He holstered his 1911 as he sprinted to his bike and fired it up, he had planned on riding out of the alley the opposite way he had gone into it and avoid the horde headed towards him. Then he changed his mind and turned the bike off, he got off the bike and untied the rope securing everything to the back of it. He unzipped one of the bags and pulled out the shotgun.
With the alley being somewhat narrow he knew he could funnel the undead through it. He would only have to take on a few at a time instead of having to face them in an open area and risk getting overrun. He chambered a shell with a quick pump of the shotgun and took aim at one of the undead entering the alley. He fired off one shot and watched the left side of the zombie’s head explode and splatter against the side of the building. He pumped the shotgun again and took aim on another zombie but he changed his mind once again.
He set the shotgun back in the bag and took the machete and bat into his hands. It occurred to him that he should save ammo until he was able to go gather up some more. He also knew the sound of the shotgun would only attract more zombies and he already had more than enough to deal with at that time. He walked towards the zombies making their way into the alley, he swung the bat and connected to the side of the head of an older woman and watched her drop. The machete came around and dug into the head of a man in a suit and tie. He repeated swinging the bat and machete over and over again and dropped zombie after zombie, but they just kept coming.
The horde was now beginning to force him to back up as he kept swinging and taking them out. He must have already dropped at least twenty of them but they just kept coming. Some of them began to fall over the bodies that were piling up in front of him. It was slowing their progress but some of them were still making it through to him and all he could do was keep swinging.
The undead were beginning to overwhelm him and as much as he wanted to keep standing there fighting them, he knew he had to stop soon. If only because his arms were beginning to get tired and there didn’t seem to be an end to the horde coming anytime soon. Whether he wanted to or not he would have to abandon the fight and get on his bike and escape out the other end of the alley.
He turned around and was headed towards the bike but he had failed to notice that the other end of the alley was filling with the undead as well. Any means of escape had slipped away and all he could do now was keep fighting and hope he could take them all out before they took him out.
He had made a mistake and it could very well get him killed, he violated his number one rule. He had rushed into a fight and not left himself an escape plan; he didn’t have a plan to begin with so he certainly hadn’t thought of a back up plan if things went south.
“What the hell are you doing? You have to be smarter than this, stupid mistake,” he said as he looked back and forth at the hordes of zombies forming at each end of the alley.
He ran towards the new horde of zombies coming down the other end of the alley and began smashing skulls; he was hoping that he could pile them up and slow them down like he had at the other end of the alley. The battle continued for what seemed like forever but the numbers were slowly beginning to dwindle and Paul was gaining the upper hand. The more he struck down, the bigger the piles at each end of the alley would grow and the fresh zombies coming were now unable to get close enough to reach him.
Paul had lost count of how many of them he had taken out but he couldn’t help but smile because he knew it had to be somewhere around fifty to sixty. He stood there breathing hard with his arms now burning and aching from a battle that he thought would never end. As he began to try and catch his breath he just stood there watching fresh zombies gather at each end, but he realized he had a new problem.
If he had any intention of leaving the alley on his bike they were now gone, it would take him hours to move enough bodies to get the bike out of the alley. He watched more and more undead gather and knew that even if he wanted to move bodies to get his bike out he would still have to keep cutting down the new ones while he attempted to clear out a path. It would be an unending cycle and it would be easier to just find a new vehicle, so it was time to formulate a new plan.
He gathered up his bags and tossed them over his shoulder, he would make a run for it and cut down zombies until he made it back out to the street.
The feel of the dead under his feet as he stepped up on one of the piles reminded him of walking in a swamp and the smell was even harder to deal with. The bodies began to give out underneath his weight and he could feel himself sinking down a little. The last thing he wanted was to get stuck in a pile of rotting corpses.
If he wanted to continue out to the street he would have to keep standing there for a while as he took out the new zombies gathering behind the pile. As he felt himself sink a little more and more into their bodies, he came up with another plan. He looked up and saw that the window to the apartment he had climbed through the day before was still wide open. A smile spread across his face as he stepped back off of the pile with a sound that reminded him of someone pulling their foot out of mud and the sound seemed to echo through the alley.
His boots were covered in blood and other human matter that barely looked human anymore. He climbed back up on the dumpster and took the bags off his shoulders. The bags made a thud sound as he tossed them up through the window and they hit the floor in the apartment. The bat and machete were next as he tossed them up through the window and then prepared to jump up and get himself through the window. There was blood and a collection of other things stuck to his hands so he tried to wipe off as much of it as he could before he jumped up to the window sill.
The window sill felt slippery as he grabbed onto it and he knew he hadn’t cleaned off his hands enough and lost his grip. The dumpster didn’t give much as he crashed down on his back hard. He laid there for a minute as he tried to catch his breath. The metal dumpster wasn’t very forgiving and had knocked his breath straight out of him. The leather jacket he was wearing had helped soften the blow a little as he hit the dumpster but it also seemed to hinder him when he had tried to pull himself up to the window.
