her.
Sadie went to a window that had a peephole and looked out.
Peggy swept her arms around herself as she twirled in the yard, attracting the three zombies that were still around. For a while, she playfully darted away, but then, as she was grabbed, she went silent and solemn until the first bite.
She screamed a long time, but she didn’t fight the monsters that bit off her fingers and then tore out her throat. When she bled out, her face, locked in pain, still seemed far away.
Jet motioned to Samuel, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. “Get up, and get out; if you survive, you do, but I doubt you will. Go!”
Elizabeth refused.
Jet finally got Dave to help, and they forcibly hauled the three out the door and slammed it. As long as the other zombies stayed with their mother and the trio ran, they’d make it out of the yard without a problem.
Elizabeth saw her mother, partially eaten, twitching back to become a dead zed. The Reds were still hungry and moaned. Finally, the survival instinct kicked in, and the girl took her brother’s hand, and they ran for the woods. Rebecca followed a little behind.
Hannah itched to shoot them in the legs as they ran but didn’t. Rebecca tripped, and Hannah turned away, not even curious now.
“That’s called mercy,” Jet told Hank, who sat alone on the sofa. The man stared back without emotion. “Your kids might live and grow up with a little bit of sense now, away from you.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong. No one asked you to come hurt my family.”
“Dave did. He asked, and we did. Do you think normal, sane people could hear that you were kidnapping people and feeding them to zombies in a basement and not try to stop it?” Jet asked.
“My children,” Hank said stubbornly.
“Mister, they were gone as soon as they were infected. Just their bodies were left. The right thing would have been to let them have peace: put them down and bury them with dignity. No one would want to live as one of those things.”
For the first time, Hank’s eyes wavered, looking confused. “I loved them, though.”
“Shelly was my girl,” the woman said, “I loved her.”
Hank cast her a look of further disapproval.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Jet told her, “I’m sorry you needed to know how she died.”
“Unlike people such as him….” She looked at Hank. “I understand facts and truth; he’s just a pervert hiding behind religion. Everyone hides behind something, but he’s insulted my faith. I am Christian, the real kind.” Hawking back in her throat, she spat a wad of phlegm into Hank’s face. “Go to hell, buddy.”
Ponce felt guiltier about eating the flesh; he struggled not to vomit, and he caught Hannah’s gaze on him.
She easily taught him a valuable lesson that he’d never forget and that would punish him for being the cause of this botched rescue. She might be crazy, but she was also Beth’s daughter in the way she handed out bitter pills and lessons on the hardship of being human or half-human and having self-hatred.
He would never forget this or stop feeling sorry for the lost little girl who was Hannah.
Hannah took a rope and tied Hank securely to a chair, making sure the knots were tight and wouldn’t come loose. “Give her your knife, Dave.”
“Huh?”
“Give it to her.” Hannah said.
He handed it to the woman who watched them.
“We’re going now. You decide how it ends, your terms,” Hannah told the woman. “Here’s a box of matches. When you are finished, you know what to do. You be the judge and decide his fate. It’s fair.”
The woman gave Hannah a nod of appreciation. She didn’t know what she would do, but at least these people gave her a choice, which was precious. She would think about it for a while.
“Hey….”Andie began, “we need to….”
“Clear out, and let justice do the rest,” Hannah snapped. She was about to say more, but a gunshot silenced her.
Jet motioned them to stay still and darted into the bedroom where the shot came from. He even notice that Jim slipped away, but he and the other man from the basement were in the room. The man had a hole in his head.
Jim saluted Jet and fired his pistol into his own head. Just like that, two lives were snuffed out. They saw too much to ever close their eyes again, lest the nightmares drive them insane. Neither wanted to remember all that they saw.
Jet rubbed his temple, returned to the rest, and shook his head. In this new world, there were no pills for depression, no asylums for the wickedly insane, and no treatment for any who was in excruciating pain.
Jet, Hannah, Ponce, Dave, Andie, and Sadie filed out the door, closing it behind them. Hank and the woman remained.
“Come back to Hopetown with us?” Hannah asked Ponce and Dave after they put down the four zombies in the yard.
“Will I be welcome?” Ponce rubbed absently at the bite on his arm that wasn’t infected but still throbbed with pain. He took the kit Hannah offered him and treated the wound so it was clean and bandaged.
“Somewhat,” Hannah said, “Mom will want to hear about everything and see you. She’ll welcome you. And Uncle Len will want to hear all about things, and maybe this will keep Mark and Matt from killing us for this stunt.”
“Don’t bet on it,” Andie said, “you get to explain to the gate security that you are bringing in a hybrid.”
“Sure,” Hannah said, “I think he has valuable information, and Len is cool, so I’ll be glad to.”
Dave stepped away. “I can’t repay you for all you did for me. I couldn’t live with their having my friends and what they were doing to them. I need some time….”
“You can come with us,” Jet offered.
“I know. I believe you, and one day I may show up and join you, but right now, I have this need to roam: maybe help people or maybe chase down Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Samuel. I don’t really know what I have in mind, to be honest.”
