Z Chronicles (Book 4): The Final Chapter

by White, A. L.

  He stared at her with those dead eyes as if he could look into her very soul, like he was reading her thoughts and emotions. Walter sniffed the air hard in her direction. “Run, Lori, before they do this to you.”

  “They’re trying to help you, Walter.”

  “They’re trying to kill us. They cannot help us. They can’t even help themselves.”

  “We can control this, Walter. We can live our lives like normal people.”

  “Normal! What is normal, Lori? To hide from the things we don’t know? To not use this awesome power we’ve been given?”

  “Walter, this isn’t you talking. It’s the parasite trying to control you.”

  Walter slammed forward into the guard he had attacked earlier. He grabbed the man by the mask then sunk his teeth into the spot where he had ripped away the padding.

  The guard screamed in agony as Walter tore a large piece of flesh from his chest and shook it in his mouth before eating it.

  The other guards zapped Walter with their electric prods while they backpedaled from the room, forcing Lori out the door.

  Once the door was shut and locked, Walter slammed his fist against it over and over, roaring at the top of his lungs.

  “That thing is not Walter,” Lori said. “I don’t know who or what that is.”

  “I tried to tell you what to expect. The parasite is strong in children, and it’s tricky to subdue it when it has so much power,” Katrina said.

  “Can you bring him back?”

  “That depends on Walter. If he wants to be back in charge, then yes.”

  “We will give him a week and keep trying to get through to him. You don’t need to go through this again,” Stu added.

  “I will come back every day and see what I can do to help.” Lori replied.

  Chapter 11

  Three hours had passed and still no sign of the herd thinning or leaving. Until now, Todd had played with the toys he had found upstairs. He had reluctantly gotten over not finding a backpack and was getting hungry.

  Tressa tried to get him to play another game with her, concocting one as she went along.

  Todd grew bored with it almost from the start and asked if they would eat soon.

  Beyond the spoiled food on the table, Tressa knew others had picked the kitchen clean long before they arrived. Leaving Todd in the family room, Tressa checked outside the back again then went to the living room and looked out the front. Less of the herd were on this side.

  At the end of the driveway, she noticed a little structure the farmer must have built for his children to wait for their school bus—a wooden structure built with plywood on the bottom half and glass or plexiglass on the top and a simple roof over top. The important thing to this was it had a door in the back. Tressa tried to judge the distance from the front door to the structure. It looked far, but if she went by herself, she would make it without a problem. Once at the structure and inside, she could fire off a shot to attract the herd. If she waited until they were almost to the structure and then ran along the ditch for a few hundred yards, ensure they saw her—even firing off another round to get all the creatures’ attention—Todd could slip out the back door and get into the car. All she would have to do then is make a beeline for the back of the house, go around the other side and get in the wagon too. Nothing could stop them once the wagon started moving, Tressa would mow down anything that got in front of her.

  Now all she had to do was explain the plan to Todd and make sure he did what she told him to do. That was the thing, to get Todd to do as he was told without her standing over him, ensuring that he did.

  “Tressa, I could come with you too. I’m very fast, and you know it,” Todd stated.

  “I know you are. You’re the fastest person I know. But now we need you to get to the wagon and make sure it’s ready to go when I get there.”

  Todd pondered it for a moment, looking heavenward, as if the answer would be found floating above him.

  “You need to wait for by the back door, okay? When the creatures leave, you run as fast as you can and get into the car.”

  “Yes, Tressa. I’ll run so fast they won’t even see me. You’ll be so proud, right, Tressa? Sure, you will be.”

  “Yes. I’ll be very proud of you. I’m always proud of my big, strong uncle, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, because I’m a good boy and always do my chores when you tell me to,” Todd replied, happy with himself.

  “Go now and wait for the gunshot and the herd to move away. Then run to the car. Run as fast as you can, and don’t worry about anything but getting to the car.”

  Tressa crossed the living room and opened the window on the side of the house facing the driveway. Earlier, she had found an old boombox and cassette tapes. Surprisingly, its batteries were still good, and she had planned on taking it with her. She picked a cassette from the pile, put it in and pressed Play. She turned the volume all the way up and placed it on the ground below the window.

  The herd migrated toward the direction of the music. Two still lingered at the bottom of the porch steps.

  Tressa decided it was now or never. She flung open the screen door and ran down the stairs at full speed, knocking the nearest zombie off its feet as she sprinted as hard as she could for the bus shelter at the end of the driveway. Halfway there, she heard the herd coming. Her lungs fought to expand enough to intake more oxygen, feeling like they could pop like a balloon any minute.

  Tressa found a lock on the bus shelter door. She fumbled with it, trying to force it open. It was built a lot better than it had looked from the house.

  The herd grew so thick Tressa couldn’t see the left side of the house anymore. Firing off a shot, she broke for the ditch as fast as her feet would allow her on the wet turf. It was deeper than she had thought, making it difficult to know when she had run far enough to make her cut back toward the house. Growing dizzy from the lack of enough oxygen, Tressa made a sharp turn and headed up the bank of the ditch.

