Serial Killer Z: Volume One

by Philip Harris

  Leo hmmm-ed and scratched the patchy growth on his chin. Before he could say anything else, the door to the room opened.

  Parker walked in. Her face looked thin, and there were dark patches beneath her eyes and a cut across her cheek. She seemed somehow smaller as well, as though life had beaten her down a little more since we’d last met. I caught the smell of cigarettes from her clothes.

  “Marcus, you’re awake.” Her tone was lukewarm.

  She nodded to the doctor.

  “Well,” he said, “I need to go check up on a couple of things. I’ll be back in a little while to see how you are.”

  He glanced at the woman in the other bed and then left.

  “More water?” Parker said.

  I nodded, and she refilled my cup. She pulled up a chair and sat down before passing the water back to me. As I took it, she tightened her grip. She didn’t say anything, just held my gaze. I tried to read her face, but all I got was that I’d done something wrong. Maybe I’d used up medical supplies that could have been put to better use.

  “So, what happened?” she said. “After you deserted Melissa?”

  Now I knew what the problem was. I noted she didn’t mention that I’d also deserted Captain Harwood and the others.

  “I… was heading back to the cave where I live.”

  Parker frowned, but I ignored it and carried on.

  “There was a gang—three of them. I’d run into them before… before I met you. They were waiting for me at the cave. I tried to run, but they attacked me.”

  “That’s how you got your injuries.”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you get away? They just let you go?”

  “No, they pushed me off the ridge that runs through the forest.”

  Parker nodded as though she knew of it. The idea she might be familiar with the area that well made me nervous. Even after everything that had happened, I was still planning on going back to my cave. I needed to find my tool kit.

  “They must have thought I was dead, or they were scared of running into zombies or something because they just left me there.”

  “And then you just got up and walked back to Hope?”

  The story sounded plausible to me, and it should have—it was true—but I could hear the skepticism in her voice. I took a sip of water.

  “Eventually, yes. I managed to find my way back to the highway, and I remembered where the trail was from there.”

  “And you didn’t meet any zombies along the way?”

  “Some, yes. Most I managed to avoid, but I had to spend the night in an abandoned car, and I caught the attention of a couple the next morning.”

  I drank some more water while Parker considered my story.

  “Why come back?” she said.

  I looked Parker directly in the eyes. “I didn’t want to die.”

  I held her gaze far past the point I would normally look away.

  She broke the staring contest first, giving me a little nod and then looking down at my cup. “More water?”

  I thought I could detect a little more warmth in her voice, but it was difficult to tell.

  “No, thank you.”

  The woman in the other bed coughed. It was a wet, phlegmy sound. Parker winced.

  “Has she been bitten?” I said.

  Parker took a deep breath. “Don’t worry; she’s tied down.”

  “What happened?”

  “At Hope? A pack arrived a few hours after Melissa got back with the bus.” Parker swallowed. “It was dark.”

  I didn’t need more details.

  “We got as many people onto the bus as we could, but the injured were trapped. We had to leave a lot of people behind. That’s why Julie went back, to see if there were any survivors.”

  “Were there?” I said, although I knew the answer.

  Parker shook her head. “We managed to get twenty-seven people onto the bus.” Parker’s voice cracked slightly. “That’s just over half of the people living in Hope.”

  I thought of the bodies I’d seen back at the camp. “Did Melissa make it?”

  “Yes.”

  Parker’s relief was clear from her voice, but I was surprised at how pleased it made me to hear Melissa was okay.

  “How many people were here, in Sanctuary?” I said.

  Parker’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “None.”

  “No one at all? Did they get attacked by a swarm as well?”

  “No, not as far as we can tell. There’s walls around this part of the town, and they were all intact when we arrived. We had to send someone over them to open the gate. The place was just empty. There’s food, clothing, and other supplies—everything you need. It’s as though they just got up and left.”

  “I thought they were sending a message?”

  “For a while, yes, but then it stopped. We thought we were at the edge of their range or they’d run out of power. We found the radio in the school. It’s pretty powerful according to Captain Harwood’s men. So, we’re putting out our own call to survivors.”

  “So, Sanctuary is a modern-day Roanoke?”

  “Yes, I suppose it is.”

  Metal creaked as the woman in the other bed rolled over. Her eyes flickered open, and she murmured something about it being too late. Parker looked across at the woman, and her eyes filled with sorrow.

  “What are you going to do with her?” I said.

  Parker pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head. When she looked back at me, her eyes were wet.

  “The question, Marcus, is what are you going to do?”

  A flash of panic washed over me. Did she know about the shadow?

  “I don’t know,” I said cautiously.

  “We still need help.”

  The panic was quickly replaced by relief. “Oh right. Yes.”

  Parker’s face hardened again, her earlier stoniness returning. “You’re welcome to stay, Marcus. But if you do, we need you to commit to the community—one hundred percent. No running off at the first sign of trouble.”

  She thought it was fear that had made me leave the bus. I wondered what Melissa had told her.

  “I understand, and I’m sorry.”

  “It’s Melissa you should apologize to.”

  “I… I should talk to her.” I tried to look sincere, but the idea filled me with dread.

