Love, Revenge and Zombies

by Travis Cotter

  He made the first few miles with ease and only had to avoid a few parked cars and one small group of people as the motorcycle flew down the street. The motorcycles smaller size made it easy to weave in between the cars and people stumbling around on the street. He was getting closer and closer to Abby’s house and if things continued this way then he would be there in just a few minutes. He avoided a few more cars and some more people as he turned on to Abby’s street. His plan to take the back roads had worked out and he would be back with Abby in a few seconds.

  As soon as he pulled into the driveway his heart sank and he leaped off of the bike as it fell over but he wasn’t worried about the bike. All he could think about was getting to Abby as he ran towards the front door that was wide open.

  He entered the house and drew his gun as he shouted out to Abby “Abby, where are you? Please answer me!”

  He saw a trail of blood leading up the stairs and he felt a knot grow in his stomach as he followed it up to the second floor. There standing in the hallway banging on the bedroom door was a disheveled looking older man with a bloody robe on.

  Paul yelled out to the man “hey.”

  The old man turned his attention away from the door and looked at Paul; he then started stumbling towards Paul. Paul could tell by the look on his face and blood all over him that he was one of those things outside and no longer a normal human. Paul raised the pistol and fired a bullet through his head. The old man dropped instantly and lay motionless on the hall carpet.

  Paul yelled out again for Abby as his ears rang from firing the gun inside the house, “Abby are you here?”

  The bedroom door swung open and Abby stepped out, she gasped as she looked down at the old man lying in the hall. She looked up at Paul and ran to him and jumped into his arms, she kissed him over and over again.

  She was so relieved to see him and she began to cry as she spoke “I thought something had happened to you and you weren’t coming back. I was so scared without you here.”

  Paul held her in his arms and said “I told you I would come back for you; they aren’t going to get me that easy.”

  Paul looked down at the man lying in the hallway and asked “who is he and why did you open the front door?”

  The question came out with a hint of anger behind it and Paul noticed it as soon as he said it.

  He looked at Abby and spoke again “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just so scared when I saw the front door open. I was so worried something had happened to you.”

  “I’m sorry I opened the door, he was my grandma’s neighbor for a long time. We thought he was hurt,” she replied.

  Paul held her closer and said “I understand you were just trying to help him. I’m sorry I had to shoot him; I want you to know that wasn’t your neighbor anymore. He had turned into something else, something not human.”

  “He just went crazy when I opened the door, I hit him with the bat but he just kept coming. He grabbed onto grandma and bit her arm; I hit him again on the back. He started to come at me and then grandma and I ran upstairs. He followed us up and we locked ourselves in the bedroom. I didn’t know what to do,” Abby said quickly as panic began to set in her voice and the fear was setting in again as she relived the moment.

  Paul kissed her forehead and said “its okay, I’m here now. You’re safe; I won’t let anything happen to you. Where’s grandma?”

  Abby looked back at the bedroom door and said “she’s in the bedroom on the bed. She’s not doing very well, I tried to call 911 but I couldn’t get through.”

  Paul walked over to the bedroom and looked into the room; he could see her lying on the bed. She looked very pale and Paul noticed that her breathing was very shallow.

  He walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to her and asked her “how are you doing?”

  Ruth looked over at Paul and placed her hand on top of his hand and spoke “where’s Abby? Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine, how are you feeling?” Paul asked as he held her hand.

  “I’m not feeling too good,” Ruth answered.

  “How’s Mr. Jones?” she asked.

  “He passed away, I’m sorry,” Paul answered.

  Ruth looked away and a tear ran down her cheek then she spoke again “he was a nice man; I don’t know why he acted like that.”

  Paul looked at her arm and said “Abby said he bit your arm, do you mind if I check it?”

  She lifted her arm up to him and he saw that it was already wrapped in a bandage.

  Ruth spoke again “Abby cleaned it up for me and wrapped it.”

  “She did a good job but do you mind if I unwrap it for a second to check it out,” Paul asked as he held her arm in his hand.

  “That’s fine dear,” she answered.

  He gently lifted her arm up and slowly took the bandage off. There was a large chunk of flesh missing from her arm and the first thing that caught his attention was that there was very little blood for a wound that bad.

  “It seems to have stopped bleeding,” Paul said as he continued to exam her arm.

  “It was bleeding pretty badly at first but Abby got it to stop,” Ruth replied.

  Paul wasn’t sure how a wound that severe would stop bleeding that easily but he figured she had got lucky and the bite missed any main artery.

  As he examined the bite closer something else caught his eye. “That can’t be right,” Paul said to himself without realizing he said it out loud.

  “What’s that dear?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking out loud, I’ll be right back. I’m going to go check on Abby,” he said as he placed her arm down on the bed.

  He smiled softly at Ruth as he got up from the bed, he didn’t want to alert her to the worry that was growing inside him. Abby was standing in the hall still near the stairs, she seemed like she was trying to decide if she wanted to head down the stairs or step past the body of Mr. Jones again. She seemed to be lost in a mental limbo and was unaware that Paul had stepped back into the hall.

