Rancid: A Zombie Novel

by P. A. Douglas

  “Hey, I’m here to help,” he muttered as she reached out and wrestled him to the ground.

  The bat fell from his grip as he collided with the damp earth.

  “What’s your problem, lady?” He said, franticly keeping her at bay.

  Her teeth snapped violently together trying to get close to his face. He pushed hard making her fall away. Tom took the opportunity to stand and grabbed the bat at his side. His body raced with adrenaline and fear, not actually sure what was going on. He looked up and panicked. Not only was the woman finding her footing, but the man that he had bludgeoned was getting up as well. His head bobbed left and right as he began to slowly stand.

  Tom turned, heading for the church doors and muttering memorized scriptures.

  “Behold, I give you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing by any means will harm thee… He gave his only begotten…”

  Tom reached the church’s front double doors. He flipped the key pad to the alarm system open and looked back. The woman was rounding the corner and headed toward him. No longer clouded in a shadow of darkness, the streetlight illuminated her mangled flesh. Not only was one eye hanging on her cheek, but the other one was gone, devoured. Blood and plasma ran down her chin onto her neck from the open gash that was her peeled lower lip. She reached out toward him, several of her fingers missing. Her dress was covered in dirt and what looked to be her own bodily fluids.

  It was then that he realized that he was covered in it too. When she had tackled him to the ground, her gore and bloody mess had gotten all over him.

  “Stay back!” Tom shouted, trying desperately to key in the code to unlock the church doors.

  He heard the door lock click. It unlocked. As he stepped through the double doors, he saw the dead man finally shamble into view from the corner of the building. Its staggering steps were slow and unnatural. Something was definitely wrong.

  “God, please help us all,” he said as he slammed the doors shut just before the mangled woman reached them hoping to get inside.

  SEVEN

  “Yes… and for the third time, we did not, I repeat, did not see your boyfriend’s body at the cemetery,” Officer Baily insisted. “If it had been there, then maybe it got moved before we showed up.”

  “That just doesn’t make any sense,” she said, perturbed.

  “What I don’t get,” Joe started, “…is how the meteor shower had anything to do with raising the dead. It’s not like some space rock landed in the cemetery giving off some strange cosmic life force. You said that those things were already out of the graves by the time the shower actually lit up in the sky.”

  “I know… I know…,” she replied. “I don’t get it either. Honestly, what the hell else could it be? Trevor was saying something about it being one of those rare showers that only happen once every hundred years or something.”

  The streetlights and billboards pushed back the darkness of the rural landscape leading toward the town that was lit up like the Fourth of July. Baily kept his hands firmly on the wheel and looked toward the back seat for a moment.

  “Speaking of Trevor, how is he holding up, honey?”

  Kelly didn’t look at him. With eyes forward, she said, “Fine. He’s fine.”

  “Okay, well, we’re almost there. Daddy’s going to drop him off and then he'll get my little baby doll home and tucked in.”

  She rolled her eyes and looked away. “Dad… don’t talk to me like I’m a three year old in front of my friends.”

  Baily started to reply, but stopped when his gaze returned to the road and the town came into focus. What he thought were the lights of the town shinning in the sky, turned out to be several of the buildings lit up in flames. Now he understood why he was unable to contact June.

  The patrol car rolled into town with the passengers staring in disbelief. With his jaw dropped and his grip tightening even more on the wheel, Baily let up on the gas to access the situation.

  “Look over there. That might explain a few things.” Joe pointed toward the Volkswagen Bug that they had found old man Benta driving.

  “That’s Jared’s car,” Noel said.

  The front end of Jared’s Volkswagen was mashed up against the phone pole and crushed in the rear by a wrecker displaying Buck’s Towing painted on the side. Buck wasn’t in the driver’s seat. The pole leaned so far to the side that it looked like it was going to fall to the ground at any moment. The electrical lines drooped and crossed, sending sparks shooting through the air. Two figures crouched over something large enough to be a body among the shower of sparks, paying no heed to the patrol car as it passed by.