The jacket was a little small on him so he took it off and tossed it through the window and then removed the helmet and tossed it up next. He wiped his hands vigorously against his jeans and tried to get as much of the blood off. He was definitely going to have to find some new clothes soon.
The window sill wasn’t as slippery on his second attempt but the aching and burning was racing through his arms again. He had to pull himself up soon or he would burn out quickly what little strength he had left in his arms. All his weapons and gear were now upstairs in the apartment and if he couldn’t get up there soon, he would be stuck in the alley with all the undead and no protection.
He began to pull himself up and he could feel his arms screaming with pain and his grip was slowly giving out. The thought of falling again was filling his brain as his grip was slipping more and more. His fingertips were beginning to hurt as he dug them in and tried to pull himself up, but it seemed that he wasn’t going to be able to do it. He was ready to drop down and think of another plan. Just then he felt a hand wrap around his wrist.
It was Nick; he had come up to the apartment. Now he had a hold of both of Paul’s arms and was helping him up through the window.
“You alright man,” Nick said as Paul rolled through the window and dropped on the floor.
Paul was relieved to be back in the apartment and out of the alley.
“Yea, I’m good. Thanks for the help,” Paul said as he sat up and looked at Nick.
“No problem, I came up to make some food and I saw my helmet fly through the window. You know you’re more than welcome to use the door,” Nick said with a chuckle.
“Holy crap. I’m an idiot,” Paul said as he felt the keys pressing against his leg inside the front pocket of his jeans.
He pulled the keys to the padlocks out of his pocket and dropped them on the floor. Both men couldn’t help but burst out loud with laughter. Nick
helped Paul up off of the floor and asked “you want some breakfast?”
“Sure that would be great, thanks. I’m going to get cleaned up real quick,” Paul said as he headed to the bathroom.
“I got some sweats and a t-shirt in the dresser if you want them,” Nick said.
Paul walked over to the dresser and found some clothes to change into; he pulled out a grey pair of sweatpants and a plain white tee.
“I really appreciate everything. Thanks Nick,” Paul said as he headed back to the bathroom.
“Hey it’s the end of the world, we got to help each other or we don’t have a chance,” Nick said as he turned away and headed off to start making breakfast.
Paul took another shower and rinsed off all the bits of blood and flesh stuck to him. He got dressed and came out to find breakfast waiting on the table and a fresh cup of coffee was calling his name. Paul joined Nick at the table and looked at the scrambled eggs and pancakes in front of him.
He smiled and looked at Nick and said “thanks again, the food looks great.”
“So what’s the plan now?” Nick asked as they both began to eat.
“I’m not sure but I definitely need to come up with a plan. I can’t be reckless and just rush out there again,” Paul said and then shoveled a fork full of eggs in his mouth.
He was hungrier than he had realized and he was devouring his breakfast at a rapid pace.
“There’s plenty more if you’re still hungry,” Nick said.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I burnt a lot of energy in the alley,” Paul said as he tried to slow down and just enjoy his breakfast.
“I looked out the window and saw the bodies you piled up out there, that’s impressive,” Nick said.
“I was just trying not to get eaten. I need to come up with a better plan,” Paul answered.
“Are you going back out there today?” Nick asked.
“No, I’m good for today. I’ll take a day or two to figure out how I want to approach this,” Paul said. They both sat there in silence and just enjoyed their breakfast.
Sixteen
The next two days were less productive than Paul had planned. He had spent the first day drinking and staring at the undead stumbling around in the street outside of the bar. Nick was beginning to become worried about him. He had tried multiple times to engage Paul in conversation. Most of the time Paul would barely acknowledge him and he would just keep staring out the door.
By that evening Paul was thoroughly drunk and he hadn’t left his spot at the door all day. From time to time Nick could hear Paul mumble something but most of the time it was hard to make out what he was saying. One of the few things Nick was able to make out when Paul was talking to himself was “I have to kill them all.”
That night Paul had slept downstairs in the bar. When Nick came downstairs the next day Paul had moved a chair to his spot in front of the door and sat there staring out at them. Paul spent the entire day sitting in that chair drinking again.
Before he knew it day had moved on too night and it had grown dark outside. The street lights had come on but Paul still hadn’t moved from in front of the door. Nick was worried but he wasn’t sure what to do and he still wasn’t able to get Paul to come away from the door.
“I’m headed to bed. Good night Paul,” Nick said as he headed to the kitchen to go upstairs to bed.
Paul didn’t acknowledge him yet again and Nick headed off to bed.
The bar was dark and Paul didn’t bother to turn on any lights. He stumbled through the dark as he made his way from the door to the bar to get a new bottle. The chair made a loud thump as Paul knocked it over on his way to the bar.
He found a bottle of whiskey behind the bar and made his way back to the door. When he made it back to his chair he was surprised to find that he wasn’t alone. The undead that he had spent the day watching were now watching him. Three of them were staring back at him through the door.
