[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles

by Watkins, Charles

  “No kidding—you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you need to until you figure out where it is that you are going.” Peter stated as he patted my back briefly.

  We looked around the place shortly after that and I led Jennifer and Sheila along with Remy, Mace and Ember toward the area where objects of furniture were kept and we found a futon as well as a few other small items that looked like they could be used in a pinch—the others spread out close to us and set up barricaded sleeping quarters in nearby isles using whatever they could find; the electricity was on in the store around us thanks to Peter and the others who kept the generator in the back of the building operational. I sat down on the futon in the area that we had made for our own sleeping quarters and Jennifer and Sheila tended to my arm as the white gauze bandages were already soaked through with blood.

  “Baby…this is really deep—we’re going to have to find something to sew it up or else it could get infected.” Sheila stated with a look of worry.

  “The lab truck has medical supplies that this store doesn’t—I’ll go outside really quick and get it; you two stay here.” I answered as I stood up and grabbed my AR-15 leaving the M16 behind for them in case of the off chance that they might need it.

  As I moved the boxes at the end of the isle I started toward the front of the store but stopped to look to the side when I thought I saw someone duck into an nearby isle as if they were hiding—I turned around and walked over to check the area and after searching thoroughly I didn’t find anyone; shrugging I turned and headed back toward the front of the store to go about doing what I had started to do and I was just about to the front when I heard Jennifer’s voice scream “No!” and then I heard Sheila’s as well and I quickly turned and ran back toward where they were being joined by several of the others and when I got there I found that Randall had slunk into our sleeping area and had pinned both Jennifer and Sheila down on the floor—he was forcefully removing Jennifer’s clothes as well as pulling at his own and he held Sheila down by her throat; there was no doubt in my mind on what this creep was about to do. I swiftly grabbed a hold of his hair and yanked him up off of them pulling him out of our sleeping area out into the nearby isle where the others were gathering—he swung at me striking me in the face with his right fist, I stumbled back a pace and then countered with a side kick sending him back several feet into Richard, Morgana, Billy, Kayla, Noah and Christina.

  “Piece of shit—you’re no better than those fucking dead-heads outside!” Richard shouted as he struck Randall in the face with what I recognized as a brass knuckle.

  Billy grabbed a fishing pole from the nearby fishing supply isle and savagely struck Randall with it several times knocking him back toward me—Peter and the others came running and they immediately asked what was going on; Hugo and the rest of Covenant One also appeared nearby as well as the rest of my group members.

  “This piece of shit put his filthy hands on Jennifer and Sheila while I had my back turned—I left seconds ago to go get medical supplies out of the lab truck and I had nearly gotten to the front of the store when I heard their cries for help; racing back here I find this asshole getting ready to fucking rape them!” I answered shouting as I savagely kicked Randall in the face knocking him to the floor on his back where a stream of blood poured out of his mouth as he coughed and fought to get to his feet.

  “Randall…why would you do such a thing?” Peter demanded turning his gaze to Randall who was now getting to his feet.

  “Fuck you Lloyd—and fuck all the rest of you too!”

  “I’m gonna get me some of that little redhead bitch!” He shouted as he once again turned and started toward Jennifer and Sheila.

  I swiftly grabbed him by his hair and ripped him back toward me and then I bashed him in the head with the butt of my AR-15 knocking him into the nearby glass display case where firearms had been kept—the force of his impact and the weight of his body smashed the glass doors to pieces; I drew my magnum and pointed it at him and squeezed the trigger—the powerful bullet hit Josh Randall in the middle of his forehead sending out a massive cloud of blood, brains and skull fragments out the back of his head as his lifeless body slumped to the floor motionless.

  “Fucking rapist—I hope you rot in hell!” I shouted spitting on him as the others gathered around me.

  “I’m sorry about what he did…when we found him down near Plainfield we had no idea of what he was capable of—of course he’s always been a very unstable person and I could tell that this was gradually winding down like a time bomb.” Peter stated turning to face me.