  “Get some rest first. I’ll send someone in with some food.”

  Parker stood and slid the chair back under the table. She walked over to the woman lying in the bed. Each step seemed to weigh on her, dragging her down. She pulled the woman’s blanket up, tucking it around her shoulders, and then went to the foot of the bed. A chain was attached to the woman’s ankle. It rattled as Parker pulled on it, checking it was secure.

  Satisfied, Parker walked back across the room. As she reached the door, she paused and turned back to me. Her face was solemn. “If you decide to leave and end up in trouble again, we won’t be able to help you.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good.”

  She turned and left me alone.

  Three hours later, the infected woman was dead.

  Chapter 30

  One More Lost

  It had grown dark outside, and Leo was back. He was sitting beside the woman’s bed, rinsing out the rag when she suddenly tensed. Her back arched so hard I heard bones cracking. The movement sent the IV stand clattering to the floor and Leo leaping to his feet. She whipped her head to one side and opened her mouth. Veins stood out from her neck as she strained to get at him. Her teeth clacked. I thought she might manage to tear his throat out.

  The chain around her ankle rattled and scraped against the bed. Her eyes had rolled back into her head, and all I could see were the whites. A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corners of each eye.

  Leo pressed onto the woman’s shoulders, trying to force her back down onto the bed. She bucked and twisted, and although she was half his size, he couldn’t keep her down. Her head flick
ed sideways again, and her teeth snapped.

  “Get away from her!” I said.

  Leo shook his head, but then the woman lunged at him. His eyes widened in shock as her teeth grazed his cheek. He let go of her and backed away. She tried to sit up, but before she could, Leo pulled a gun from beneath his coat. He raised it, aimed at the woman’s head, and fired. Blood spattered the pillow behind her, and she fell back onto the bed.

  Leo stood, the gun still pointing where the woman’s head had been. His hands were shaking.

  The door to the hospital burst open, and Santos ran in. Her gun was already in her hand. She glanced at me but continued straight past, toward the woman’s bed.

  “Put the gun down, and turn around, Garcia. Slowly.”

  Leo’s head dropped forward, and he let his arms drop. “It’s okay. She didn’t bite me.”

  “I said… put. The gun. Down.”

  Leo laid his pistol on the floor and slowly turned around. There were flecks of blood on his cheek.

  “What’s that on your face?”

  The doctor ran the back of his hand across his cheeks and looked at the smear of red across his knuckles. “It’s nothing.” He raised his hand to show Santos. “And even if she had bitten me, it would be hours before I started trying to kill anyone.” He gestured toward the woman’s body. “We’ve proved that now.”

  Parker and Melissa ran into the room. Melissa went to Santos’s side and placed a hand on her wrist. “It’s okay, Santos. He’s fine.”

  Santos hesitated then gave a sharp nod and lowered the gun.

  “Everyone all right?” Parker said.

  “Yes,” Melissa said firmly. Her eyes were on Santos, and there was a tension in her body that suggested she didn’t trust her not to make some sort of move.

  “What about Erica?” Parker said.

  Leo swallowed hard. “She turned.” His voice was uneven.

  Melissa walked over to him. “I’m sorry.”

  At her words, his shoulders slumped, and he ran his hands through his hair. He sobbed.

  She put her arms around his shoulder and guided him toward the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Leo resisted, mumbling something about the body.

  “Don’t worry; we’ll send someone to take care of that.”

  “I’m sorry, Erica,” Leo said. Then he let Melissa lead him out of the room. She didn’t look at me as they passed.

  Parker waited until they’d gone before approaching Santos.

  “He should be quarantined,” Santos said.

  “He wasn’t bitten,” Parker said.

  “We don’t know how the infection spreads. It could be passed on by contact, or it may have gone airborne.”

  I thought of how much time I’d spent up close and personal with the living dead, either fighting to stay alive or working on them. If the infection were transmitted any other way than being bitten, I’d have become a corpse long ago.

  Parker locked Santos in a hard stare. “We’ll watch him.”

  Santos hesitated then scowled. She put her gun away.

  “Go get Novak, and burn the body,” Parker said. “Do it outside the wall, though, far enough away that people won’t see it.”

  Santos turned on her heel and walked out of the room without acknowledging the order.

  Parker knelt by the bed. Erica’s arm was hanging over the side. She lifted it up and rested it across Erica’s body. She bowed her head. “Go in peace, Erica.”

  Then Parker crossed herself and stood up. Her face was strained, tired. I struggled to find something to say. I didn’t know Erica or even Parker, really, and everything I thought of to say seemed hollow. Which it would have been.

  Santos saved me from the awkward silence. She came back into the room, carrying a plastic tarpaulin. Novak followed close behind.

  “Ouch, that would have hurt, yes?” said Novak when he saw the body.

  Santos rolled her eyes at him. Anger flashed across Parker’s face. She clenched her teeth.

  Santos laid the tarpaulin on the floor next to the bed and directed Novak around the body. Together, they lifted Erica off the bed and placed her on the plastic sheet. I was surprised at how carefully they treated the body.

  The head of the mattress was stained crimson and flecked with yellow and white.

