Dead Heat: A Hollow Dead Novel

by Young, D. M.

  “There’s room for everyone at our place,” Edward said.

  “Didn’t you say you live out near the Roberts house?” Booger asked.

  “Yeah, just down the road a bit from them,” Edward said.

  “Nah, I don’t think that’s a good idea then. That’s way across town from here. Besides, there are still quite a few houses out that way, and that’s where this whole thing started.”

  “So, where do you suggest we go?” Edward asked.

  “Best thing would be to head out into the hills. There’s a nice cabin out there that doesn’t get used much. I keep it up for the woman who owns it - mowing and maintenance, all that. I’ve got a key. Actually, she might be up there right now. I don’t think she’d mind us dropping in, all things considered, but I don’t think we should try it until morning. Can’t see nothing out there right now,” Booger said.

  “Yeah, driving in that would be dangerous without the zombies, and one wreck tonight is enough for me,” Rose said.

  “Anyway, we have the couch and the recliner for tonight. I can make a pallet on the floor for the rest of you. One of us needs to keep watch, just in case. Come morning, we’ll take my old Jeep and head out,” Booger said.

  “I can keep watch. I’m used to the nightshift, and I’m sure everyone else has been awake a lot longer than I have,” Adam said.

  Booger had an old leash that belonged to his last dog. Edward used it to take Sammy out for one more break as Booger kept watch from the porch. When they were back inside, Booger disappeared down the hall and into his bedroom. Sammy joined Gracie on the blanket she’d spread out in the floor. Edward settled into the recliner, and Rose stretched out on the sofa. Adam dragged a chair over to the window and sat down to keep watch as the house fell silent.

  CHAPTER 16

  People milled about the hospital and the parking lot, unsure where to go from here. Bystanders still crowded around waiting for some explanation for the night’s event, as police tried to keep them back away from the parking lot. First responders and what was left of the hospital staff treated victims, and officers began documenting the scene, a difficult task made worse by the thick fog. Word spread of the vital check they’d tried to perform on Brody and how the infection was likely spread through bites. Everyone was on edge as they tried to make sense of the whole mess.

  Dozens of people had gathered in and around the parking lot since the shooting had stopped. In the thick fog, they did not see the shapes moving among them until the screaming began. A group of zombies, including Amber Gardner, had been drawn by the gunfire, sirens, and screams of the first attack. Now, they emerged from the fog into the crowded parking lot. Realizing that another attack had begun, people began fleeing in every direction.

  Bill was standing near the hospital entrance when he heard a scream from behind him and spun around. He drew his gun, but the fog hid the source of the scream. He moved forward slowly, searching for the attacker. A growl came from somewhere nearby, but the echoes and noise around him made it impossible to determine which direction. He turned in a full circle, his eyes searching for movement in the swirling white haze. How close was the sound? Ten feet? Less? Another growl, this time from the right side. Someone screamed for help nearby. He followed the sound. A figure appeared ahead of him. Was it human? Before he could decide, it faded back into the fog.

  He reached the edge of the parking lot. Other noises drifted to him from the direction of the hospital – gunfire, the sound of cars colliding as panicked drivers tried to leave. From somewhere near the front of the parking lot, a siren screamed. Bill looked up to see blue lights flashing through the fog. His head was swimming. Between the noise and the lights, he couldn’t focus on anything.

  In front of him, the pavement gave way to a field of tall grass and wildflowers. The cries were coming from deeper in the field. He could barely hear them now over the sound of the siren. He wondered what other noises the siren might be hiding. If something was right behind him, would he hear it? He forced himself not to turn and look behind him, fighting the fear that was rising.

  Instead he stepped off of the pavement, making his way toward the screams. Shapes rose from the grass not ten feet in front of him. The closest one turned toward him, and panic gripped him. He turned back toward the hospital and ran. He thought he heard a growl close behind him, and he ran faster. A figure ran toward him from the left dressed in an HSPD uniform. Before he could stop, they collided. Bill stumbled but managed to regain his footing. The city officer wasn’t as lucky. He went sprawling on the pavement.

