Dead America - Mississippi

by Derek Slaton

  Victor crossed his arms, not touching the tools. “What in the hell are you gonna do with doors?”

  She smiled and tossed a handful of long leather straps down in front of her. “Are you familiar with the three hundred spartan warriors?”

  “Do I look like someone who would?” he scoffed.

  “Given how much of a fatass you are, I would have assumed you saw the movie,” Nadia shot back, and Luke snorted, quickly covering it up as Victor glared at him.

  “Oh, oh!” James cut in. “That was that comic book lookin’ flick, wasn’t it? Hey, you saw it man, it had that freaky tall bald dude with that nose earring chain thing.”

  “Oh,” Victor replied petulantly. “Was that the one with all them shirtless dudes with spears?”

  James nodded. “That’s the one.”

  “Well, hell, girl, I know what you’re talkin’ about now,” Victor declared, but his brow furrowed. “But… I don’t know what that means for us.”

  Nadia sighed. “We’re going to use the straps to make shields out of the doors,” she explained. “You four are going to act as our spartan guards, while the brothers and I unleash hell on our enemies.”

  “Uh, Nadia?” Solomon raised his hand. “I don’t think we have enough bullets for this.”

  She pulled out a series of long knives from her bag. “These beds should have long metal supports. We’re gonna grab those and Doug is gonna make us some spears.”

  Victor nodded thoughtfully. “That’s just crazy enough to work, girl,” he said. “I just hope you don’t expect us to take off our shirts to match them movie Spartans.”

  “If you even think about taking off your shirt, just remember I have a gun and I know how to use it,” she warned.

  James laughed and smacked his friend’s belly on his way by. “I think she’d be justified in doing so.”

  “All right,” Victor agreed, finally looking like he was warming up to the situation. “We’ll be back soon with those doors.”

  Doug held out the drill. “Here, don’t forget the room key,” he said.

  As the rest got to work dismantling the bed, Nadia dug through the desk to find a map of the casino floor. She took a deep breath and picked up a pen to plot her assault.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Phil skirted a fresh zombie corpse. “I’ll say this, Tony is one hell of a proficient killer,” he said.

  “Nah, this ain’t killing.” Marc shook his head. “It’s mercy.”

  “Well, whatever you call it, he’s really good at it,” Phil replied.

  Vernon nodded to the figure ahead jogging back towards them. “Speak of the devil,” he said.

  “Probably a good sign that he’s not waving his arms at us in a panic,” Mandy muttered, resting her crowbar on her shoulder.

  Vernon inclined his head towards her. “Tell me about it.” He stopped to take a breather as Tony caught up with them. “Please tell me you’ve found something good.”

  “Maybe,” the younger man replied, “but I’m gonna need some help getting to it.” He waved for the group to follow him, and headed up the road a bit. There was a private dock bobbing on the river, with a small boat tied to the end.

  And a quartet of zombies hanging out between the bank and the vehicle to freedom.

  “Normally, if there’s just a couple of ‘em, I can handle it on my own,” Tony said quietly. “But with four, I’d feel more comfortable having some backup.”

  “Understandable,” Vernon replied.

  Mandy cracked her neck. “I’ve got your back. What do you want to do?”

  “We don’t have to kill ‘em, we just need ‘em out of the way,” Tony explained. “That dock looks wide enough that if one of us is pushing a zombie over, the other should be able to squeeze past and take on the next in line.”

  Mandy held up her crowbar, and Marc held his out for the young parkour fanatic. He took it and saluted the lady with it.

  “I would say ladies first, but I feel like that would be impolite in this situation,” he joked.

  “Plus, you know I’d smack the hell out of you if you treated me differently because of my gender,” Mandy warned.

  He winked at her. “So that’s what it takes to get a smack from you. Good to know!” He turned towards the dock and she shrugged at the distasteful looks on her companions’ faces.