  Santos and Novak rolled up the tarpaulin and carried the body out of the room without saying anything more. As they left, I caught the familiar scent of blood in the air. It was oddly comforting. It reminded me of the cave, and thoughts of my missing scalpels quickly chased away the comfort the scent had brought.

  Parker pulled the sheets and pillows off the bed, bundled them up, and began walking out of the room. She paused as she passed me. “I’m going to give Leo some time to deal with this, but I’ll make sure someone stops by.”

  I nodded my thanks, still not sure what to say. If Parker cared that I didn’t speak, she didn’t show it. She just turned and walked out, leaving me alone with the dead woman’s ghost and the scent of her death.

  Ten minutes after Parker left, two men I didn’t recognize came and hauled away the mattress. They nodded to me as they came in but didn’t talk to me. One of them returned a few minutes later with a bucket. He scrubbed at the floor and the metal bed frame, removing spatters of blood and brain matter. The smell of disinfectant overpowered that of the blood. Then he left again, nodding to me as he walked past.

  I lay back on the bed and tried to sleep. The disinfectant smell had grown so strong it wrapped around my face, almost stifling me. Every time I closed my eyes, I pictured the woman, Erica, attacking Leo. I could see her sinking her teeth into his throat, tearing away the flesh, blood pulsing from the wound.

  The shadow fed on the images, and it was growing restless. I needed to decide whether I was going to stay in Sanctuary, and I couldn’t do that with the shadow in turmoil. I needed some fresh air to clear my head. I began to get out of bed then realized I was still only wearing a T-shirt and shorts. I couldn’t see any other clothes, and I doubted I’d be able to sneak around in my underwear without arousing suspicion.

  Instead, I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing. My mother had sent me to a therapist a couple of times in the hope they’d find a way to bring me “out of my shell.” We “hadn’t connected,” but she’d taught me some relaxation techniques. I drew on them now, counting four breaths, then consciously relaxing, then repeating the process. I counted and relaxed, counted and relaxed until eventually the sensation of being smothered eased, and I drifted into a fitful sleep filled with images of the marauding dead.

  Chapter 31

  Breakfast

  According to the clock on the wall it was 7:30 when Melissa brought me a tray containing my breakfast—boiled eggs and a few sliced potatoes, also boiled—and a bright-orange plastic cup full of water.

  She handed me the food. “I’m sorry it’s not very exciting, but the eggs were laid yesterday. And they’re organic.”

  “It’s fine. Real food is good.”

  Steam drifted slowly off the plate, and the smell of eggs replaced the disinfectant in the air. I broke apart one of the eggs with a fork and put some into my mouth.

  “You look a lot better,” Melissa said. “You used to look like death. Now you’re more like death warmed up.”

  I smiled around my eggs, swallowed, and took a sip of water. “I’d like to get out of here.”

  “Out of Sanctuary?”

  “Just out of this room.” I waved my fork toward the bed where Erica had died.

  Melissa stared at the empty bed. Sadness filled her eyes.

  Then she took a deep breath and forced a slight smile. “Whenever you feel you’re ready. Leo said you’re not in any danger. You’ll be sore for a while yet, but other than that you’re not going to keel over and die.”

  “Good, thank you.”

  I paused with another forkful of food halfway to my mouth while I tried to work out how to bring up the trip t
o the bus.

  She saved me the trouble. “I’m not angry because you left us. You made it very clear you weren’t staying.”

  I still couldn’t think of what to say. I nodded instead.

  “Of course, Parker’s really pissed at you.”

  “Yeah, I noticed.”

  “She’ll get over it. You had the right idea anyway. If you’d stayed, you might have gotten caught by the pack.”

  “That wasn’t why I left.”

  “I know, you’ve got a man cave.”

  “Not anymore. The men who attacked me trashed it.” I felt a pang of regret. “It’s not safe for me to go back.”

  “So, do you think you’ll stay in Sanctuary?” Her tone was light, casual, but there was an intensity in her eyes.

  “I don’t know.”

  “We’d like you to stay.” Melissa placed her hand on my leg. “I’d like you to stay.”

  Unfamiliar emotions roiled inside me. I was suddenly intensely aware of her fingertips resting on my thigh.

  “I’ll think about it, I promise.”

  Melissa smiled. “Good.” Something in her voice made me think she was convinced she’d worn me down a little and might even be able to get me to stay. I wasn’t sure she was wrong.

  “Eat your breakfast, and I’ll be back in half an hour. There’s some clothes in the closet. Make sure you’re decent, and I’ll show you around the town.”

  She winked at me and walked swiftly out of the room. I stared at the door for several long seconds before returning to my breakfast. My appetite had eased. I was still hungry, but my stomach was unsettled. I brushed my hand across my thigh, trying to erase the feel of Melissa’s fingertips that lingered there. Then I hacked the boiled eggs to pieces with the fork and began to eat.

  Chapter 32

  Sanctuary

  By the time Melissa returned, I was sitting on the edge of the bed in a black shirt and a fresh pair of jeans that were a size too big for me. She was carrying a pair of black sneakers and a brown canvas jacket covered with half a dozen pockets.