Hannah understood that. She shook his hand, and the rest did the same. They watched him, knowing he was about to walk away, wondering what, if anything, they accomplished besides getting Ponce free, stopping torture, and losing a friend. “I hope the house burns to the ground and covers that basement,” Hannah said.
“We’ll check, and if the house doesn’t, we’ll light it,” Jet promised, “Matt and Mark are so gonna kill us.”
“They won’t. Jules, Mom, Dad, and Len would have done the same; it was something that needed to be done.”
Dave looked ready to change his mind, but he took the rifle and ammo Jet handed him and waved. There was a lot to take in and think about before he felt as if he wanted to be around more people. “I can never thank you enough.”
“Be safe. That’s repayment. Be a kind person,” Jet said.
“I don�
��t know how I can ever forget all this. I know why Jim and the other guy checked out,” Andie said as they mounted the horses.
“Those are just another few bad guys who were stopped, Andie,” Hannah said. “Alone, I would have minced them with the sword; they were bad people. We’re all bad people in ways.”
“They were mentally ill,” Andie argued, “sick.”
“Kill ‘em all, and let God sort them,” Hannah said.
Andie gave her a withering glance. “Hannah, you’re going over the edge.”
Hannah smiled and giggled. “I’ve been over the edge for three years. I’m as crazy as they were, but I don’t torture people and feed zoms. I retaliate. Face it, Andie, I’m a product of my experience now,” she said dramatically.
Ponce muttered so only Hannah heard, “You’re an avenging Angel, a product of an experiment gone wrong. Welcome to my life.”
They rode.
Hannah whispered her usual prayer
I wish. I hope. I pray.
That we all find peace this day.
And if it all turns out badly,
I think we’ll be okay.
Chapter 6
Mall
Teeg still fought but didn’t feel hopeful until Beth screamed. He didn’t want her to see him ripped to shreds. Kim and the rest yelled and stomped, trying to get the ghouls to notice them instead.
“Shut up,” Lacey demanded, “they’re gonna come back to us.”
“That’s the plan,” Kim yelled louder, “come on, zoms; come get me.”
“Shut up,” Lacey screamed again, shoving him.
Kim’s boots slid on the top of the shuttle, causing him to slid backwards and land hanging off the bus. If Anthony hadn’t grabbed his shirt, Kim would have slid over the side and landed on the pavement.
Although she was too far away for him to hear, Kim could somehow hear Beth cursing a blue streak and threatening Lacey with all kinds of bodily injury; he grinned, despite the bad circumstances.
Teeg lunged to the ground, rolled, and moaned like a ghoul as skin scraped off his shoulder and arm, but he kept down in the roll, knocked several zombies over, and sprang to his feet.
Len was close, firing a barrage at those he could hit, and Julia and Rae ‘peppered’ the rest, opening a narrow break in the stumbling monsters. This was the one and only chance Teeg would get, and he took it.
And lost his footing.
Kim, Alex, and Anthony slid off the shuttle, kicking those they could, shooting several in the head. Anthony yanked Lacey to the ground by her hair, keeping her from falling with a crisp upwards motion that made her screech. “Act right, or I’ll feed you to ‘em.”
“Asshole,” she muttered, rubbing her scalp.
“You have been warned,” he snarled.
Kim used his gun to swing like a baseball bat, smashing the zombies to either side, motioning Anthony to do the same with his bat.
Alex finished off a woman who snapped at them. Finally, there seemed to be progress as they not only held the ghouls off, but also actually were able to get further along the parking lot.
“Why don’t they bring the horses?” Lacey demanded.
“It isn’t safe, and they have to move positions to keep the rest safe. We’re fine,” Kim said, “and by the way, next time you shove me, I will let them have you. If you shove one of my friends, I will skin your fucking body and let them go at you slow; do we have it clear?” His voice was dangerously calm.
“You can’t do that.”
“Really? Wanna bet on it? Ask Ant if he wants to fight for you.”
“Ant?”
“I’d cheer if he skinned you, you dumb bitch.” Ant bashed a zombie down and kept swinging until its head was a pudding-like consistency. Ant was livid.
Lacey screamed as she watched Anthony and forgot to watch the ground. A battered and shot zombie lay face down on the broken asphalt but still clawed at her ankle. She brushed her hair off of her face as she wiped at her leg.
Alex recoiled, “Don’t get that into your eyes.” He dodged a crawler, got tangled for a few seconds between two others, but finally finished them. He cursed at them and stomped at one angrily.
“Am I infected?” she screamed.
“I don’t know. But wipe it off. If you have a wound or anything…depends on your eyes,” Kim said. He looked at her with a little sympathy though.
Teeg and Alex jumped around, smashing at skulls as the crawlers snatched at their feet. “You saved my bacon, Alex; dumbass, you could have gotten hurt.” Teeg patted his friend’s back. “Thanks.”
“Ain’t nothing, but a thang….”
“Chicken wang,” Teeg finished with a chuckle.