  “Hey now, I don’t judge whatever weird shit y’all are into,” she said, putting up her hands. “I would appreciate the same common courtesy.” Without waiting for a response, she jogged to catch up to Tony.

  They crept along the dock, the zombies focused on the water and not their approaching attackers. Tony went first, hooking the end of the bar around the zombie’s neck and flinging it into the water. The thing growled and as the next closest whipped around, Mandy darted forward and skewered it, wrestling it off of the edge of the dock.

  The other two zombies closed in, but Tony leapt around her and pushed out with the rounded end of the crowbar, pushing it back against its friend. He shoved forward with all his might, using the first one to topple the second one over into the water. The current easily pulled the grunting corpses away from the dock, sweeping them downstream past the rest of the group standing on the shore.

  “And that’s why we’re not swimming across,” Marc declared, swiping his hands together is if to wash his hands of the situation.

  Phil shook his head as the bobbing zombies disappeared in the waves. “That is deceptively fast,” he marveled.

  “Come on y’all, let’s go check out our new ride,” Vernon said, and waved for them to follow.

  Mandy sat on the edge of the dock, dangling her bare feet into the cool water. She looked the perfect picture of relaxation, which made Vernon smile until he settled his eyes on a concerned-looking Tony standing over the boat with his hands on his hips.

  “What’s the good news?” the older man asked.

  Tony shook his head and stepped back from the edge of the dock, motioning for the trio to look. Phil gasped and both Marc and Vernon visibly recoiled at the sight. There was a corpse draped over the outboard motor, blade lodged firmly in its torso. The bottom of the boat was a veritable lake of blood, though it didn’t seem to have come from the present body.

  Phil swallowed back bile. “Is it fixable?” he asked.

  “Maybe if I had a week and my workshop,” Vernon replied tersely. “That blade is lodged in his ribcage, which means it hit all kinds of bones and cartilage. Even if the blade is still in working order, something I highly doubt, then the engine itself is gonna be all clogged up with blood and guts. This boat is taking us nowhere.”

  There was a collective sigh of disappointment throughout the group as they processed that information.

  “Well, at least we know we’re getting close,” Marc said, and pointed upriver. About a thousand yards up was the tip of the Helena River Park Peninsula.

  Vernon squared his shoulders. “Let’s get going.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Holy fuck this thing is heavy,” Victor huffed as he dragged the door behind him, arms limp under the leather straps.

  Nadia rolled her eyes at the other three men, who seemed to be able to carry their shield-doors with relative ease. She grabbed the bottom strap of Victor’s door and lifted it, keeping pace with him.

  “There you go, big man,” she cooed. “You got a teenage girl helping you now, so it’s all gonna be okay.”

  He snarled as the rest of the group chuckled, and jerked the door out of her grip, picking up his pace. “I was just playing,” he snapped. “I got this.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Nadia replied, not buying it but happy he’d ceased his incessant whining.

  They continued across the walkway to the casino. The doors were barricaded with chains and a few boards, and Doug leaned his shield against the wall to get to work on the planks with his hammer.

  “Okay guys, listen up,” the young girl turned to face her team. “This hallway is pretty wide, so when we get in there,
I want you to get in the center and form a V. Luke, Victor, I want you two on the right. James and Doug will be on the left. You guys decide who gets to be top and bottom.”

  James furrowed his brow as he leaned on his horizontal shield. “Wait, we’re stacking the doors?”

  “Yep,” Nadia replied with a firm nod. “Unless you want those things to be able to lean over and bite you.”

  James put up a hand. “All right, stacking it is.”

  The last piece of wood clattered to the floor, and Doug noticed that the key was still in the lock that joined the chains on the door handles. “The key’s in the lock whenever we’re ready,” he said. “But, if I might make a suggestion?”

  “Of course,” Nadia replied, waving for him to continue.

  “If the hall is wide, why are we setting up the formation in the center?” he asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to put us against the wall so we don’t risk zombies getting around us?”

