Downfall

by Michael S. Gardner

  Matt looked to the truck to see Angela running beside it as Jay drove to the front door. He smiled as he eyed the chipper bouncing behind the vehicle.

  “All right,” Matt yelled, seeing another runner bounding toward them, “back it on up.” He took aim and fired, downing the zombie.

  Cole locked the sliding doors open and stood sentry at the door. “We don’t have much time, man.” He wiped his nose, his cheeks red from the coldness.

  “You guys just guide the chipper in and guard the door.” Matt looked to Adam. “Are you guys almost done barricading the bay entry?”

  Adam nodded. “They’re stacking up the last of the wood. Nothing’ll be able to get in there.”

  “Good,” Matt said. “I need you to build a makeshift barricade so we can funnel’em into that chipper.”

  Adam raised his shoulders. “With what?”

  “Anything you can.”

  With a sigh, Adam picked up the radio. “Hey, babe?”

  “Yeah.” Jennifer’s voice came through.

  “I need you to divert and get me some cinderblocks and hydraulic water-stop.”

  ***

  Cole,

  Those assholes are everywhere. They’ve already gotten into the basement, and we had to move the couch in front of the door to help keep them from getting in. We had no choice but to leave. In my heart, I know that you three are still alive and will be back to find us gone. I wish I knew the words to say, but you know I’ve never been good with the sappy stuff. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Our leaving will hopefully not mean I’ll never see you again.

  If there is a God, I’m positive He’ll bring us back together. If there is a God, you’ll come back and read this.

  We are headed to Mount Airy. I suggested that we head to you, but “the good doc” and Jeff both think that’s a risk not worth taking. I pleaded with them to no avail. Part of me understands, and part of me hates them both, but they only want to survive. That, unfortunately, I can understand.

  I hope you can find forgiveness in your heart. This is not what I wanted. We left some supplies in the Ford—ammunition, water, and non-perishables. There are a few odds and ends in there too… even a joint or two.

  I can’t even see straight I’m crying so hard.

  Please be alive. Please come for me in Mount Airy. Please.

  Forever yours,

  Mary

  She set the pen down on the kitchen table, doing her best to ignore the pounding against the entire house. Wiping her flooding tears with arm, Mary looked to Jeff and Tim.

  Jeff nodded.

  Tim said, “We’ve all lost those that we loved, my dear Mary. I’m sorry to see you going through this. Though I may be a little difficult, I hope you know that I mean it when I say you don’t deserve this. I wish there were better words.” Still, even with the apparent sincerity of his words, there was something off about his eyes.

  Mary taped the note high on the cupboard next to the refrigerator. Hopefully some creeper wouldn’t tear it down and steal away the last thing she had.

  “We have to go.” Jeff glanced at the pile of unmoving corpses at the back door. The dead beyond the barrier were still feverishly attempting to gain access. The basement door struggled to stay on its hinges. Hell, every damned barricaded opening was giving way.

  Mary nodded and followed the two men up the stairs and into Kristin’s room. In the far corner lay a discarded sheet covering what had to be Alex’s corpse. Even more tears welled up. Alex had been a champion in her eyes. Where others had died, he’d survived. Somewhere, maybe in heaven, she hoped the boy was watching them. She would survive. His loss wouldn’t grant the dead access to her life.

  “Goodbye,” she said, forcing a smile. She blew a kiss to his corpse—it felt like the right thing to do—and followed Tim and Jeff out the window, making for the top of the porch’s roof.

  The front yard was crawling with the dead, both in motion and not.

  The Escalade sat about twenty feet from where they stood. The drop down wasn’t more than ten feet.

  Jeff chambered a round into his AK-47, looked to Mary, and said, “We have our work cut out for us. Aim for the closest ones. The doors are unlocked.”

  Tim handed her an assault rifle, gave her an odd look—a caring one that possibly sheltered something more that couldn’t be seen. “We’ll get through this.”