An older bald gentleman in a tuxedo, a young girl still dressed in her pajamas and a middle age woman in a jogging suit all stared through the window at him. He was lost in the moment and for a second it looked as if they could have been a family just watching him as he watched them. The older gentleman raised his hand up slowly towards the window and Paul began to mirror his movements and placed his hand against the window. The stillness of the moment was shattered as the true nature of the undead came shining through again.
The three undead began banging on the glass frantically and Paul stumbled backwards and fell over the chair that had been sitting in front of the door. He sat on the floor with his 1911 now out and aimed at the door. The whiskey was flowing through him as he struggled to focus his eyes. He tried to line up the sights of his pistol on the three zombies banging on the door.
Click, click…he pulled the trigger but the gun was empty. He should have taken that as a sign and just left it alone but his anger had risen back up. The urge to destroy the dead was consuming him as he watched the undead bang on the door. The glass would give out soon enough and Paul needed to do something to stop them or they would soon be in the bar.
He was back on his feet and headed to the kitchen. He stumbled into the swinging door and lost his footing once again and slid into the kitchen. The sound of the glass door breaking echoed through the bar and he knew the dead had made it inside.
Paul was back on his feet and searching the kitchen for any kind of weapon. The search wasn’t going well and he thought of going upstairs where his bags were still lying on the floor by the window. The noise coming from the bar was urging his search and making him move faster. He was trying to shake off the whiskey and get focused; the undead were no longer outside behind the glass. They were now inside and he knew he had messed up, he wasn’t only endangering himself but now he had put Nick in danger.
The search for a weapon was still going nowhere and he could still hear the zombies out in the bar and he had to figure out something quick. He stood behind the swinging door and looked through the small window; the three zombies that had been banging on the glass had now become a dozen zombies. Paul ran upstairs and burst through the door of the apartment.
The apartment was dark as Paul tried to locate his bags but the noise he was making had awoken Nick. He sat up in his bed and switched on a small lamp on a table next to the bed.
“What’s going on?” Nick asked as he rubbed his eyes and tried to take in the situation.
“Stay here, I just need my guns,” Paul said as he found his bags and pulled out his Ar15 and a fresh magazine for his 1911.
Nick watched Paul grab his guns and then turn and run back out of the apartment.
“What the hell was that about?” Nick said.
He got out of bed, threw on his shoes and followed Paul out of the apartment. Paul was back at the swinging door looking into the bar when Nick came down the stairs.
“Paul, what’s going on?” Nick asked.
“Quiet down, we have guest,” Paul responded.
Nick made his way around Paul to take a look out the small window.
“What the hell?” Nick said as he stepped back from the window.
The bar was now crowded with more of the undead. The numbers had doubled in the time Paul was gone to get his guns. Now there was close to thirty zombies stumbling around the bar.
“There must be like fifty of them in my bar. What the hell did you do?” Nick asked as he stared at Paul.
Paul was still staring out the small window on the door and seemed to be oblivious to Nick’s question. Nick continued to stare at Paul and was beginning to get frustrated at Paul’s lack of concern for what he was saying.
“Answer me damn it,” Nick said.
“What the hell is your problem? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Nick asked.
Paul turned his attention from the window and looked at Nick and spoke “lower your voice, you’re attracting attention.”
“Seriously? That’s the answer you’re going to g
ive me. You may not give a crap about your own life but I’m not going to let you get me killed too. Did you even think about that before you filled my bar with those monsters? Did it even cross your mind that you were risking my life too?” Nick said as his voice seemed to get louder with each word he spoke.
The noise from the kitchen as the two men argued was definitely attracting attention and Paul watched as the zombies turned their attention to the door at the kitchen. The same door that the zombies were now walking towards was the same door that Nick and Paul were hiding behind.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking straight. I just hate those things so much. You have no idea how much they hurt me and what they took from me,” Paul said.
He never made eye contact with Nick as he spoke; he was going back and forth from checking his guns and checking the window. Nick knew Paul was getting ready to do something and part of him wanted to stop him but he knew it would be pointless to try.
“I never meant to endanger you and I was dumb to put you in this position but I have to destroy those things. If you understood what they took from me you wouldn’t try to stop me,” Paul said as he finally looked up to meet Nick’s eyes.
“You think you’re the only one to lose someone or to get hurt. That’s what the world does, it takes your joy, your time and in the end your life. It’s a horrible place and the only fate we have is to die and get out of the worlds way. Maybe your right, maybe we should just go out there and let them kill us. I mean what’s the point; we’re all going to die anyways. Let’s have a drink and kiss our butts goodbye,” Nick said as a tear ran down his face and he knew he was talking to himself more than he was talking to Paul.
The fear of this new world was becoming more than he could take and it was all too overwhelming as he stood behind that door listening to the dead come closer and closer.
“I’m right here with you my friend, I have no intention of dying or letting you die. I want you to know that this has nothing to do with having a death wish. I do this because I have to make them pay and I have to destroy them. I’m sorry for the people you lost and you need to know there is always a reason to keep living. If the world is going to be a better place than maybe it should start with us,” Paul said as he placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder.
Love, Revenge and Zombies Page 13