  She nodded, accepting his concern. “My fear is if we do that, and then there are too many zombies on the second floor, we could get trapped. Setting it up in the center is a risk, but it at least gives us a chance at a retreat.”

  “Fair enough,” Doug agreed.

  Nadia turned to her fellow teens. “Solomon, Gregory, I want you two on either side of the formation,” she instructed. “I don’t want you to worry about headshots. If those things start coming around, I want you to aim for center mass and hold them at bay. I’ll be focused on the frontal assault, but if you got one I want you to call it out.” She focused on James and Luke. “And I know you boys have shotguns, but please don’t use them unless it’s a last resort. As soon as that first shot goes off, we’re gonna be getting real popular real quick. Everybody good?”

  There was a round of nods and affirmations, and the young woman stepped forward to grab the lock. She turned the key and left the padlock hanging on the end of the chain, looped through the left door handle, just in case.

  She glanced at her team, at the ready, and then threw open the door. Her four shield-bearers rushed in and got in position. Luke and James slammed theirs on the ground, and Doug and Victor stacked theirs on top, the hinges on the bottoms providing a little resting place to avoid slippage.

  The noise attracted the attention of a dozen zombies from down the hall, and they tore towards their prey.

  Nadia gripped her spear tightly, surprised at the speed of these runners, having been inside for so long with their muscles in decent condition. “Here they come!” she cried, and the men braced themselves against their doors.

  Solomon and Gregory each took up a side, putting on brave faces but both horrified at the sight of these creatures up close for the first time.

  “Forty yards,” Nadia called, watching over the tops of the barricade to warn the men behind. “Thirty. Twenty. Ten!”

  The first corpse collided with the shields, thrashing its arms upwards, the barricade just above armpit height. The men held fast as Nadia lunged forward, lining up her shot and stabbing her makeshift spear directly into the zombie’s eye socket.

  It hit the floor as four of its brethren trampled it at the same time, the left side of the barricade buckling slightly under the added pressure. James leaned into it, bracing his legs to tighten it up again.

  Nadia caught the side of a zombie’s head, slicing open its forehead instead of braining it. She grunted and pulled back, lining up a shot before lashing forward again, getting a direct eyeball hit this time.

  The remainder of the hallway zombies hit the barricade, and the shield men struggled against the weight. Solomon jumped into action as a zombie flopped around to his side, and caught it in the chest.

  “I got one, help me!” he cried, voice high-pitched as he wrestled the flailing corpse to hold it in place. Nadia finished dropping a third corpse in the front and then pivoted, jabbing a direct shot into the trapped creature’s temple.

  “Gregory, step up!” Nadia cried, banging her spear on the center of the barricade to keep the zombies in the center of the funnel. “Solomon, call out if any are coming around!”

  The first young man moved to her side and they began a stabbing spree, carefully lining up shots and shoving their weapons forward, like extreme spearfishing. One by one the creatures collapsed, creating a heap in the middle of the V and releasing the pressure on the men holding it.

  Gregory lined up a shot for the last zombie, but Nadia pushed his spear down and waved Solomon to take her spot.

  “Why don’t you take him out?” she asked. “A little practice never hurt anyone.”

  He stepped forward and held up his spear, face determined as he lined up his shot. He thrust quickly, the blade sinking into the zombie’s forehead like butter. As it fell, the sounds of the dead faded, leaving nothing but the panting of the living.

  “I’ll give you this, girl,” Victor huffed. “That works a whole hell of a lot better than I thought it was going to.”

  “Full disclosure,” Nadia admitted, “that worked a lot better than I thought it was going to.”

  They relaxed, the shield-bearers setting their doors aside. James groaned as he got to his feet, knees cracking.

  “You alright there, man?” Luke asked.

  “Yeah.” James chuckled. “Just fucking old. If there’s any ibuprofen and whiskey in town left, I call dibs.”

  “Pretty sure my dad has a stash,” Nadia piped up. “Y’all get us back safely and the first round is on me.”

  James grinned. “Girl you are speaking my language.”

