Refuge: Tales from a Zombie Apocalypse

by Anthea Strezze

  ***

  Keller wanted to stand, wanted to get his hands free, wanted to grab the hatchet leaning against the woodpile and lay into the men before they could do anything more to Lanie.

  He made it as far as his knees, but a heavy boot attached to an even heavier leg hit his chest and propelled him back into the stacked wood, knocking his head hard enough to make him dizzy and driving splinters into his bound arms. He felt sick with anger and helplessness as the leader started listing off his vile "rules."

  Then a low, angry laugh rolled across the clearing and sent a chill running down his spine. He looked up to see Lanie, still captive, baring her teeth in a wide grin and laughing in the man's face.

  Jay stepped back a pace, and hit her again. Then again, but still she kept laughing.

  The man with Lanie's gun swore, and shouted "Zombies!" He fumbled out the gun and pointed it at the woods, where five or six figures were shambling through the trees. Nothing happened when he pulled the trigger, though, and he threw the gun aside without bothering to check the safety.

  "Only six of them," Jay sneered. "Don't go anywhere, sweetheart - this is going to be quick."

  Keller shook his head, trying to get his bearings. Lanie had sensed a horde of zombies approaching, not a handful, and from the south, not the west. But if he could get his hands free, get Lanie free, and then get up on the roof... He rolled over and pushed himself toward the hatchet, praying he would have enough time.

  The big guy dropped Lanie, who collapsed onto the ground, still laughing while the strangers grabbed golf clubs and tire irons and ran to attack the zombies. As soon as they were past her, she leapt to her feet and ran to Keller.

  "Thank God," he said, "We've got to get to the roof."

  She didn't even pause, though, just grabbed the hatchet and spun away, running for the men.

  "Lanie!" He pushed himself to his feet, wavering between running after her and trying to get to the roof with his hands still bound. Lanie hadn't been wrong once, which meant there was still a horde on the way.

  She didn't react to his shout. Instead, she gave a yell of her own and brought the hatchet down on Jay's neck, striking from behind. He screamed, staggering around to face her just in time to catch another blow.

  More screams filled the air as the others turned to see what had happened, and then looked beyond.

  "There's too many of them," one of the men shouted. "Back to the house!"

  Keller didn't wait for the horde to come into view, he just ran up the woodpile, throwing himself into a jump that got enough of his body onto the roof that he could roll and pull his legs up too. He laid down, scraping his wrists and the ziptie against the rough concrete edge of the roof and straining until it finally broke. Then he grabbed the shovel and stood to look out over the clearing.

  Three of the men were still fighting, but they were overwhelmed even as he watched. The zombies in front of them caught hold of their weapons, holding them still while others moved in for the kill.

  A few feet away, a smaller figure was hacking at something on the ground.

  "Lanie," he breathed, horrified by the sea of zombies surrounding her.

  The last screams rang out and were silenced, and the three men fell to the ground. After a moment, their bodies stood up again.

  Lanie let out a guttural yell, and swung her hatchet at the nearest, pushing past two other zombies to chop at his neck.

  Moans rose from dozens of dead throats in an insane chorus, and they fell on the men's reanimated bodies, tearing them to pieces.

  The sound faded when the bodies fell, but Keller was too preoccupied to notice. The nearest zombies had turned their attention to him, and were fumbling at the wood pile. He swung the shovel like a bat, knocking the highest zombie off the pile entirely, and then he wedged the shovel blade between the bunker and the plank the wood was piled against and levered it out, pushing in short, sharp thrusts when it didn't fall right away.

  They hadn't planned on the zombies being close enough to push back when they dropped the pile. Or on only one person being up top to do the pushing. After a few frantic moments, though, the shaking worked, knocking enough of the small logs free that the rest cascaded down under the climbing zombies. He backed away from the edge and turned in a quick circle to make sure they hadn't found some other way up, then waited.

  The zombies went back to their usual slow, unsteady shamble, milling around the clearing.

  The sky above was still blue, but it was late, and the setting sun left the clearing and the woods beyond in ever-deepening shadows. Keller looked for Lanie, but it was too dark to make out one face in the crowd of zombies. There was no sign of living movement, though. He was alone.

  When full dark fell, Keller cracked a light stick so that he could see if the zombies tried climbing up again. It was warm enough that he didn't really need a blanket, but he pulled one out anyway, trying to take comfort in it. He longed for some sort of distraction, something to stop the endless mental replay of the day's events. Could they have gotten away, if they'd been more careful coming back to the bunker? If he had been quicker to warn Lanie away from the door?

  He'd gotten so used to Lanie being able to sense zombies, that he hadn't even thought about what other dangers they might face. And now...

  He tried to comfort himself by thinking of the men's terrified screams before they died, and the knowledge that at least they had suffered for what they had done, but it didn't help. Lanie was still dead.

  Eventually, sleep claimed him.

  He opened his eyes to the dappled light of dawn.

  There was no sign of zombies below, and nothing moved when he dropped the shovel and packs to the ground. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and lowered himself down to hang from the roof by his fingertips, before he dropped the remaining foot. Picking up the shovel, he walked around the bunker, pausing to check inside for lingering zombies before he steeled himself to approach the small body he had seen lying amidst the blood and bits of the dead men. The least he could do was bury her.

  She lay curled on the ground, body intact, and he couldn't see what had killed her or why she hadn't risen again. Cautiously, he nudged her side with the shovel, and jumped back when she moaned.

  "Oh no." He didn't want to deal with this. Didn't think he could face dismembering her after all they had been through.

  She groaned again and rolled to her knees, holding her head. Then she sat up and hugged herself, quivering.

  No, not quivering, shivering!

  "Lanie?" Keller dropped the shovel and felt at her neck for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. "Ok, Lanie. I don't know how you're still alive, but I'm not going to waste it. Come on, let's get you warmed up."

  She didn't respond, but she didn't resist either when he picked her up and brought her inside.