by Byrd, Daniel
"Joel, stop! I'm sorry, but-"
"No James, I'm sorry."
Before James could react, Joel smashed his helmet into his face. As James fell to the ground clutching his broken nose Joel made a break for the city. He could hear voices calling out to him, but he didn't dare turn back. He was fixated on getting to his son, and no one dead or alive was stopping him.
James sat up and wiped the blood from his face. As he watched the figure of Lieutenant Joel Blythe fade into the distance down the road, Big Ben began to toll, marking three P.M. After ringing out for the third time, it continued. Everyone's attention was drawn to the clock tower's oddity as the bell continued to toll. It stopped after the thirteenth. James stared in disbelief.
“What the hell..."
***
Orlok walked along the back wall of a small coffee shop and held a hand up for the others to halt. When he had verified that they had complied, he leaned forward and peered around the corner. There was an electronics store across the street from the coffee shop with a broken front window. He could see three figures inside, all in dark apparel. Charlie crept up next to him and snuck a peek at the sight that had Orlok captivated.
"What the hell are they doing?" Charlie asked quietly.
"Taking advantage. They are looters," Orlok replied, staring at the trio in disgust.
Charlie scowled. "Now? At a time like this? What the hell do they expect to do with anything if the world's falling apart?"
"They do not care. They will just hide somewhere with their treats like the rats they are until the whole thing blows over. That is, of course, assuming it does end. There will always be people like that in a crisis."
"What do we do?" Charlie asked. "Can we go the other way?"
Orlok pointed out the numerous figures stumbling about in the street ahead of them. It was either deal with the living down this detour, or deal with the undead in their path. "I think we should take our chances with the rats."
Charlie almost laughed, but managed to contain it. "You're serious?"
"Yes. Follow me, all of you," he commanded the group.
Everyone got closer as Orlok walked along the sidewalk around the corner of the building. His head faced forward, but he kept his left eye trained on the store across the street as they made their way past the front of the coffee shop.
***
Inside of the store one of the looters had taken notice of the group passing by. She got the attention of the other two and pointed across the road. The youngest boy at the back of the store understood her intention and tried to talk the others out of it, but they had already made up their minds. The traveling group of nine looked vulnerable to them, minus the elder up front. He appeared to be the leader. They quickly dismissed him as a threat, knowing if they took him out the others would probably lose the will to fight. Blunt objects were taken up, and the teenage girl raised her air rifle and stepped through the broken display window.
***
"Everyone remain calm," Orlok uttered as he noticed the three people from the store entering the street. One was making a beeline straight for him, and he had to admit to himself that he was surprised the threat was female. The girl appeared young, and her long, colorful hair and tattoos up her arms led Orlok to assume she must have been a rebellious type. Orlok stopped walking and turned his head around to stare the girl down. She didn't cease her approach.
Charlie could sense the building tension. "Mr. Orlok..."
The girl was visibly wielding a rifle in her hands, and Orlok's fingers were under his coat, wrapped around the handle of his revolver. His finger caressed the trigger guard.
"Hey, you lot look lost," the girl said, feigning a disarming tone. "Do you need some help?"
Orlok eyed her suspiciously. "No, we're quite alright, miss. I suggest you tend to your own matters in these dark times. Might I also recommend a better choice of weapon than that air gun in your possession? It will not prove adequate in defending yourself against these corpses, let alone a living person who is quite capable of killing you without problems."
"Hey, I'm just offering our services," the girl said, slightly offended.
"I can assure you, we don't want any of your services."
The girl smirked. "Is that right? It's just that I'd hate to see a bunch of vulnerable people like yourselves taken advantage-"
Before she could finish the sentence, Orlok had already flashed the Nagant from under his coat and squeezed the trigger. The girl's head snapped back and carried her body with it to the street. The other two guys from the store froze and stared at the corpse of their own. Orlok tucked the gun away and gave them the coldest glare. Charlie feared for his own life when he finally looked away from the body and noticed the Hell-filled eyes in that unnatural green.
"I'd suggest you leave us be, unless you'd like to join her in slumber."
Neither of the two felt the need to pester the man any farther, and retreated in the direction Orlok's group had come from, stumbling over themselves all the while.
Charlie looked down at the body again. She was a living being. She had no visible signs of infection on her, and this man who was supposed to be leading them to safety had just shot her without waiting to discern if she was in fact a threat at all. Charlie swallowed hard. "Mr. Orlok, you just-"
"I didn't like her voice. Let's not faff about here.”
Charlie dropped it. If that’s what he does to people he can’t stand to hear…
Orlok continued his march forward and refused to acknowledge the weary crowd he was leading. Charlie figured he didn't care what they thought of him. Orlok probably only cared about getting out alive, and just happened to be generous enough to give their lives a thought while they weren't trying to eat his flesh. Orlok reached into a pocket with his free hand and withdrew a tiny bottle that he raised up and squeezed. Charlie didn't understand why he needed eye drops at a time like this, but he wasn't complaining too much if it kept their shooter accurate when danger reared its head.
"Not far from here I have a van ready for us to escape in,” Orlok stated as he tucked the bottle away. “I know a route that will get us past the military blockade. We have to hurry."
