by Travis Tufo
“Shit…,” he whispered under his breath. The pounding had stopped against the wall, but now the pounding against his ribcage had started. His mind was starting to play tricks on his vision and he was seeing things in the dark. Before it got too bad, a large creature emerged from the blackness. It quickly collided with Eli, sending him to the ground then landing right on top of him. It was heavy and knocked the air right out of him. The creature sitting atop Eli was the farthest thing from human. It had no clothes, no fingers or toes; Eli could just barely make out the suffering face of a deceased man protruding from the thick fungus that had taken over his body, now made up entirely of thick, hardened white fungus with red vein-like tendril spores covering its entire figure. The surface could be compared to hard leather—its tentacles were as strong as wooden rods. His face consisted of two black, soulless eyes and a jagged set of teeth. He was once a large man, a weight lifter for sure, and now he had at least another hundred pounds of fungus caked onto his frame. Hs body also had sacks of spores all over it, ready to burst. It pressed its undead face to Eli’s and opened its mouth to let out a screech. It went in for a bite on his neck and Eli couldn’t resist; it was too strong and heavy to be moved. Eli felt the cold shrapnel teeth against his soft flesh and just gave up on his effort to push the three hundred pound beast off him. It was mere moments away from sinking its teeth in and ripping a chunk of meat right off of Eli’s neck when the side of its head was bashed with a shovel. Aurora had managed to grab one of the few remaining tools in time. The beast fell to the ground and released a large grunt when he hit.
Eli took a huge breath and jumped to his feet, grabbing the hammer and backing up. Soaking up air, he helplessly watched as the seven foot monster stood to its feet, which looked like broad tree roots made of the same white fungus. When he was fully standing, he stretched his enormous arms out to either side of his body. Eli observed them; each arm was gigantic and could be compared to a tree trunk, and instead of fingers, at the end of these thick arms were five very long, gnarled branches where its fingers should have been. Eli wouldn’t have been able to close both his hands together around one of the hanging appendages. Eli then looked to the refrigerator sized chest and noticed the dozens of sprouting mushrooms and fungal growths. He had a lightning fast thought; he wondered if those would be a weak spot on this giant. Suddenly, the monster raised one of its arms high and threw it at Eli, who barely jumped out of the way. The immense force of the swing crushed the tile underneath where it hit. The monstrous man lifted his hand back into the air revealing a steady flow of blood coming from large bits of tile that had lodged into its surface. It grew angry and swung the limbs at Eli, missing again and smashing against drywall, crumbling it to dust under its power.
Niva rushed to the other side of the store trying to avoid getting in the way of the enormous monster. Aurora and Eli, on the other hand, circled around it waiting for a good chance to strike. It let out another screech, but Eli dove in and cracked its bottom jaw with his hammer, easily busting it right out of its socket with his downward swing. The jaw hung there, barely attached. Blood flowed from the open wound and the enormous man flung its arms at Eli, finally connecting and sending him clear across the store. He was airborne for a few moments before he crashed hard against the far wall.
“Eli!” Aurora watched in terror as Eli tumbled through the air like a ragdoll. She was standing directly behind the seven foot beast; she raised her shovel, and with all her rage-induced might, she dug it deep into its shoulder blade like it was a broad tipped spear. The sharp edge of the spade stopped at the sound of metal scraping bone. The beast tried to roar, but without its bottom jaw in place, it just spat out groans in between clots of blood. He pulled away from the stab, yanking the shovel right out of Aurora’s hands; it was deeply lodged inside of him. It turned around to face Aurora, who gritted her teeth and waited for what was next.
“Do your best you piece of…” A revving sounded from the front of the store. Both Aurora and the monster looked past Eli, laying under a pile of drywall, to Niva. Niva stood by the crowded window. Just enough light was coming through between the infected bodies outside to see her standing there in her blood red dress, wielding a chainsaw.