  Bill turned to help him, but his pursuers were already falling on the downed officer. He turned back toward the hospital, moving as fast as he could. As he approached the doors, he saw a woman lying in the doorway. Blood pooled around her body. A zombie sat astride her body, holding her intestines to its mouth. Beyond the doors, he saw people running down the hallways with zombies following close behind. Bill turned to head for the cars at the edge of the parking lot.

  Halfway there, he slipped in something. A searing pain shot through his ankle as it twisted. As he hit the ground, his hand landed in a warm, sticky pool of blood. Beyond the pool lay the body of a paramedic. The skin on his face had been torn off, and one eye was missing. The other stared blankly in Bill’s direction.

  Bill tried to stand, but his ankle wouldn’t support his weight. Then there was a hand on his shoulder. Another clamped down on his arm. He looked up, expecting to see one of the dead hovering above him, but it was Matt. He pulled Bill to his feet, guided him toward the car, and shoved him inside. A few seconds later, Matt slid into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking lot as fast as he dared to go through the fog.

  * * *

  On the other end of town, Kim ran through the night toward her house. How much further? The distance seemed to stretch out into eternity. The fog distorted every sound, leaving her feeling disoriented. She’d been running since she left the group. The night was damp, and sweat stung her eyes. The blood pounded in her ears, and her lungs felt like they would explode. Her legs were weak and rubbery. She simply could not go much further. She looked around, desperate for a place to rest.

  The zombie behind her moaned. He was closer than expected. He was moving quickly, but he wasn’t running. Kim realized she must have slowed down. If she continued this way, he would catch up to her soon. She considered hiding, but she wasn’t sure how he was even tracking her through the fog. Could he see her? Was it the sound of her footsteps? What if she ducked out of sight only to find that he hunted by smell? No, she needed to get inside a house and put a physical barrier between herself and her pursuer.

  Her tired legs gave out and she stumbled but stayed on her feet. The thing behind her growled. Ahead, she saw a house with a light on. If she could just make it to the door, maybe she would be OK. She pushed herself faster toward the little, blue house. She heard its muffled footsteps behind her. She was only a few steps away from the walkway that led to the tiny house when she began to shout for help.

  The thing growled again, seemingly excited by the sound. Kim ran up the steps and began pounding on the door of the house. The growling grew louder. From within the house, she could hear movement. Someone was coming!

  The monster was close now. She considered trying to run, but she knew she could go no further. She hit the door harder, pleading for someone to open it quickly. She heard a moan directly behind her and turned to face the thing, shrinking against the door. The zombie reached for her leg, and she kicked at it, knocking it backwards.

  It climbed the steps toward her. She tried to push it away, but it dug its nails into her arm. She was leaning against the door when someone cracked it just a few inches. Feeling the door give, she shoved her weight against it, desperate to escape. Both Kim and the zombie fell backwards into the foyer.

  * * *

  Alicia Barnes stood just inside the door. Her shotgun was pointed toward the unwelcome guests. She watched in horror as the man lea
ned down and bit the screaming woman’s face tearing off a section of her cheek as she screamed. The woman started to pull herself out from under the man, and he grabbed her leg. As she fought him, he leaned down again, biting her stomach this time. She screamed again, a wild sound of pain and terror. The man clawed at the hole he had torn in her stomach, ripping the flesh open wider.

  Alicia looked toward Ray. He had been knocked backwards when the woman shoved on the door and was still leaning, frozen, against the wall. His face was white, and he was staring, panicked, at the scene before them. Alicia realized that Ray was watching someone being eaten alive for the second time today.

  Alicia couldn’t fire at the man without hitting the woman. Thinking quickly, she yelled, “Ray!” His body jerked, and his eyes met hers, “Grab the cast iron skillet from the stove!”