  At the top, she found the herd waiting. It was too late to turn back into the ditch now. Going for broke, Tressa headed straight into the thinnest part of the herd. The zombies weren’t used to having something come back at them, which made it easier for her to knock most of them off their feet.

  Tressa felt the zombies ripping parts of her flesh, but she never stopped or slowed until she broke free. The urge to fall to her knees and catch her breath was overwhelming, but on she went until she rounded the house. Tressa saw Todd sitting in the wagon’s front seat, surrounded by the herd. He had his head in his hands, and Tressa knew he was crying for her to come to him.

  As the herd advanced, Tressa knew she had nowhere to go. She knew Todd was safe … for now. If he laid very still, they would eventually disperse. She could feel the rest of the herd moving in closer. Turning her head to face the herd, she noticed the creatures had blocked all other views. Tressa raised the gun and shot just as they closed in. She had fired, hoping to hit several with her last bullet.

  ***

  Todd waited for the creatures to leave before opening the back door. Even then, he moved in a slow and mechanical motion. A voice in the back of his head screamed, Don’t do it! Then he could hear Tressa telling him exactly what he had to do and how important it was for him to be her big, strong uncle and keep going no matter what he heard.

  The doorknob squeaked when his shaking hand touched it. Todd froze and looked to see if they had heard him and were returning. The coast was still clear, so he turned it until the door sprang open a little. Taking a deep breath, Todd said to himself, “Open the door, Todd, then run for the station wagon.”

  Taking baby steps at first and then stretching his long legs, Todd ran for the wagon. Stumbling at the bottom of the stairs and catching his balance, he made the turn. He resisted the urge to do a little victory dance when he reached the side door until he was safely inside and the doors were locked. The excitement of winning didn’t last long. A crack shattered the farm’s silence when Tressa
fired the first shot from her gun. Pain exploded on top of Todd’s skull after he jumped, hitting his head on the wagon’s roof.

  Small pools formed in Todd’s eyes before the first tear streaked his cheek. The jolt from hitting his head had sent a wave of pain into his jaw, snapping his teeth together and adding to the pain. Raising his large hands to cover his face, Todd released a silent scream, unleashing the flood of tears that had built up.

  Then the second shot caused his body to hitch, but Todd kept from smashing his head again. He spread his fingers a little, then enough so he could see out the windshield. No creatures surrounded him now. He forced a smile, knowing Tressa will be so happy to see what a good boy he had been. Did everything she had told him, just like she had told him to do it. “Yes, siree! She’ll be so happy I might get a special prize today.”

  The next shot was too close for Todd’s liking. He twisted his head so fast to see behind him that he heard a snap. The heard was everyplace behind the wagon, facing away from him. More and more came around both sides of the house now.

  Forcing himself to sink lower in the seat, Todd covered his face and cried again, thinking of everything he could remember from better times. He could see his mother and father during Christmas when he was a little, playing with the puppies and Virginia, or Tressa smiling back at him when he had finished something she had asked him to do.

  A woman’s screams brought Todd back to the station wagon. He knew the voice, knew it better than he knew his own voice. For an instant, he grabbed the handle on the door. Instinct told him that Tressa was in trouble and needed his help. Then he froze and sobbed again. He didn’t know how he could help her; what could he do to bring her to the wagon?

  Everyone knew right off that Todd was a large man, everyone but Todd. Todd’s mind saw himself as the small child it was locked into. Even knowing how much larger he was than Tressa or any of the others didn’t compute for him. They were big and Todd was small was the way his brain saw the world. It didn’t recognize the facts as others saw them, and there was no way to convince Todd it was different.

  His hand paused on the door handle, feeling the warmth radiate from the sunbaked car through his fingertips. In one fluid, even motion, Todd let the handle go and slid as far down into the floorboard as he could. Curled into his own cocoon, Todd cried himself to sleep, letting everything outside of the wagon drift away into a world he was no longer part of.

  Chapter 12

  Perseus pushed back harder against Virginia as her eyes adjusted, and the darkness faded into a twilight. The room was huge with row after row of tall, empty storage shelving units. If it had been a warehouse, it had been looted or was new. Virginia figured probably the latter. Debris was stacked from the floor to the second or third shelf between every row.

  Squinting to focus better, Virginia noticed the mess was moving like a live organism, pulsing and growing larger, coming closer and closer. Snapping her head from the mesmerizing movement approaching them, Virginia saw what she thought was a desk next to one of the overhead doors. Too tall for a seat, she thought it could be a good place to look for the keys. She slid toward it with her concentration on the advancing mass. The keys to the van hung on a peg board.

  She grabbed them and swung around to see Zeus with his fur raised and bouncing on his front paws, snapping at the air while snarling at the closest zombie. Taking aim, she let the first bolt fly. As it swooshed through the air, Virginia let another fly. She had fired five bolts, and five had hit their mark. Still the hoard of creatures moved forward. The time and space to get out the door was closing fast.

  She reached to her hip for the .357 Magnum and found an empty holster. Dropping one shoulder, she let the backpack fall and hang from the other. Virginia retrieved an older revolver and took aim. Sighting the creatures as they swarmed on Zeus, she fired all six shots, echoing a wave of thunder off the walls.