Charlie found himself questioning a part of what Orlok had just said. How does he have a van ready?
***
Joel hopped onto the hood of a car in front of him and scanned the area past it. The road was full of abandoned vehicles and littered sidewalks, but that was all. There wasn't a person in sight. He couldn't even hear indications of any fights going on in the distance. There was an ominous silence that blanketed the chaotic scene. Joel gripped his bullpup L85A2 and stepped down from the hood of the car. After scanning his surroundings once more, he sprinted southeast towards the Thames River. He considered taking one of the abandoned cars for his own use, but was glad he opted against the idea when he came upon more than one occasion of impassable road conditions. The muscles in his legs were holding out hope that he'd eventually give up, but Joel ignored their wordless pleas and carried on. The equipment weighing him down almost passed as expendable to him, but he was counting on it for when he crossed paths with the undead. The standard-issue body armor wasn't the heaviest in the world, but the contents of the pouches mixed with the armor plating on the front and back, plus the clothing underneath made running through a city more than just an exercise.
As he came upon the police station on his right, he made his first contact with the creatures. A man in uniform turned his attention to him and snarled. Joel noted the characteristics fitting the enemies he was to look out for, and brought his rifle up. The bobby had a nasty gash on his right shoulder, and was snarling as he ran for Joel. Three steps into his charge Joel fired a burst of 5.56 rounds through the thing’s skull. As its head met the pavement, Joel was thankful that he had one advantage many Americans didn't have during their initial outbreak; knowledge.
He heard a scream from up the street and hurried onward. Whoever was in trouble was lucky th
ey were in his direct path to his son. In the middle of the intersection before Big Ben, a woman was trapped in her car with a horde of the monsters trying to get to her through the glass and metal. The driver side window had been broken, and the woman inside was swinging at the horde with her satchel. Joel stopped ten yards away and brought the rifle up once more. He toggled the firing selector to semi-automatic and began to drop the aggressors with careful precision. By the time he had drawn their attention, he had already cut their numbers in half. He positioned himself to avoid shooting the car while he put down the last of the undead. Some stained the hood of the car with their brains, and others just flopped to the road without a struggle. It was kind of nice to be shooting something that didn't shoot back for a change. When he was sure they weren't getting back up, he ran to the woman's aid. She stepped out of the car and sobbed uncontrollably. Joel hadn't expected an actual damsel in distress, but she was kind of cute, though well under his age in appearance. Her bright purple sundress underneath her brown jacket complimented her oddly blue-colored hair, and the round-framed glasses gave her a teacher look. He hoped that the glasses weren't just there to give off an intelligent look. She seemed like the rebellious type; the kind of girl he hoped that Charlie wouldn't fall for.
"Thank you! Thank you!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him.
Joel blushed. "Miss, it's okay," he told her, noting a stinging sensation building up in his nose. His eyes started to water.
"What the…"
"I tried pepper spray, but most of them didn't react. It's like they don't-"
"Feel pain. You're right, they don't. That's why they're so damned hard to stop. You need to get away from here, it's not safe."
"Where do I go?!" she asked, helpless as to what to do. Joel opened his mouth to speak, but realized he had no answer. She couldn't tag along with him; he was going nowhere safe. She couldn't just leave the city either, and he'd hate to send her to get a bullet through her head. Options were very limited.
"Look, dear, flee and don't look back. Avoid densely populated areas, and get away from here. The longer you stand here and listen to me, the worse off we both are."
"But-"
"Just...just....damn it to hell!" Joel knew he couldn't send her off on her own, but he couldn't save everyone he came across. She was just a scared girl after all. He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What's your name?"
The young woman sniffled and pushed her glasses up to wipe her eyes as she looked him in his. "I'm Katherine. Katherine Bennett."
"Well Katherine, I'm trying to find my son so that I can get him out of this Hell. I can't let you go alone, so you're with me now. It's going to be dangerous, but you're better off with me than anything else right now. Does your vehicle work?"
She nodded, "Yes, I just didn't know where else to go. I had to stop to avoid running over people, but then some of those people came for me. I tried to drive away, but they were everywhere, and-"
"It's okay," he said as he wrapped his left arm around her. He was once told that under his strict demeanor he carried a heart that had no equal, but he was always quick to deny it. He personally believed himself to be a monster. "We don't have much time, so we need to go. Get in, I'm driving."
Seconds later, Joel was speeding down the road across the Westminster Bridge, dodging the carnage as a lone raven sat perched atop Big Ben and kept a watchful eye on the scene unfolding in London.
Chapter Six - Falling Down
Orlok and his entourage of survivors stood before a terrible sight near the Thames River. The London Eye that served as one of the greatest tourist attractions in the U.K. was now a death trap for the unfortunate souls that were on when the power went out. Many of the inhabitants in the top capsules were stranded more than a hundred feet off of the ground. Charlie figured it was better than being holed-up in the bottom capsules, where refugees had locked themselves up in an attempt to keep the undead out. Now everyone was trapped on a giant Ferris Wheel of death. At the base of the Eye was the largest gathering of zombies any of them had seen. Charlie couldn't count them all, but he figured that at least fifty of the beings were congregated around the bottom capsules, making their way inside. Their advance couldn't be held off, and they overtook the occupants of one of the capsules. Charlie looked away as the screams were carried through the air, as if on a gale of wind that proudly and destructively announced Death's presence.