  Paul startled her when he spoke “are you doing okay?”

  She looked up at him as he spoke but Paul could tell that in her mind she was somewhere else. He made his way across the hall to her and wrapped his arms around her. He was going to speak but couldn’t find the words that would make everything okay; he knew that things weren’t going to be okay. So he just held her in his arms and let her know he was still there for her.

  He held her for another minute and then spoke “I know this is hard to deal with but Grandma’s arm isn’t looking to good, it looks infected but the infection has spread to quick. If the bite happened in the last couple of hours then why does it look like it's from a couple of days ago?”

  Abby looked up at Paul, she heard what he said but she wasn’t listening.

  “Honey, I know this is hard to deal with but I need your help right now. We need to get Grandma to a hospital,” Paul said as he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

  “I don’t know if I can handle this, Paul. I’m so scared,” she said.

  “We will get through this but right now we need to focus on Grandma,” he said as he kissed her forehead.

  “We need to call an ambulance,” Paul said.

  “I’ve tried 911 ten times already, it just says that all lines are busy,” Abby said with a tear rolling down her cheek.

  Paul looked back at the bedroom door and could hear a strange noise coming from the room and said “then we’ll take her to the hospital ourselves.”

  He walked back to the bedroom and as he entered the bedroom he saw what was causing the noise.

  “Abby I need your help now! She is having a seizure,” Paul yelled out to Abby as he ran to the bed.

  Abby came through the door a few seconds later and asked “what do we do?”

  “We need to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself and just hope it passes soon. I’ll try to keep her from moving around too much and you find something
for her to bit down on so she doesn’t bite her tongue,” Paul said as he sat on the bed. Paul had said the last part mostly to keep Abby busy and keep her focused on something besides her grandma having the seizure.

  Abby franticly searched the room for something for grandma to bite down on; she was so panicked that she couldn’t think straight. Paul continued to try and keep her from hurting herself as she moved around on the bed, but as sudden as the seizure started it had stopped and she went limp on the bed. Paul grabbed her wrist to find a pulse but she didn’t seem to have one. He watched her chest to see if it was moving but as far as he could tell she wasn’t breathing. He turned to see Abby was now in the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom; she was still looking for something to help her grandma.

  Paul couldn’t find the words to tell her but he had to say something “Abby you can stop looking, the seizure has stopped.”

  Abby stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Paul and asked “is she okay?”

  He looked at Ruth lying motionless on the bed and then back at Abby before he spoke “I’m sorry, she’s gone.”

  Abby ran to the bed and dropped to her knees on the floor; she laid her head on her grandma’s chest and broke down in tears. She tried to speak but Paul couldn’t make out what she was saying through her tears. He walked around to the side of the bed and knelt beside Abby and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “I’m so sorry this happened,” Paul whispered to her.

  “How does this happen? Abby asked but Paul knew she was just thinking out loud and didn’t expect an answer.

  Again Paul was at a loss for words but felt he should say something “I love you.”

  He wasn’t sure why he said it, it just came out. Abby turned and embraced him and continued to cry. Paul held her tight and let her cry and he realized that he really had fallen in love with her and it hurt his heart to see her in pain.

  “I wish I could make this better,” Paul whispered in her ear.

  She looked up at him and through the tears said “you have, I couldn’t handle this if you weren’t here with me. I love you too.”

  She rested her head back on his shoulder and continued to cry and Paul held her tighter. They sat there together on the floor and held each other for a few more minutes, and then Paul noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

  “She moved,” Paul said in disbelief.

  “What?” Abby asked as she turned her head to look back at the bed.

  Then she saw it too, her grandma was moving her arm. Abby jumped up from the floor and sat on the bed next to her grandma.

  “Grandma, I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle,” she said.

  Paul was shocked and muttered to himself “how is that possible?”

  He stared at them both and tried to figure out what was going on and then it clicked in his head.

  “Abby you need to back away from her,” Paul said as he reached out for her.

  “What?” Abby asked.

  She looked at Paul and then back at her grandma who was now looking at Abby.

  “Grandma, are you okay?” Abby asked.

  She got no response from her grandma who stared blankly at her.

  “Abby you need to get off the bed and come with me,” Paul said quietly to Abby as he tried to stay calm and not scare her but he knew what Ruth was now and he knew they had to get out of that bedroom.

  “Abby that’s not your grandma anymore. You need to come with me now,” Paul said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

  “What are you talking about?” Abby asked as she looked at her grandma again.

  Ruth stared back at Abby and before she knew what had happen her grandma grabbed her arm and bit down into her shoulder.

  Abby screamed out “what are you doing grandma?”

  Ruth didn’t react at all to Abby’s screams; she just bit down harder and ripped a piece of her shoulder off. Paul reached out and grabbed Abby around the waist and pulled her away from her grandma who was trying to bite her again. He picked up Abby and cradled her in his arms as he ran out of the bedroom. He carried her across the hall to the other bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. He ran back across the hall to find Ruth lying on the floor next to the bed. She was struggling to get to her feet and began to reach for Paul as he stood at the foot of the bed.