  Small one-story mom and pop shops that lined the downtown area of Clarksburg, normally calm in the dead of night were in turmoil. Tammie’s Hair salon’s front window was a shattered mess, leaving shards of sharp glass on the sidewalk. Next to it, the front door to the antique store that specialized in assortments of yarn and crafting fabric was wide open and teaming with people. The feed store on the opposite side of the street appeared to be secure, until the roof started to smolder and catch fire. Buildings were damaged up and down both sides of the road.

  “So, you think the phone pole back there was the problem with—”

  “No, Joe. I don’t think that’s what caused the communication problem with June. We are using radio waves, not the…,” Baily stopped, distracted by a large mob of people that ran frantically across the side street ahead.

  Shouts and screams roared in the distance. Baily brought the patrol car to a dead stop.

  “Well… If that ain’t what’s keeping us from getting in touch with June, then what is?” Joe said.

  “… Wait, what?” Baily said, still focused on the mob that had just dashed past them.

  “June… Why can’t we get a hold of her?”

  “Really?” Noel scorned. “Do you really have to ask that right now? Look around, man! What the hell is going on?”

  Joe’s eyes went wide with the ensuing chaos. “I… I just don’t understand. How could this have all happened so fast? We were just here less than an hour ago helping that old man into the ambulance. I just don’t get—”

  The blaring horn from a white, unmarked van cut his words short. It swerved back and forth swiping parked cars on either side as it careened toward them. Kelly screamed. It lost total control and slammed into a Sedan. The van rolled over and slid upside down with a deafening screech before coming to a stop. Baily, Joe, Noel, and Kelly sat in silence and waited for something else crazy to happen.

  But it didn’t.

  “We’ve got to go check this out,” Baily said as he reached for the shotgun.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Noel protested. “You can’t go out there!”

  “Noel’s right, Dad.” Kelly reached up grabbing his shoulder. “Don’t go out there.”

  Baily looked back, his brow creased. “We have to. Just sit tight.”

  Kelly slumped back into the seat, giving up on the idea that her old man would listen.

  “Okay, Joe. You ready to do this?”

  Joe didn’t speak. He just removed his firearm from its holster and gritted his teeth. He was with Noel and the blonde. Screw going out and being killed. That was crazy. He was too young to die, and for the first time ever, he was beginning to think that following in his great grandfather’s footsteps into law enforcement wasn’t such a great idea after all.

  “All right, let’s do this,” Baily said, opening his door and stepping out.

  Joe looked back at the girls. Noel tried to force a smile, but it just made Joe feel even worse about the predicament.

  “Hurry back…” Noel managed to mutter.

  Joe didn’t hear her. He was out of the door heading toward the van and his commanding officer.

  Noel watched in horror as the two police officers slowly edged their way toward the side of the van. As they drew closer, she felt her heart grip tighter inside her chest. She just knew t
hat something bad was going to happen. Someone or something was going to jump out and attack. She just knew it.

  As they reached the van, Baily waved Joe over to take a closer look. Noel realized that she had been holding her breath.

  “We don’t have time for this shit,” she huffed, looking to Kelly. “We need to get Trevor to the hospital.”

  She looked at Trevor and was relieved to see him shift his weight in the seat, counting him among the living.

  “Glad to see you’re coming back around. You had me worried for a second there.”

  Trevor stretched his arms to the side.

  “Ewww… Gross,” Kelly squirmed. “Get your nasty, blood rag arm off of me!”

  Noel started to laugh, but her laughter quickly turned to a harsh gulp. Something was wrong with Trevor. His skin was chalky and his eyes were fogged over in a milky white haze. His lips stretched open and he lashed out with a hand.

  “Ow! What the hell is the matter with you?” Kelly shouted, pushing Trevor away. “Let go of my hair!”