Orlok turned to the others and made a motion with his hand to recapture their attention, then pointed to the bridge not far from them.
"We need to get across the river. My van is just on the other side."
The girl from the room across from Charlie's stared at the grisly spectacle. “But those people..."
"They chose wrong,” Orlok said coldly. “We need to hurry.”
Orlok stormed ahead before the rest of the group took notice. They hurried to catch up as a car came thundering across the bridge. The only motor vehicle operating for miles, it was quite audible. It cut a left as it reached the road and headed straight for them. Everyone stepped aside as it blew past. No one wanted to be a victim of a desperate survivor who was set on attempting escape from the Hell this city had become. Orlok shook his head and continued onward, but Charlie stood in place as everyone else passed him by. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that the driver looked a little familiar. His attention was brought back to the grim situation occurring nearby as screams penetrated his thoughts. Charlie struggled to ignore the scene. Many of the inhabitants of the capsules of the Eye had begun to climb the structure of the rim to reach heights inaccessible to the undead. One man's arms gave out, and he plunged to the ground below. Charlie couldn't take his eyes off of the Ferris Wheel after that. People were dying, and there wasn't a thing he could do.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Orlok's green eyes were burrowing into his conscience, and his cold, raspy words cut his hopes to pieces.
"No one survives by playing hero. If you would like to try, I won't stop you, but your humanity will. You will face them head on, and when you realize fear, you will regret your decision."
Charlie wanted to challenge him, but he was right. Those things lacked a sense of pain and fear. He couldn't beat that. He wasn’t strong, and those things didn’t care about being harmed. He reluctantly followed Orlok and the others to the bridge. It was mostly desolate despite the signs of violence. Charlie made the mistake of looking over the side, where he saw a lone body drift by in the waters below. The child was face down on the surface, but Charlie didn't need to see his face to be traumatized. His eyes followed the corpse as they made their way across. Orlok noticed him lagging behind and waited for him while the others were hesitant to do so. They were still intimidated by the man who had shown no reserve in taking a living person's life.
"You are brave to think you could have done something to change the fates of those people," he told Charlie.
Charlie heard him, but didn't respond. He was still watching the body drift away. His attention was then drawn to the Eye. The screams of terror could still be heard. He couldn't get the images out of his head, and the sounds wouldn't cease.
"Are you in there?" Orlok asked the frightened young man.
"Yeah," Charlie finally answered, "sorry...thanks."
"Do not mistake my observation as a compliment. Often, stupidity and bravery go hand in hand. You won't last long in this world by doing what is right. People take advantage of such a trait."
"Then what do I do?" Charlie asked.
"Survive, or succumb to your failing morality. It is your choice."
"You expect me to just ignore this?!” Charlie cried. “What, just let these people die?! I...I-"
"What will you do?" Orlok asked. He had stopped walking, and was standing in front of Charlie now. Charlie never realized just how tall Orlok was until he found himself standing before the shady man, staring up at him. "What will you do, boy?"
Charlie clenched his fists and st
ared at the water below. For the first time in a while, he wished his father was with him. “My father always believed in doing the right thing in his mind as a soldier who protects what he’s sworn to. He was never around when he was needed, but he was a man who did what he thought was right. I want to get half of that right.”
"A soldier?” Orlok repeated, a bit of interest in his tone. “I held the same beliefs, once. So you will go back? You will throw your life away for others?"
Charlie glared at him. “I'll try. It's all I can do.”
Orlok raised an eyebrow and looked Charlie over. The skinny young man in front of him had guts. Orlok seemed to respect that, but not as much as he hated it. “You have a strong sense of righteousness. I too held that in another life.” Orlok leaned forward past Charlie’s shoulder and hissed his next words into the young man’s ear. “Humanity could last with more people like you. It is a shame."
Charlie looked at him with scrutiny. “What the hell are you on about? Who are you really?"
Orlok waved his right hand at the group that was now waiting on them. "I am a man on a mission. I have to make sure these lives aren't wasted.”
Charlie scowled. “What does that mean? You're telling me I'd be wasting my time! What makes what you're doing different?!"
Orlok chuckled, and it didn't sit well with Charlie. It was mocking, and it sounded wrong. Orlok thumbed back to the people. “They will be spared from this despair, but you, if you go back there, you will die a fool’s death.”
Charlie shook his head. “I don't know who the hell you are, but you're no savior. I honestly don't think you're a man to be trusted. I should have listened to Mr. Archer. I'd rather go on my own, if you don't mind."
Orlok laughed. “As I told you, I will not stop you, but your humanity will. You may as well already be dead going back there. That's what I see you as now."
"Bugger off!" Charlie performed an offensive hand gesture and turned back. He broke out into a run and headed for the London Eye as Orlok joined the rest of the group and led them on.