  For a second, the mass paused and retreated, giving her enough time to get through the door.

  Zeus and Perseus backed out behind Virginia, holding their ground for any that followed.

  Her muscles ached, sending waves of pain through each arm while she tried to push the door closed.

  Death would not be denied, and it smashed against the door to claim its prize.

  Digging her feet into the concrete, Virginia put her back against the door. Rummaging for the extra ammo in the pack, her fingers felt like jelly. Once she found it, she loaded the revolver and ordered Zeus and Perseus back. Leaping from the door, she turned and fired all six shots into the doorway as it swung open and crashed into the wall.

  Brains splattered like water balloons popping against the wall. Collapsing where they stood slowed the zombies enough for Virginia to try for the van. She shoved the empty revolver into her pants and pulled another bolt while moving.

  Zeus yelped in pain as Virginia felt her legs taken out from under her. For an instant, she was weightless from being tossed like a rag doll. The crossbow hit the ground, firing the bolt into thin air. Her body slammed onto the pavement, knocking her out. Fog filled her mind as everything darkened. On top of her, the sounds of battle were loud and fierce—teeth snapping and cries trying to pierce through the descending void.

  Something warm and inviting washed over Virginia’s body. An inviting place beckoned her. She could see her mother and father standing next to her brother. They motioned to Virginia to join them, to come where it was safe and be free of this mess.

  Warm fluid filled her mouth and nose, making it harder to breath. Gagging, Virginia opened her eyes to find the lads standing over her, fighting off the creatures. Crawling from under them, Virginia moved toward the van again. Zeus and Perseus were covered in red, making it hard for Virginia to tell if they were injured.

  Perseus inched backward to just in front of her while Zeus held his ground.

  Reaching for the keys, she realized the pack and the keys were gone. Someplace on the other side of Zeus, they were laying on the ground. Smacking the side of her cheek in a desperate attempt to clear her brain of the fog still threatening to overcome consciousness, Virgin assessed their situation as best she could. No keys meant she couldn’t drive the three out of there.

  The lads were not just fighting off human zombies from the building anymore. Where had the animal-like creatures come from, and why were there so many of them? If there was anything in this world that scared her and the lads, these were it—creatures as large as a bear with a body like a cougar, topped by a long, narrow collie-like skull, with snouts full of teeth over an inch long. The fangs reminded Virginia of a saber-tooth tiger.

  Regaining her composure enough to move, Virginia felt the quill and counted the bolts with her fingers. Ten remained, while the second quill was in her pack, useless now. They could outrun the zombies. These weren’t 2.0s or hybrids; they were a steady, slow-moving herd. The creatures closer could run faster than she could, maybe faster than the lads.

  “Zeus! Time to go, boy.”

  Zeus disengaged from the creatures as fast as he could without causing the creatures to charge forward. The rips in his flesh pulsed pain throughout his old body. He had taken a beating but knew he had handed out one as good as he had taken. Three creatures lay dead on the ground before him. Having fought them by the river, old Zeus had never forgotten their weakness. He had to come up underneath their attack, snapping their throat within his powerful jaws, then hold on for the ride as their life drained out. It worked every time, but he paid a heavy price, like claws slashing at his flesh.

  Virginia backed up, trying to reach the front of the building. If they could make it down the streets to the houses, they had a chance to walk away from this in one piece. Luck had been on their side so far, and the creatures advanced slow and cautious, almost like they were allowing them to escape. Rounding the corner, Virginia saw the zombies pouring out the opposite side of the building. A slow-moving herd wasn’t Virginia’s main worry; she could maneuver around them if the creatures kept their
distance.

  The pounding in Virginia’s chest grew louder and more intense as sweat stung her eyes. Jerking to the right and then to the left, she watched and gauged the threats. Four bolts left to fire; each would need to hit the target presenting the most immediate threat. She knew where that threat was; six-inch claws scraped and clicked on the concrete in front of her as the creatures crouched to the ground with their mouths opened, showing the dagger-like fangs ready to uncoil, like a spring wound tight.

  ***

  “Did you hear that?” Jermaine asked.

  Charlie stopped what he was doing, closed his eyes and pointed his face skyward. “I didn’t hear anything. What was it?”

  Like thunder in that not-too-far-off distance, five shots fired in succession, disturbing the quiet.

  “I heard it that time. Let’s go,” Charlie stated, dropping the supplies he had found.

  “You drive, so I can shoot,” Jermaine replied as he climbed into the truck.

  Driving slow at first, Charlie and Jermaine strained to hear where the shots had come from. They saw Pippa running across the bridge.

  Pulling up, Charlie said, “Get in. If you’re here, where’s Virginia?”

  “She was going to scout across the bridge.”

  Jermaine shook his head. “I’d like to say this surprised me, but … well, Charlie and I know Virginia.”

  Charlie slowed to a crawl upon reaching the other side and stuck his head out the window. No more shots rang out for them to follow.

  “The shots came from down the river, only one way to get there that I know of. Go to the third street and turn left,” Pippa said.