  Before Noel could make a move, the unthinkable happened. Kelly grunted an abnormal moan as blood sprayed Trevor across his pale face. Noel screamed bloody murder as she watched Kelly’s neck run red with plasma. Kelly began to go into spasms as Trevor dug his teeth deeper into her face. Noel heard cartilage snap as more blood spewed across the seats and onto her lap. Trevor pulled away again with something meaty in his mouth. As Kelly jittered in her seat, Noel watched as Trevor pulled at the chunk with both hands. He pulled it from his mouth. His hands were covered in blood as it ran down both elbows. It looked like Trevor was chewing on an ear.

  Noel screamed again, and reached for the door.

  “Help me, please!” she shouted.

  The door wouldn’t open. The handle shook back and forth, but the door wouldn’t budge.

  “Please…” she shouted. “Oh my God!”

  Still fighting with the door, Kelly fell against her, her dead weight limply sagging to one side. Trevor pressed against Kelly even more as he tore into her chest and pulled off her blouse. The fabric ripped; sending a few buttons into the air. With her bustling breasts partially revealed beneath the frilly-laced black bra, Trevor sank his teeth into her meaty flesh. Skin and leathery tissue peeled free as he chomped.

  “Help me,” Noel continued. “Dear God… Get me out of here!”

  The door still wouldn’t open no matter how hard she banged against it. With Kelly leaned against her and Trevor pushing Kelly forward, Noel became pinned against the door. Gunshots rang and she had no idea what was going on outside. One loud report was quickly followed by another amongst shouts of protest.

  Wet slurping grunts and smacking forced her attention back to Trevor. Blood was flying everywhere. It wasn’t until droplets speckled across Noel’s chest that the young gothic flipped. She screamed one long shout of terror while pushing with everything she had. With her hands on the back of Kelly’s head and shoulders, she pushed them both toward the other side of the back seat. She fought her way toward the front seat, those doors wouldn’t be locked. Her hands felt wet and warm, but she didn’t want to think about it. She just needed to get the hell out of the car before Trevor got a hold of her too.

  With Trevor finally pressed against the door, Noel climbed forward between the two front seats. Screaming, she felt Trevor grab her leg. She kicked hard enough to break free. Refusing to look back, she reached the front passenger side door with her right hand. A figure loomed a few feet outside the window. It didn’t matter. Being out there would be better than being stuck in the car. She opened the door and stumbled out. The figure grabbed her by the arm and violently pulled at her with rage.

  She screamed, nearly fainting.

  “Come on,” Joe said, pulling her from the car.

  His voice was a fresh sound of assurance. As Joe helped her to her feet, the car door slammed shut behind her. She looked back to see Joe kicking it with his foot. The firing continued, making Noel look toward the van. Baily was slowly back stepping and reloading the shotgun. One of the people he had just shot was starting to get back up and several shadowy figures were surfacing in the distant darkness.

  “We’ve got to move on!” Joe shouted at Baily while grabbing Noel by the hand.

  “I can fucking see that, Joe. Get back in the car!” Baily aimed the shotgun toward the looming figures.

  The loud report reverberated off the street corner and the surrounding buildings.

  “We can’t!” Noel shouted.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Baily said, firing another shell.

  Noel looked back at the car just as Trevor’s arm smeared blood across the front windshield from inside. His arm and hands were covered in red, spreading even more gore along the glass as he thrashed in his attempt to get out.

  “Where's Kelly?” Baily shouted.

  Noel nodded toward the slightly rocking patrol car and Trevor inside, belligerent with rage.

  “My daughter’s in there!” Instantly forgetting the figures that he had just shot, Baily ran toward the car.

  Noel froze in horror. She was starting to feel like the tide had turned and now she had become more like Kelly. Unable to keep it together, just as Kelly had done in the old house, Noel stood paralyzed by what her eyes forced her to watch.

  Baily swung the driver’s side back door open, removed his sidearm, and aimed it into the vehicle.