Once at the edge, they were able to join the rest, turn, and fire into the shambling zombies who followed them relentlessly. In a few minutes, they were able to put the zombies down, finishing those on the ground, as well.
Rae sighed with relief and finally smiled; she was very concerned. Tell and Bart shook hands with everyone, thanking all.
Anthony did the same and said he admired the help they gave to the group. “You guys kicked some ass. You got some bad ass women with y’all….” He gave Beth, Rae, and Julia nods of admiration.
“Bad ass is Julia’s middle name.”
“Ah, Bethy, you got that right, Chica,” said Julia as she cracked her knuckles, “Rae, that was some good shooting.”
“Ehhh, it was not my best, damnit. But thanks.”
“They said the blood could hurt me,” Lacey complained to Len.
“We can watch for symptoms,” he said, “blood from those things is very dangerous. Are you bitten?”
“No.”
“So? What’s up?”Len asked.
“I was scratched.”
“Like I said, we’ll disinfect it and watch for symptoms.”Len said.
“And? That’s all? What good is that?” Lacey asked.
With no warning, Beth stepped in close, hauled back, and hit Lacey in her jaw, snapping the woman’s jaw to one side.
Robbin wasn’t a fan of Lacey’s, but she jumped up swinging, getting one punch to Beth’s arm.
Julia was on Robbin in a flash, pinning her to the ground and popping her in the face without mercy; Julia’s adrenalin still pumped.
“Girl fight,” Anthony said, grinning.
Kim held Beth as Len grabbed for Lacey. Teeg and Carl separated Julia and Robbin after taking a few punches themselves. Rae was ready to add to the fight if anyone else jumped in. She hoped someone would.
“Damn, girl,” Carl said.
“What was that for?” Robbin demanded.
Beth told her that Lacey pushed Kim, cursing throughout the explanation, hardly holding herself back from fighting again. “That’s my husband she put her hands on. She shoved my husband, and now she got her ass whipped Texas style.”
“Lacey? Why?” Robbin looked perplexed, “you shoved him?”
“Look, I’m scared, and I don’t like this shit. I didn’t ask for their help or for them to come get us, and now I have blood on me,” Lacey yelled back.
Robbin gave Beth an apology and shook hands with Beth and Julia. “Sorry. I didn’t know Lacey was capable of that sort of selfishness…unreal. Lacey, next time, you don’t get any help from me.”
“If the infection doesn’t get you, I may kick your ass again,” Beth warned Lacey.
“Anytime, you get froggy, then jump.”
Beth rolled her eyes and hugged Kim. She hugged the rest. “I thought you were a goner, Teeg,” she said.
“I think I was until you started caterwauling; that noise got my ass in gear,” he laughed, “Alex saved me, for a gay guy, he’s a stud.”
Alex cracked up laughing; the tension was finally broken. “Yep, the gay guy saved your ass; remember that on poker night….”
“Nope, gonna win all your money again. I’m almost a multi-millionaire.” These days, having cash was useless except for Texas Hold ‘Em. Teeg always seemed to win big, b
ut not one caught him cheating. Yet.
“Do you see anything?” Lacey asked Anthony. She used water to wash away the blood on her face and then patched her scratched ankle.
“A bitch.”
“No, in my eye, stupid.”
“I ain’t lookin’.”
He walked away from her.
“What’s next, Boss?” Tell asked Len, “I like the way you all hold your own.”
“Well, for starters, we don’t always have such a half-assed rescue. I apologize, but those things began swarming in a hive mentality. That happens sometimes, not always. No way to predict it,” Len said as he looked at Lacey.
“Panicking is the worst thing anyone can do because then the plan falls apart fast. Variables are added too fast to consider. We don’t jump at horses, push or shove people, get selfish, or act foolishly. That gets people killed. Your bullshit caused us to make mistakes, and I am pissed off.”
“I was scared. Get over it. It’s done. I’m the one hurt.”
“And pushing people dosen’t keep you from being scared. Keep your head in the game,” Len snapped, “good job for the rest of you. Teeg, you scared the shit out of me but good teamwork, people. It’s nice to meet the rest of you. I imagine you have a million questions, and as soon as we get going, we can answer some.”
“You’ll be amazed at Hopetown. Wait until you taste what the cooks make, and Patrick, I bet you will have so much fun with the other children.”
“Can we go outside?”
“You bet,” Kim said, “my daughter is a little older than you; her name is Katie, and all the students play on the playground. In warm weather, they swim like fish, and they have shows and singing, all kinds of activities. You can even climb a tree.”
“A tree?” Patrick asked, mouth open. The look was heartbreaking.
“The kids have real tree houses that are super safe and fun. We have dogs and kitties….”
“Dogs?” Patrick repeated, “Can I pet one?”
His mother wiped away tears.
“You can pet them all,” Kim promised, “The kids have cookouts with hot dogs and marshmallows. You can eat fruit right from the tree, go fishing, and ride a horse, too.”
As he said those things, it occurred to him how much they worked to make life seem more normal. The things they had now, some of which were taken for granted, were precious to a child who never had a pet or climbed a tree or played with other children. “ And we have showers.”