“My turn,” Niva said in a sinister way. She charged chainsaw first at the beast. He didn’t even have time to react before his gut was being blended by the blade. Niva had the chainsaw handle deep inside the beast’s abdomen, ripping up meat and fungus and sending large chunks of slop and flesh around the store. Her face was caked in blood and guts so fast it was hard to tell who was handling the chainsaw. She screamed and tore apart his core for a few seconds, which seemed like a few years, before the blades finally got too clogged to run. A large sack filled with millions of little spores and some type of brownish liquid erupted from his chest and splattered all over her, adding to the pounds of slop she was already coated in. When the blades finally quit twirling, Niva stood there, frozen in a state of adrenaline shock. Blood could be heard flooding to the ground like a hose left on. The beast started to rock back and forth and made a disgusting gargling sound. It then shot a mouthful of blood at Niva from its permanently opened jaw before tumbling to the ground, shaking the store when he hit. Niva still held the chainsaw in its same position as if she was still hacking away at him. Her skin and blonde hair were so drenched in blood you couldn’t tell them apart from her dress.
“Niva…are you okay?” Aurora asked in a worried, amazed, and confused voice. She didn’t even know what was going on at this point. Niva turned her gore and spore covered face to Aurora and dropped the chainsaw. It made a heavy splash in the river of blood below her. She then peeled two large handfuls of guts and bloodied fungus from her face, revealing her eyes—two, gorgeous blue eyes peeking through the crimson red.
“I’m okay now.”
“Holy hell, Niva, is that you under there?” Eli could be heard clear across the store as he struggled to get back to his feet. He pushed and pulled crumbled drywall off himself and limped his way over to the others. His ribs were bruised pretty badly but nothing was broken. The trio formed a triangle around the heap of gore that was once a formidable foe. Eli stood at the head of the monster, observing it and brainstorming theories as to what might have happened to this man.
“Okay, so what the hell is this thing? I’ve seen hundreds of those freaks and never has one of them been this messed up.” Aurora was more concerned with the fact that this was the first one she’d seen.
“Yeah, something is different about this one,” Niva added.
“I wonder if…” Eli paused mid-sentence to kneel down and get a closer look at its face.
“Well? What do you figure, Sherlock?” Aurora was itching for an answer.
“Maybe, just maybe, this man being in that dark room for who knows how long caused the infection to grow rapidly, or at least caused his mushrooms to grow faster.”
“Ohhh, I think I’ve heard about mushrooms growing in dark areas. But I thought it had to be moist or damp or something, too.” It was hard to take Niva seriously since she looked like she’d just gone through a meat grinder.
“Well, let’s go check that room out. We are going to need some light, though.” Aurora headed off in search of a flashlight. Eli stopped her before she got too far and pointed at the window, emphasizing the infected still outside.
“We need to look for a flashlight as quietly as possible,” he lowered his voice, but then immediately thought about all the noise that had just come from that building “How the hell are they not in here yet?”.
“Also, Niva deserves a round of applause.”
“Yeah...that was your first kill, right?” Aurora gave a sympathetic smile, then added: “Welcome aboard, sister.”
“Yeah, it was, and, ummm, thanks for the welcome.” She gave a forced grin but seemed less than excited about it. Eli and Aurora, on the other hand, were amazed by Niva’s performance.
“Niva…you go clean yourself up before you st
art to stink. Aurora and I will hunt down a flashlight.” Eli grabbed a curtain from the wall next to him and tossed it to Niva. She gave him a dirty look. Within a few minutes, Aurora stumbled across some flashlights and Eli found a wall full of batteries. They met back up at the big, bludgeoned body and lit up three semi-powerful LED flashlights.
“I guess we should check out this room.” Eli shined his light in the direction of the room that the beast had been trapped in. The door had slammed shut again when the hulking mass came rushing out. The trio was in the same order as before, Eli in front, followed by Aurora, and then Niva. Eli placed his hand on the doorknob once more.
“Déjà vu.” Eli couldn’t help but crack a cheesy smile at his joke, but the others weren’t impressed.