  “It wasn’t your fault for taking him in—it’s people like him who make the dead-heads outside seem almost humane; sometimes I think back on people like this who were out in the world ten years ago before all this shit hit the fan and all I can do is shake my head knowing that they got away with doing shit like this to other people—the justice system of that dead world…what a joke.” I answered in deep thought as I brought Jennifer and Sheila who both appeared to be unharmed into my arms.

  “Just goes to show that we’re going to have to watch any survivors that we come across from here on out very closely—like you said, some of them aren’t any better than those assholes outside.” Beau stated as he walked forward and grabbed a hold of Randall’s arms and started dragging him toward the front of the store.

  “What’re we gonna do with him?” Vicki asked as she stood next to Fallon.

  “We’re gonna toss his sorry ass outside and let those dead-heads chew him up; it’s all he deserves.” I answered as I strolled forward and grabbed the other arm helping drag his corpse.

  The two of us dragged him outside past the lab truck and the other two vehicles and we tossed the body over into the parking lot—several zombies screamed their horrible sounding scream and came running at us; we swiftly gunned them down as several others appeared and started ripping Randall’s body apart feeding on his internal organs and intestines—I stepped into the lab truck gathering the medical supplies before we got back inside of the store locking the door and barricading it once again. Everything calmed down after that and I returned to our sleeping area where Jennifer and Sheila were waiting.

  “Are you both okay?” I asked as our lips met in kisses that lasted for several seconds.

  “Yes—we’re okay.” Sheila answered smiling.

  “Yeah…I’m just glad that you heard us in time and got back here to save us from being violated by that piece of shit.” Jennifer answered with a relieved tone.

  I laid the medical supplies out on the futon next to me and they both started tending to my arm and as they unwrapped the gauze bandages I could tell that it was a deep slash wound—it looked to have almost went to the bone; after several seconds of gritting my teeth and gripping the side of the futon tightly Jennifer and Sheila both looked up at me.

  “The good news is that none on your tendons are severed—most of the damage is to muscle tissue and of course your skin.” Sheila reported as she used an alcohol wipe to clean off the blood.

  “That’s good…I hope that it doesn’t leave too much of a scar—I’ve always wanted a tattoo there.” I answered smiling.

  “If the stitching takes good it shouldn’t leave much of one at all but we’ve got to do it now before an infection sets in.” Jennifer answered kissing my face as she handed a threaded needle to Sheila from the medical supplies.

  I clenched my teeth as she started sewing up my wound and a couple of times I started laughing what probably seemed like maniacally to the others nearby who could hear me—within several long agonizing minutes the sewing was done and my arm was coated in antibiotic ointment and bandaged in a clean white dressing; I laid down on the futon after everything was cleared off and Jennifer and Sheila joined me after they put Remy, Mace and Ember to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor nearby. I soon after feel asleep with them in my arms and I had a number of odd dream
s that night—one in which I was standing on the crest of a hill looking over at the ruins of the Hollywood sign; the air was filled with smoke and as I looked down on the city of Los Angeles I not only seen an army of dead-heads but also a huge creature that rose up out of the ruins of a building; so large and terrible was this creature that I remembered thinking in the dream that this thing was much more frightening than the Entity EX had been. That was when I woke with a start and I sat up on the futon waking Jennifer and Sheila who also sat up.

  “What is it baby?” Jennifer asked with a worried expression.

  “It was just a dream—weird one—but that’s all it was.” I answered staring down at the floor in deep thought.

  “What was your dream about?” Sheila asked wrapping her left arm around me.

  “I dreamed that I was standing on a hill looking at the ruins of the Hollywood sign and then I glanced down at LA and seen an army of zombies…as well as a huge beast that made the Entity EX seem like small fry.” I answered glancing up at the two of them.