  “I’m going to save you, baby!” He shouted.

  What was happening inside the car was hard for Noel to see because of all of the smeared blood. But what she did see she would never forget. Baily pulled the trigger and Trevor’s head jerked back violently. It sent a volcano of brain, matted hair, and skull fragments splattering onto the rear glass from the back of Trevor’s head.

  With Baily no longer manning the street, Joe stepped out with pistol at the ready. Checking the safety, he aimed it at the walking dead that approached. Each shot was surprisingly precise and calmly executed. Like it mattered. With more than half a dozen ghouls coming from behind the van and the neighboring street corners, Joe’s take downs didn't amount to much. The ones that struck home sent bodies down, but not for the count. One thing that he quickly noticed was that the second time they got up after being killed, they were much slower. With even more still pouring into the streets, he changed his tactics to only firing at the runners. One after another fell with the squeeze of the trigger. All head shots as the target. It was only moments later, when they rose again to shamble forward. Joe put three shots to the head in one and all it did was struggle to maintain balance. They were unstoppable.

  His gun clicked empty. He reached for another clip while dispensing the empty, then drove the new one home, all in one fluid motion.

  “Um… We have company,” Noel whimpered between Joe’s shots.

  More of them were closing in from behind about five blocks away. Noel could see shadowy figures bobbing back and forth in the shadowy street. The night was playing tricks on her. She didn’t like not being able to actually tell how many were coming. The shadows cast from them by the overhead streetlights made her instantly lose count. It didn't matter. Their numbers were overwhelming.

  “Joe…” She panted.

  Joe fired two shots into the crowd by the van, and then turned to see Baily pulling something yellow and red from the back of the patrol car. It was Kelly.

  “What the hell happened?” Joe shouted.

  “… Joe…” Noel’s insistent voice and frantic demeanor finally got the young cop’s attention. “Look there! We need to go!”

  “Holy crap!” Joe aimed toward the oncoming mob, hesitated, and then lowered the gun. “There’s too many! Get back in the patrol car!”

  “Over my dead fucking body!” Noel shook her head, wide eyed and still frozen in her boots.

  “We don’t have time for this!” Joe said running to her side, and grabbing her by the arm.

  The ones that could run would be on them in a matter of
moments. Their horrendous grunts and hissing filling the night air. Joe looked into the bloody, gore-covered car, then back at Baily who was holding his daughter in both arms. Her shirt was torn and she was covered in bloody bite marks. He looked back to the van, the dozen or so shambling ghouls still a good distance between them. The other side wasn't any better. More figures were appearing, some fast and some slow. In just moments, their numbers had seemed to double.

  “What the hell do we do, Bai…” Joe’s words were cut off by Baily’s brutal scream.

  With his daughter held tight in his arms, she awoke to new desires and hungering sensations. Her teeth sank into the side of his neck, puncturing his jugular. He tried to pull her away but her teeth just clenched down even harder. Baily fell to his knees, his little girl still resting in his grip. As she pulled away, the skin on his neck stretched, suddenly snapping free like the rubbery tissue it was.

  “Baily!” Joe shouted, letting go of Noel to rush to his aid.

  As Joe rounded the car, Baily fell to the ground. When he got to his partners side, it was already too late. Baily’s eyes were locked in a death stare as he lay on his back. His daughter, eyes milky white, reached into his torn throat with her bare hand. Joe watched and nearly vomited as Kelly reached deeper and deeper. With her arm nearly to the elbow, she pulled something free from inside. Red and meaty in her grip, she bit down on it to satisfy her need.

  Joe covered his mouth with his sleeve, aimed the gun, and fired. The side of Kelly’s head erupted in a wave of reds and blond hair as she slumped to her side. The meaty intestinal muck that had been in her hands fell to a wet slap against the gravel.

  “Oh, my God. You shot Kelly!”

  “It wasn’t her… Now come on. We have to go like you said.”