“Shut up and open the door already.” Aurora had experienced one too many bad jokes on their journey together. Eli sighed and flung the door open just as he did before. Immediately, all three of them shined their lights in different directions, illuminating the room and its strange features.
The room was just a normal maintenance closest, not the office space they had assumed it was, and there was something more. The walls and floor were coated in the same material that was taking over human bodies. White patches of moist, soft fungus covered nearly three-fourths of the room. Large, multi-colored mushrooms were sprouting out from the floor, walls, and some were even growing on the ceiling. All of the growth seemed to be coming from a source in one corner of the room. Eli shined his light directly into the back right corner. His flashlight lit up a dead body in an advanced state of decomposition with a large opening in its midsection, like the entire stomach and chest were carved out. That body was the original source of the growth.
“Wait…is all this...stuff feeding off that body?” Niva was onto something.
“First, they take over our bodies and use them to feed on everyone else, and then they use us as their fertilizer? I really hope someone out there is doing something about this!” Rage filled Aurora’s angered face. Eli knelt beside the body and placed a hand on the life-form growing from the ribcage.
Eli looked up at her. “What do you think happened? Do you think that this man was once infected and then the thing controlling him decided to turn him into a farm? Or do you think our large friend over there did something to him? Like, did he plant a special spore or something?” Eli was trying to decipher what had happened.
“I’m not sure about that,” Niva answered him, “but what I am sure about is that this room gives me the creeps and I don’t feel safe in here.” She stepped out of the room and briskly walked past the large heap of gore on the ground to the front of the store.
“If you ask me, it looks like that large idiot was just feasting on this poor sucker, but for once, I think I’m with her on this one. Don’t think too hard, Eli, you’ll tire yourself out.” Aurora left and joined Niva at the front, waiting for the wave of infected to pass by. Eli stayed only for a few moments longer, looking around for clues, but soon gave up. As he left the room, he smashed a few mushrooms on his way out. The three of them stayed in the confined tool shop for another hour or so as stragglers wandered by outside. Eli spent his time looking around, trying to find anything of use that hadn’t been looted, but failed. Aurora and Niva took turns looking out the window.
“I think they are all gone Eli!” Aurora called as she peered out the window panes.
“Good. Maybe we can finally get the hell out of this dark shop.” Eli excitedly rushed to the window, nearly tripping over some rubble on his way there. “Well damn!” he said. “We really can go.” Eli didn’t see any sign of infected. They all crowded around the front door and felt the pressure as Eli slowly twisted the knob. They were met by less than warm air and bright sunshine. It felt good on their skin, and it took their eyes a minute to adjust to the near blinding light.
“Wow—it feels good to be outside again instead of in that shop with that disgusting smelling troll. It’s getting a little chilly, though,” Eli said as he stood in the middle of the doorway so that the girls couldn’t get out. It didn’t take long for Aurora to shove him out of the way. She ran to the middle of the street, only limping slightly, and looked around for any infected; when she saw that there were none to be found, she took in a deep breath and exhaled in joy.
“A few more hours in that place and I would have gone crazy,” Niva said as she took a small stroll down the sidewalk. They all did their little private rituals, whatever it was that kept them sane on their own for a few minutes.
“So, what do you guys think? Should we follow that crazy truck that drove by earlier?” Eli asked. He was beginning to sound like a lunatic.
“Eli, are you mad?” Niva was unimpressed.
“Yeah, did being cooped up in there fry your brain? Why the hell would we try to follow a truck that spends its time attracting those things to it?” Aurora lashed out.
“Not to mention that we would most definitely run into that horde before we found the truck,” Niva added. They kept attacking him, yet he kept a smirk on his face like he knew something.
“What the hell is so funny? I should knock the crazy out of you right now.” Aurora advanced at Eli.
“You know…if it weren’t for that truck, none of us would be here. We would still be stuck at Walmart either being eaten, or starving to death.” Both the girls quieted down.