  “I wonder if that’s some sort of premonition…” Jennifer answered in a worried tone.

  “Well—right now it’s nothing more than a dream so let’s try not to worry on it too much.” I answered kissing her briefly before doing the same to Sheila.

  I could hear activity around our area of the store and I got up getting my clothes and gear on and I stepped out of the end of the isle and met up with Richard and Billy—they were talking near the camping isle.

  “Morning Chaz—in case you’re wondering what all the commotion is about—Hugo and the other members of Covenant One just finished bringing the lab truck and the other vehicles into the tire and lube section over there.” Billy stated pointing back toward the automotive area.

  “I’ll be right back babes.” I stated turning to glance at Jennifer and Sheila who nodded as I followed Richard and Billy in the direction they had indicated.

  We stepped into the area where car batteries, tires and other things had been sold back in the day and I could see our vehicles sitting in the garage area of the store—luckily that area had several sturdy steel garage doors to the outside that were closed; that was when Hugo and the others appeared before us.

  “Good morning Chaz—we decided that it might be better to bring our vehicles inside of this garage area of the store just in case those dead-head fucks bust in through the front—it’ll make our escape route easier.” Hugo stated with a grin.

  “That’s a good idea—I don’t plan on having us stay here in this store for very much longer; we still have to figure out what we are going to do.” I stated folding my arms and scratching my chin in deep thought.

  “Let’s get the group together and meet over in the clothing section—those others too; they might be useful in aiding us in fending off those things.” Beau stated as he glanced toward the main section of the store.

  I nodded and we all walked back into the main part of the store, I stopped off at the isle where we had been sleeping and I told Jennifer and Sheila what was up and they gathered their things and gear as well as Remy, Mace and Ember and followed us toward the clothing section—Billy gathered his things and Kayla as well and soon everyone including Peter, Billy Kennedy, Fallon and Vicki were all gathered around us in the clothing section in the center of the building.

  “Okay—as you all know—we can’t stay here in this Wal-Mart forever; we need to find a way to administer the antitoxin sample that we found to the zombie hordes…maybe in doing so it will actually cure them of the damaging effects of the T.H.C.A.I.A Toxin.” I stated as I stood up before everyone.

  “Theoretically that would most likely be a waste of our time…the people that those creatures once were are long gone now and trying to bring them back would be foolish and time consuming.” Amy stated folding her arms.

  “I respect your opinion and your council—please—if anyone has thoughts on what we should do next please feel free to speak up.” I answered glancing at her briefly before turning back to the others.

  “I think that it might be worth a shot…even if it fails at least we’ll have tried.” Kira stated as she sat nearby on a wooden bench.

  “I second that notion—I feel that it’s better that we try and do something instead of running around the countryside aimlessly.” My dad stated as he stood beside of my mom and sister.

  Many of the others nodded in agreement and finally even Amy who had knowledge of how we were going to accomplish the task agreed—she stepped forward and started laying down the chemical agents of the antitoxin sample that she had found and we all listened; by the time she was finished many of the group including myself had questions on how we were going to mix up a large enough batch of the antitoxin sample to administer to the zombie masses as well as how we were supposed to go about doing it.

  “I can make enough of the antitoxin sample base—enough to say spread over a wide area in vapor form; what do you guys think?” Amy asked with a curious expression.

  “That sounds like a good plan—I have an idea on how we could spread the antitoxin sample base across the area…we could travel to farming country and find an airfield or old hangar and use a crop dusting plane.” Beau stated in deep thought.

  “A crop dusting plane?” Morgana asked raising her right eyebrow.

  “Yes—that’s an excellent idea; whoever flies the plane would be safe in the air and they could fly around until the antitoxin sample base is completely used up—the only problem is how the hell are we going to attract enough of those dead-heads into the area for it to be worth the time and effort?” I answered glancing around at the others.