  He ducked into the kitchen and returned seconds later with the pan. The man leaned down again and came up with a chunk of the woman’s stomach. Blood was now pouring from the wound. Ray stepped forward and swung the heavy pan at the man’s head. It connected with a solid, satisfying thunk. The man was knocked sideways but didn’t go down. Instead, he snarled and began trying to stand. Ray screamed and swung the pan again. This time, the man fell sideways to the floor. He had never even tried to dodge the blow. As the man began to push himself back up, Ray seemed to lose any sense of composure he might have had. He hit him with the pan again and again and again.

  With the man now lying flat on the floor, Ray used the pan like a hammer. The man’s head caved in, but Ray continued to bring the pan down on him. Alicia shouted for him to stop, and Ray turned to her. His hands were covered in blood now. It had spattered his clothes and face. There were chunks of tissue on the walls and floor around the corpse.

  The woman lay silent and still beside the corpse of the man. Alicia was sure she was dead. Alicia grabbed her phone and dialed 911. On the other end of the line, she heard a busy signal. She ended the call and tried again. Busy. She stared at the phone for a moment, confused.

  “What the hell? I can’t get through to 911. The line’s busy,” she told Ray.

  He dropped the pan on the floor and sank against the wall. He seemed to notice the blood on his hands for the first time, and he stared at them in horror.

  “I’m going to keep trying. You go get cleaned up,” she said as she hit send.

  Ray said nothing as he headed toward the bathroom. After three more attempts, Alicia decided to give it a break for the moment. She picked up the shotgun and turned toward the living room. Behind her, she heard a moan. She spun, shot gun raised, half expecting to see the dead man scrambling to his feet again.

  Instead, she saw the woman roll over on her stomach and grab the doorway, pulling herself to her knees. Alicia gasped. As she watched, the woman stood up. A flap of skin hung from her check as her blank eyes focused on Alicia. A sense of dread enveloped her as she looked at the woman’s face.

  “Just sit back down. I’ve called 911. They’ll be here soon,” Alicia lied.

  The woman stepped forward. Her face was grey and expressionless. She snarled and growled. A chill ran up Alicia’s spine. This wasn’t right. There was no way she had survived that amount of blood loss. The woman took another step. Alicia couldn’t let her close the distance. She aimed the shotgun at the woman’s chest. The woman didn’t seem to notice.

  “Not one more step,” Alicia warned.

  The woman moaned again and stepped forward. Alicia fired, knocking her backwards. She hit the wall beside the door and slid to the floor. Alicia could see the hole in her chest, but, again, the woman began to stand. Alicia aimed the shotgun again, this time at the woman’s head. Ray ran from the bathroom, shirtless, in time to see the woman’s head disappear.

  CHAPTER 17

  Matt knocked quietly on Melissa’s door, hoping she would open it before anything found them. He heard soft footsteps and then a pause as Melissa checked the peephole to see who it was. Then the door opened, and Matt and Bill hurried inside. As soon as the door closed, Bill pulled his phone from his pocket and began to dial.

  “What’s going on?” Melissa asked.

  “Exactly what you thought,” Matt said.

  “You’re sure it was zombies?” Melissa asked.

  “No doubt about it. Brody was one of them. We restrained him and had a paramedic check his vitals. Nothing,” Matt said.

  “Did you kill them all?” She asked.

  “No, the hospital is a lost cause. There were too many of them, and the fog made it impossible to see what was coming at us. It was bad. Bill and I got out, but a lot of people didn’t. I don’t like the idea of staying here, but I don’t want to try to drive in this. Get some stuff together and we’ll leave as soon as the fog lifts,” Matt said.

  Bill stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “I can’t stay here. Susan is home alone, and my calls aren’t going through. The circuits are busy.”

  “You can’t go out in this,” Matt said.

  “Susan was asleep when I left. She might not even know what’s going on. I need to get home and tell her, but my car is still at the hospital. If y’all want to stay here, maybe I could borrow Melissa’s car to get home,” Bill said.

  “No,” Matt said. “As much as I hate the idea of going out there, I definitely don’t want you going alone.” He turned to Melissa. “Go pack a bag, and let’s get going. The longer we wait, the better the chance of running into some of those things.”