  ***

  “Daddy, do you wanna color with us?”

  Lilly’s words barely reached Paul’s ears. Since the departure of the three survivors, the street in front of his house had seen quite a bit of activity. He stood hidden behind the drapes, staring as one walking corpse after another shambled down the road. Some traveled in groups, some by themselves. So far, they had yet to detect Paul and his family.

  “Are there more?” Meredith asked, looking up from the coloring book she and little Lilly were using.

  Paul turned around, face almost numb, and nodded. “Yeah.”

  “How many?”

  He didn’t want to scare his daughter or his wife, but sometimes you just didn’t get what you wanted.

  “Lilly,” he said. “Why don’t you go to your room and gather some of your dolls.”

  The little girl looked to her father with a confused expression.

  “Go on, baby,” Meredith urged softly. “We’ll be there in a few.”

  When Lilly was out of sight, Paul took her seat on the couch. Meredith looked him in the eye. “How many?”

  Paul sighed, glanced back to the bay window and then to his wife. “I think we should move into the attic.”

  Meredith’s face drew into a sorrowful expression. “Is it that bad?”

  He nodded.

  “Lord, help us,” Meredith whispered, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

  Paul looked to the crucifix on the wall. What was once a beacon of faith, of hope, now seemed nothing more than a decoration.

  “Meredith,” he said, placing an arm around her shoulder, “I think we need to help ourselves. That explosion, or something else, has drawn them out. I’ve never seen so many.” Meredith leaned toward the window, but Paul stopped her. “No. They might see you. We need to gather what we can and make for the attic. We’ll be safer up there. Less chance of them noticing us.”

  “Can’t we just… block the doors with the furniture?”

  Paul shook his head. “I’m afraid that’ll make too much noise.”

  “What about—”

  “Honey, I don’t really think we have a choice now.”

  A shadow crept across the bay window.

  “Oh my god!” Meredith covered her mouth with both hands.

  Paul turned to see a zombie with both eye sockets empty stumble across the front yard, mere feet before the window. The thing was a work of pure evil. Skin peeled from its face, dangling with each little movement. Its maw chomped with a devilish overbite, teeth yellowed and bloodied, hungry for the sensation of devouring all things living. And then it stopped, turned slowly until it was in full view. It cocked its head to the left, to the right.

  “Come on, honey,” Paul said. “We don’t have much time.”

  CHAPTER 30

  Matt yanked the hammer drill out of its case and plugged it into the extension cord. Placing the monstrous bit into place, he walked up to the wall about ten feet away from the door, jabbed the bit into the cinderblock, and punched a hole through both ends.

  Cole and Angela’s suppressive fire was growing uncomfortably successive. As he began drilling the next hole, Matt heard Cole shout something, but it was cut off by three shots. He glanced to Adam, who was applying the cement to the floor. Jennifer had brought him two pallets of cinder blocks and was hopefully on her way back with the rest of Matt’s supplies.

  Matt drilled another three holes, knowing that the tremendous horde was closing in. In a matter of minutes he’d created a circle of holes. He wiped the sweat off his brow and caught his breath.

  “You a
ren’t gettin’ tired on us, are you?”

  Matt looked up and saw Jennifer smiling as she pulled up in her forklift.

  “You’re a life saver,” Matt said as he ran up to the front and snatched a mallet. “Could you put the rest by the chipper?”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Matt had to force himself not to laugh. Instead, he nodded and ran back to the wall.

  ***

  Jeff turned the ignition, put the transmission in reverse, and plowed over a number of rotters as he turned around. One of them was in mid-run when Jeff put the vehicle in drive and slammed on the gas. The thing bounced off the hood, hitting against and cracking the windshield, and fell off the driver’s side. In its wake, the runner left a stain of slime and blood. Jeff activated the wipers, turned to Mary in the back, and said, “You all right?” He immediately turned back around, focusing on the driveway.