  “Good,” she replied. “Now come on, let’s move up.”

  Solomon and Gregory shoved a few of the corpses to the side, in case they had to make a hasty retreat, and Nadia led the way to the mouth of the hallway into the main casino atrium. It was a cavernous area, the eight floors above them completely open with balconies so the patrons of the hotel could look down upon the casino floor.

  The group scanned the area studiously as they approached the balcony, and didn’t see any movement anywhere.

  “Let’s go take a look at what we’re up against,” Nadia instructed quietly. “But be on guard.” She crept to the railing and peeked over.

  The casino floor was blood-soaked, zombies ambling about everywhere. The slot machines were covered in crimson handprints and there wasn’t a single card table left green. On the far side, the escalator was out of commission, corpses stuck in different areas of the conveyor stairs.

  “Mother of god, look at all of them,” Victor breathed.

  Luke swallowed hard. “How many to do you think there are?”

  “Gotta be a couple hundred at least,” James murmured.

  “Girl, how in the holy hell are we gonna take all those things out?” Victor hissed.

  “That’s our spot, right there,” Nadia replied, and motioned to the escalators.

  “Uh, that’s great, but there’s still hundreds of fuckin’ zombies,” Victor scoffed.

  She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay patient. “And that’s a choke point. They are gonna have to file up to us one by one which will give-”

  Before she could finish her explanation, a few zombies by the Keno machines noticed her wide-eyed stare and began moaning. The noise alerted more and more of their brethren, causing a chain reaction of groans and snarls throughout the atrium.

  “Back to the hotel?” Luke asked shrilly.

  Nadia nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea!”

  They turned away from the railing and began to move, but a few dozen zombies poured out of several nearby hallways, blocking their way to the exit.

  “Against the railing!” she screamed, and the four shield-bearers leapt into action, creating a V like a snow plow this time, bracing the doors against the railing for support.

  The teenagers began to frantically thin the horde as it crashed into the barricade, arms flailing and teeth snapping. The sound of cracking wood echoed, causing everyone’s stomachs to drop.

  “The doors are b
reaking!” Victor cried. “You gotta take them out faster!”

  Gregory’s panicked thrust continued to miss their target, and though Solomon worked a more deliberate approach, he wasn’t fast enough. Nadia clenched her jaw as she watched a crack form through the middle of one of the bottom doors.

  “Who has buckshot!” she yelled.

  Luke raised an arm. “I do!”

  She grabbed the strap and lifted it over his head and off of the raised arm, tapping Gregory on the shoulder. “Get on all fours!” she cried. He dropped his spear with a clatter and complied, and she stepped up onto his strong farmer’s back. She planted her other leg against the railing, and aimed down into the largest portion of the horde.

  She pulled the trigger, the kickback intense in her hands, but her heart leapt with hope as the lead spread out and dropped four zombies at once. She cocked it quickly again, aimed, and fired, taking out another small group. Three more shots, the gun was empty, but the little horde was easily half the size it had been when they got assaulted the first time.

  She jumped down to the floor and slipped the strap over her shoulder, picking up her spear again. “How are the doors holding?” she asked.

  “Better, I think we’re good,” Doug replied.

  Nadia helped Gregory back to his feet and the two resumed their zombie stabbing, Solomon joining in slowly but surely. After what felt like forever, the horde was a heap of unmoving corpses.

  James and Victor began to stand up, but Nadia put her hands on their shoulders to keep them in position.

  “Hang on,” she said, and leaned over the barricade. “Come on! Anybody else want a piece of us?!” she yelled into the pile. “Huh? Do ya?” She waited a beat, but there was no movement in the heap. “Fucking thought so.” She stepped back, and tapped her shield-bearers on the shoulders.

  The men relaxed and adjusted their stance and grips, making sure that the pile didn’t fall in on them as they moved the doors. Nadia turned back to the railing and glared down at the casino floor, the zombies down there still focused on the group of fresh meat.