“And while we are on the subject,” he went on, “I’d be willing to bet that whoever is driving that truck isn’t attracting the infected so that they can all hang out and have a good time; no, I bet that he is luring them into a trap and slaughtering them in mass droves. You know, Aurora, taking care of that problem, like you said earlier.”
“Eli, you have a point, I suppose, but that doesn’t change how dangerous the plan you are presenting to us is.” Niva was still uncertain.
“You’re right, Niva, and that is why I asked you guys what you thought. I never said ‘let’s go.’ After all, what else are we going to do?” He kept smiling as the two girls looked to one another for an answer.
“Eli, it’s not that simple. Say we find whoever that madman is. Who’s to say he doesn’t drop us on the spot thinking we are infected, or hell, maybe he’ll even blow our brains out because he hates normal people even more! I want to stay alive, Eli, not continue to bet our safety on slim chances,” Aurora said, clearly leaning against the trip.
“Aurora, what happened to us last night, especially with Shaun, changed me. It hurt me so much to watch someone who, in only a few short hours, became one of my greatest friends, die at the jaws of a damned mind-controlled dog. All it took was that moment to realize I can never let something like that happen to you or Niva or anyone we ever let into this small party again. If I were to lose one of you two as well, who knows what would happen to me? I only know I couldn’t take the guilt. You two have to trust me on this one, I have a good feeling about finding whoever that guy is. I really think he can help keep us safe, and if it boils down to it, well shit, Aurora, you’re one hell of a shot.” It must have been his charm, because at that moment, nearly simultaneously, both girls changed their minds.
“You know what…I think I’m with Eli on this one,” Niva said grinning. Aurora looked at her, and much to Niva’s surprise, Aurora wasn’t angry.
“Eli, if you truly believe this is the right call, then so be it. I support you one hundred percent.” Eli felt a surge of energy.
“In that case, there’s no time to waste!” He gave Aurora a huge hug and quickly turned off in a brisk walk towards where he thought they would find the mysterious man. Niva quickly followed in suit, after a little grin at their hug. Aurora, however, stood there, weakened and not fully understanding what was going on around her, but that was the beauty of the world they were in now, no one understood it. The other two got a fair bit ahead of her before she snapped out of it.
“Hey! Wait up!” She hobbled along on her bad leg, catching up.
“Usually I’m yelling that at yo
u,” Eli said, laughing at the wounded Aurora. It didn’t take her long to catch up and give Eli a good punch on his arm.
“So violent!” Eli joked as he gripped his arm, trying to put on a tough guy approach and act like it didn’t hurt. The trio kept each other safe from any infected they encountered for their trip, mostly sticking to the shadows and playing it safe in every single situation. If they didn’t have to fight, they weren’t going to. They were stronger now than ever before and they were determined to get to where they were going.
Chapter Nineteen
BACK IN THE heart of Portland, enraged and eager for revenge, David could be found in his home. It was much lonelier without his hounds.
“I…I just don’t believe it!” he roared to himself. “That Eli keeps slipping away from me. Ahh...but his friend! Yes, I got his friend good! Oh how I loved watching the helpless look on his face as my hound tore the life from his body! Yes! And how his corpse went limp, I miss it already! Shaun, was it? I almost had you back at the fire. I hated that you got away from me with Eli and his girl, but I got you still! No one escapes my wrath.” David pranced around his quiet house.
“Aww, I do miss those brainless dogs, though.” For a second, a mere moment in time, David almost felt remorse.
“Nahh...they were good for nothing, always slowing me down. Well, they were good for a show! Oh, they spilt blood so well, and were relentless. I guess I’ll just have to find a way to one up them.” David took his battered body and threw it on the couch. He immediately fell asleep and stayed asleep for nearly ten hours. His body was beat and he had been pushing it past exhaustion over the last few days, burning bodies, killing infected, and getting the hell beat out of him by Eli and Shaun. When he woke, it was pitch black out.