  Mary watched their little safe haven in the middle of nowhere become surrounded by the living dead. Some gave chase to the Escalade, mostly runners, but the rest searched for entry, possibly wanting to defile Alex’s corpse more than it already had been. The pit was full of corpses at every viewpoint, but it hadn’t been enough. It was never enough, right from the start, she realized.

  “I’m fine.” She sensed the others knew it was a lie. Who could be fine in a situation like this?

  “You can take comfort in knowing that where we’re going, you really will be fine,” Tim said.

  She hoped so.

  ***

  “Reloading!” Angela ejected the spent mag and slapped in her last. “Runnin’ on fumes over here!”

  “Me too,” Cole yelled back.

  “Shit,” Angela muttered and lined her sights on a woman in jogging gear. She aimed for the flapping skin on the thing’s forehead and squeezed the trigger.

  A quartet of creeping dead staggered into sight. The lead zombie was immediately falling to the ground as a runner toppled into it. Angela released a breath and chose her first target: an officer with no arms or lower jaw.

  “Screamer,” Cole yelled.

  Angela spun around just as a shadowy outline at the far end of the lot released a booming shout.

  “Fuck. Me.”

  She raised the barrel, took aim, and dropped the rest of the creepers on her side. Backing up, she caught movement in the corner of her eye. A line of runners were charging their way.

  “Angela,” Cole yelled. “Get to the door.”

  Boy, you better be ready for this shit. She glanced back and felt her heart skip a beat. Hell is comin’ down on us like rain in a hurricane.

  ***

  Paul sat in the attic staring out through a gable vent at the side of his house. Meredith and Lilly were near the entry. Mommy was reading softly to her daughter with the aid of a flashlight. Their whispers reached his ear, pierced his heart. Outside numerous corpses moved about the street, though, for the most part out of his line of sight.

  Since they’d come up, a few of the dead had drawn their attention to the front door. Each time one of them banged on it, Paul’s grip on the handgun grew that much tighter before he had to readjust.

  “Guide me, Father.” He looked to the pale sky for guidance, but only received a reminder of the inclement weather.

  Little Lilly was too young to understand the severity of the situation, and he wasn’t about to break down in front of her. He had to be strong. Had to. Meredith, his wife of over ten years, was holding strong too. But that wouldn’t last forever. Couldn’t.

  They had brought up a meager amount of supplies which wouldn’t last, either. Soon they would be trapped. Lilly deserved much better than that.

  Paul looked at the ground, a drop of no more than fifteen feet. The grip on his revolver loosened. If he could only distract this gathering of the dead, draw them away from their house, they might be able to return downstairs, return to denying the inevitable. Paul knew this neighborhood as well as any other occupant still left alive, and could easily outmaneuver most of the horde. If he could make the drop unscathed, he might stand a chance at saving his family.

  A soft pressure on his right shoulder startled him, bringing him back from his thoughts.

  “It’s getting bad, isn’t it?” Meredith tried smiling, but sniffled. He glanced past her to see the beam of Lilith’s flashlight scanning the pages of one of her picture books.

  “I don’t know how much longer we’ll have before we’re trapped,” he answered, blinking heavily

  She rubbed his chest, kissed his neck. “Have faith, honey. God will—”

  “God will do nothing for us now,” he said, not quite angrily, but with a tone that caused Meredith to gasp in shock.

  “Paul?”

  “Hon, I don’t think He can do anything for us. I’ve not lost my faith, nor will I ever, but we need to do something. I need to do something before there’s nothing left to do except suffer.”

  Meredith sniffled again.

  “Everything that has happened, to us, to the world, is a result of something that had nothing to do with God. It’s up to us to take care of our own, and that’s what I intend to do.”

  “What?”

  “The good Lord saw fit to introduce us to those three, and we’re blessed in the fact that they gave us means to dispose of these demons.”