  While she was packing, Matt and Bill searched the kitchen for flashlights and batteries. They threw some food and drinks in a bag. As far as they knew, this was a local thing, but what if it wasn’t? What if they got to the next town only to find the same thing happening there? Matt went to the living room and flipped on the television, muting it. He didn’t want to risk drawing anything toward the house.

  The local station had nothing about what was happening here in town. He flipped through the other stations and saw nothing about it on those either. “The news isn’t reporting anything. Maybe that means we’re the only town dealing with this.”

  “Maybe,” Bill said, “Or maybe the news just hasn’t picked up on any of it yet. I mean, they’re not talking about what’s happening here either.”

  Five minutes later they were in the car and on their way to Bill’s house. Matt struggled to see through the fog as it swirled around the car. Bill sat in the passenger’s seat. He held his phone to his ear for a moment, cursed, and hung up. A few seconds later, he tried the call again. Melissa was in the backseat. The small bag she’d packed sat beside her. They rode in silence down the web of streets that connected Melissa’s house to Bill’s.

  Matt navigated the narrow streets trying to decide what their next move should be. Bill’s house was at the far end of town. If they made it that far, they could load up a few supplies and keep going until they hit the next town and find some help. The situation was too big for them to handle, and, after tonight, they had a lot fewer people to work with. This was the sort of thing you called the National Guard in for.

  Matt saw lights behind windows of many of the houses that they passed. A few other cars were on the roads now. Occasionally, they saw people in driveways shoving bags into vehicles. Clearly, news of the events at the hospital was spreading even with the cell phone lines tied up. Still, most of the houses remained dark, the inhabitants sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the night’s events.

  As they neared the house, Bill sat the phone on the dashboard. “When we get there, I’m going to run in and help Susan get some stuff together. I want y’all to head out to the shed and grab the two gas cans I have in there. I’d like to think this is just a local thing, but, if it’s not, we may need them.”

  Matt thought about the attack on the hospital. Some of those injured people were probably from other towns. How many of them had jumped into their cars and just left town right then and there? He thought there was a good chance there would be outbreaks in other towns, at least the
ones that were nearby.

  Melissa leaned forward and grabbed Bill’s seat. “I’m afraid that’s a real possibility. I saw online that the helicopter that was carrying Betty Winford went down Friday evening en route to the hospital. When they got to the crash site, the bodies were gone. I didn’t see how far it made it before crashing, but if those people turned…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence.

  Matt turned down Bill’s street. Out here at the edge of town, the houses were more spread out, and Bill’s home sat on nearly an acre of ground. The shed sat at the back corner of the property. Matt pulled the car as close to the house as possible. Bill jumped out and headed quickly toward the house as Matt and Melissa made a break for the shed.

  The shed was unlocked. A string hung from the ceiling, and Matt pulled it. White light washed over the interior of the shed. He looked around and spotted the gas cans near the back corner of the shed. Matt saw Melissa grab some flashlights and an assortment of tools and shoved them into a small, plastic toolbox. Then she grabbed a crowbar. Matt raised his eyebrows, silently questioning.

  Melissa shrugged and answered, “Just in case. You never know what we’ll need out there. Besides, if we run out of ammo, this can double as a weapon, I guess.”

  “Good point,” Matt said as he grabbed the gas cans. They shut the door of the shed and headed back to the car. As Matt closed the trunk, he heard a gunshot from inside the house. Melissa’s head whipped in the direction of the sound.

  “Stay here,” Matt said, “Get in the car. I’m going to check on Bill. Be ready to move when we get back.”

  Melissa climbed in the passenger seat to wait. Matt approached the front door and turned the handle. The door opened directly into the living room. To his left, beyond the living room, was the kitchen. Through the kitchen doorway, Matt could see an overturned chair. There was a broken glass lying in the floor, and there was a trail of blood droplets and bloody footprints from the kitchen down the hallway toward the back of the house. Matt stepped further into the living room and looked down the hallway. He could see Bill standing at an open door near the end of the narrow corridor.