  He pulled his pistol from its holster, he aimed it at her and said “I’m truly sorry this happened to you and I hope you find peace. Thank you for your kindness.”

  A tear ran down his cheek, then he fired one shot and it was over. Paul ran to the bathroom and grabbed some towels and then ran back to Abby.

  He pressed the towels firmly against her bite and said “we have to stop the bleeding. You’re going to be okay, just hold on, please. You can’t leave me, just keep fighting. I love you; you’ve made me happier than I’ve been in years. I can’t lose you now.”

  He began to cry more than he had in his entire life because he knew he couldn’t save her. He knew she had lost too much blood and it was only going to be a matter of time until she was gone. He tried to be strong and not show the fear that was racing through him. It was difficult for him to hide his fear with tears pouring out of him. Abby turned her head and looked into Paul’s eyes.

  “Thank you for making me so happy, I know my life was better because of you. I thank God for sending you to me. I had lost faith in men and then God gave me you. You helped me regain my faith and I will be forever grateful. I don’t think I can hold on much longer. I love you. Goodbye my love.”

  Paul cried hard as he tried to speak “You can’t leave me. You’re my heart now and I can’t live without my heart. So you can’t leave me, without you I can’t go on.”

  She slowly lifted her hand and gently wiped away a tear running down his cheek. Then her hand fell back to the bed and in that moment Paul watched as she faded away. She was gone and Paul was now alone.

  He let go of the towel and stepped away from the bed but didn’t take his eyes off of her. He pulled the pistol out and placed it to his temple. He was overwhelmed by the pain inside him and dropped to his knees.

  “I can’t live without you and it’s my fault that this happened to you, I’m sorry I let you down and I didn’t keep my promise to protect you. I’m so sorry,” Paul said through his tears.

  “God please forgive me for not protecting her and for taking my own life. I can’t live without her and I hope you understand that I have to do this,” he said as he placed his finger on the trigger.

  Before he could find it in himself to pull it he felt his pain replaced with anger stronger than he had ever felt. He was angry that she was gone and he was angry because of the people out there in the world that had turned Abby’s grandmother into one of those things. He was angry because that thing that replaced her sweet grandmother had attacked Abby and killed her.

  Paul was taking it all in and was about ready to pull the trigger when he saw movement on the bed. She was now sitting up in the bed and reaching out to Paul.

  For a moment Paul was lost in time, he dropped his pistol and reached back out to her with his arms open to her. Abby got out of the bed and grabbed on to his shirt and Paul was smiling again.

  He was shaken from his dream and faced reality as Abby began to bite at him like a starved animal. He placed his hand on her chest and held her from getting close enough to connect with her snapping teeth. He took the gun from the floor with his free hand and gently pressed the barrel against her forehead. She began to snap at his shaking hand holding the pistol.

  He felt fresh tears running down his face and spoke “I can’t do it, I can’t shoot you.”

  He had said it out loud to Abby; however he knew that the thing in front of him was no longer Abby. As much as he wanted her to be real and this nightmare to be over, he knew that monster in front of him would never be his Abby again. He lowered the pistol and thought about taking his hand from her chest and letting her bite him. He slowly began to lower his hand
and he could feel her edging closer but the anger rose back up in him and he placed it back firmly against her.

  “I promise you I will kill all of those things outside and make sure they stay dead this time,” he said to Abby.

  With his hand on her chest he gently moved her back to the bed. He let her fall back to the bed and then he walked out to the hallway. He closed the bedroom door and dropped to his knees with tears rolling down his face. It didn’t take long before he heard Abby clawing at the door from inside the room.

  “I promise I will avenge your death. I won’t let your death go unpunished,” he said as he pressed his hand against the door.

  He got back to his feet and walked away with the sound of Abby still filling the hallway. He walked downstairs and sat on the couch, he had never felt more emotionally or mentally drained in his entire life. Within a few minutes he had drifted off to sleep and drifted into nightmares that had become real life.

  Thirteen

  Paul spent the next three days lost in a world of pain and regret. He couldn’t stop blaming himself for Abby’s death and besides the occasional glance outside, he barely left the couch. The sounds of the undead would catch his ear from time to time coming from outside. Also the occasional gunshot or scream would fill the air but Paul wasn’t ready to go out into the world. He knew he would step outside soon and destroy all those undead creatures but first he needed to clear his mind and prepare himself for war.

  He spent the fourth day trying to focus on the mission ahead of him and gather together anything of use from the house. His plan was to leave the house and set up a base of operation somewhere in the downtown area. The house was further away from all the action downtown then he wanted to be and he wanted to be right in the middle of everything when he began his attack. He also knew he would have better access to supplies and weapons in the business district downtown.

  Paul made one trip outside to gather up his weapons still sitting in his duffle bags tied to the back of the bike. He carried the bags back in the house and headed to the kitchen where he packed the bags with a few canned goods that were in the cupboards.