  Meredith grabbed his forearm and squeezed. “What are you saying?”

  “They saved me earlier,” Paul whispered. “They saved us earlier.”

  “They’re the ones who brought the dead with them, with their explosion.”

  Paul rested a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “You don’t know that to be true. And besides, this isn’t the time for blaming; it’s the time for action.” He looked back out the gable vent, sweeping all visible sides.

  “Paul, where are you going with this?” She glanced outside then back to Lilly. “You don’t plan on going out there, do you?”

  Paul sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Our luck couldn’t last forever, Meredith. We’re blessed to have survived this long without any problems. Now, I believe we are being tested. And I don’t plan on failing.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Paul heard the crack in her voice, and when she stole another peek out the vent and gasped yet again, he could practically hear her heart breaking.

  “Meredith. I love you, and I love Lilly. And I’m not going to allow you two to be trapped up here forever. I’m going to do my best to distract those devils, keep them from finding you two.”

  She shook her head. “No you’re not.”

  Paul eyed his wife, saw the concern and fright in her expression, and said, “I have to.” He wrapped her in his arms, smelled her hair, kissed her head. “There is no other choice. I’m going to lead those things somewhere else.”

  “B-But you could die.”

  Paul smiled and kissed her head again. “If it means that you’ll live, the sacrifice would be well worth it. I have the revolver and enough ammunition that I should be all right. And with what Mathew had given us, you two will be all right as well.”

  There was a momentary silence.

  “I have to do this, honey. There’s no other way. If we wait, we’ll die.”

  Meredith nodded slowly and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

  Lilly lumbered over and sat next to Meredith. “Whatcha doin’?”

  “Nothing, baby,” Meredith said.

  Paul had to fight with his tear ducts, fight with his voice so that it wouldn’t crack. He tucked the revolver in the small of his back, kneeled down, and grabbed his daughter’s and his wife’s hands. “Lilly?”

  “Yeah, Dad.”

  “Papa’s gotta go out for a little bit.”

  “Why?”

  Her voice was so soft, so innocent. He searched and searched for the right answer, but couldn’t find one.

  “He’s going to get us some more toys for you to play with.” Meredith looked from her to Paul, a tear falling from her right eye. “Isn’t that right, hon
ey?”

  God, he loved her. He truly was blessed to have found and married someone as beautiful, caring, and resourceful as her. “Yes. I’m gonna get a few other things too.”

  “Can you get me a teddy bear? Mr. Snuggles is bored too. He wants a brother or sister.”

  The weight in his chest grew heavier. “Of course I will.” This time his voice did crack, just a little.

  Paul hugged his wife and daughter, kissed them both for what he prayed wasn’t the last time. “If I’m not back in an hour or so…”

  Meredith cried softly, rubbing her freshly moistened face against his, hugging him hard. “Don’t you say that.”

  Lilly returned to her book, unaware that this could be the final moments spent with her family as a whole.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Paul opened the gable vent.

  CHAPTER 31

  “Make sure it doesn’t come off,” Matt told Dennis, who had just parked his forklift in front of Jennifer’s. Both vehicles served as bracing on the back end of the wall, leaving Adam and Jennifer exposed at the front while they worked. The clatter of semiautomatic gunfire brought Matt back to the task at hand. He tore open package of zip straps and, taking three, secured the inner wall of the six inch flex duct to the discharge spout of the wood chipper. Dennis reached for the duct tape and wrapped it around the duct, securing it even more.

  “Reloading,” Jay yelled from somewhere in the parking lot.

  “Shit,” Matt muttered, pulling the outer sleeve of the duct over and repeating the process he had with the inner.

  As Dennis was wrapping the duct with tape, Matt pulled the ten inch flex duct out of its box and ran the tail end over the six inch flex, bringing it up to the discharge spout.

  “I need you to take care of this one yourself, Dennis,” he said, handing him the zip straps. “I’m gonna run this outside.”