  “Well…we know that those fuckers are attracted to loud noises—maybe we could set off an alarm or use a loud speaker to draw them in.” Billy stated with a chuckle as he wrapped his left arm around Kayla’s waist.

  “It’s going to be very risky…Beau, you seem to have knowledge on how to fly aircraft so that honor is all yours; the rest of us will barricade ourselves inside of whatever kind of hangar we find and draw the zombies to us while you fly overhead and douse them with the antitoxin sample base.” I instructed as I turned to face Beau.

  “Not a problem…I just hope that there will be a crop duster available wherever it is that we stop.” Beau answered with a hopeful expression.

  “I say that we head toward the Heartland of America—preferably Iowa—there’s a lot of farmland in Iowa; we shouldn’t have too much trouble finding an airstrip if we just go to the right location.” I stated as I pulled out an atlas and scrolled across the states.

  “That sounds good to me…mind if we tag along?” Peter asked stepped up before me.

  “I don’t mind—if you are all planning on joining our group then you had better go ahead and receive the vaccine to prevent possible infection.” I answered as I reached for the bag that Sheila was carrying and brought out four bottles of the vaccine that we had created not too long before.

  Amy nodded and told Peter and the three others to follow her to the lab truck back toward the back of the building where she had the necessary equipment to inoculate each of them—they did and soon after they had all been vaccinated against infection; that was when we heard a shattering sound and screaming coming from the front of the store—rushing back out to where we had a decent view of the front we seen that a massive horde of dead-heads had gathered on the outside of the doors and they would be breeching the barricades within minutes.

  “Shit—we’re going to have to leave right now; this place is no longer secure!” I shouted as I held my right hand on my magnum at my side.

  “Have food rations and adequate supplies been loaded into the lab truck?” Noah asked as he and Christina along with Jude ran up to Jennifer, Sheila and I.

  “As far as I know…” I answered with a troubled look.

  “Yeah—we were able to gather enough food and other items to last f
or the next several months; it has all been stored in the trailers.” Hugo answered as he and the others ran by.

  “Good—let’s get the hell out of here everyone!” I shouted as I led the way back to the isle where we had been sleeping and gathered up what few items that were still there.

  Jennifer and Sheila done the same and they helped me drag the ammo cache that we had stashed in there just in case and we started hauling it toward the garage area where the lab truck and the other vehicles were—that was when I heard a loud splintering and crashing sound that came from the front of the store; we could all hear the horrible screams as the whole front of the store began filling up with a surge of undead that were steadily racing our way—that was when I saw Peter fall to the floor as he tripped over a baseball bat that had fallen to the floor and rolled out into the way during the confusion. He forced himself up on his feet but then I watched in shock as one of the jumper zombies leapt up over several of the isles and tackled him to the floor—seconds later it had savagely torn into the back of his neck severing his spinal column and his lifeless body slumped to the floor as blood squirted everywhere; Fallon both enraged and desperate to save someone whom she had spent many long years surviving with dashed forward toward the gruesome scene swinging the same machete that she had cut me with earlier but her attempts to get revenge on the jumper zombie were short lived as the same surge of dead-heads plowed into her and tore her to pieces. I knew there was nothing else that could be done—this place was lost and I turned and hustled everyone into the garage area and into the vehicles; I opened fire with my M16 dropping several of the creatures that followed after us and I stood waiting as the few others hurried past me—everyone was almost to safety when one of the zombies suddenly charged at unbelievable speed hitting and knocking Vicki into the wall where it brutally tore into the side of her head with its teeth ripping off the whole right side of her face. That zombie was joined by at least six more that ripped out her throat with their teeth and then started tearing into her lower torso area—I opened fire sending a hail of ammo into their heads dropping them to the floor and I aimed at Vicki putting a round in her head as I knew she was barely still alive; I knew that she wouldn’t want to be conscious knowing that she was being eaten alive—I dashed into the lab truck sealing the doors shut as all of the others had already gotten inside as well as the ones in the two other vehicles.