Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 01 (6 page)

"That moaning can be heard for miles around. It's their way of telling others where the food is." Alex chuckled. "Just so happens that the food stuff is us."

Sam was not amused by Alex's humor. "Do you think this is funny, son? The dead are coming alive and eating every living thing in sight and your laughing about it?"

Alex shook his head, still grinning from ear-to-ear and placed a reassuring hand on Sam's shoulder. "No, no...it's not that at all. I just think that it's rather ironic, that for all of these thousands of years, humans have been the sole creature at the top of the food chain, and in one fateful night that food chain is ripped apart. Literally." Alex giggled again to himself, shaking his head and looking at his feet. "You'll go crazy if you don't try to keep a hold of something human. Laughter is still the one thing that we can do and they can't. Find something to laugh about...anything."

There was still a smile on Alex's face, but Sam knew that he was deadly serious. Without something to keep you grounded, the stress of everything would quickly drive a man mad. But Sam still wasn't ready to give himself over completely to Alex's logic. "What makes you the damned expert on this? How do you know what is going on and what is going to happen if the government doesn't even know? What, you a psychic or something?"

Alex laughed again, a little louder than he knew he should. "You see? You do know how to keep your humor in a bad situation. A psychic? If I thought I was one of those, then I really would be crazy." He slapped Sam on the back, intentionally harder than he needed. "I can't read the future...I just know how to read."

"Read? You mean there's a book about this?" Sam was starting to lose his patience with Alex again.

"Actually, yes. There are tons of books about this, but they are all in the Science Fiction section of the book store. The ideas that there are zombies out there are based in legend and myth, probably true to some extent. But who could ever believe that a zombie outbreak would ACTUALLY happen...guess us weirdos who read that kind of thing knew what we were doing. Max Brooks was a genius, and the really scary thing is how precisely he predicted what would really go on," Alex's brow creased as he pondered that last thought.

"Oh come on..." Sam started, but a moan from behind them stopped him short. There was a zombie somewhere behind them that was way too close for comfort. A scream from inside the home startled both men and each had to hold on to the other to avoid falling off the roof. As if appearing out of nowhere, Morgan was at the window and she looked terrified.

"There's one in the back yard! It's trying to get in the house!" Morgan yelled. Sam and Alex moved together, carefully but quickly making their way around the second story to the back of the house. Each man looked around the backyard then at one another. Nothing was there, but the moan seemed to be coming from right under them. The sound of a window breaking finally showed the two where the creature was; right below them under the awning of the house. Alex wanted to hit himself for not figuring it out on his own, but considering this was their first real encounter with a zombie, everyone was just a little off their game.

Leaning of the edge of the house, Sam raised the gun and started to take aim at the zombie trying to get in. Alex grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the edge. "Don't pull the trigger. If that gun goes off it will bring zombies from miles around. You'd be advertising fresh meat."
 

"But..." Sam started protesting. Alex held up a hand to stop him before he could argue anymore. In two steps Alex was at the upper story window, knocking calmly at the window pane. Morgan's face appeared again at the window.

"Is is gone?" she asked through the glass. Alex motioned for her to open the window.

"Could you hand me a golf club? Driver please..." As if waiting for the party in front of him at a golf course to tee off, Alex calmly stood outside the window, scanning the backyard and surrounding area for any other signs of movement. Morgan quickly returned with the golf club and handed it to Alex with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Thanks," Alex chirped as he turned away. "Go ahead and close the window. I'll be back in a minute." Taking the club in his right hand and swinging it like a scythe, Alex practiced for what he was about to do. "Sam, hold my left hand and don't let me fall." Grasping his father-in-law by the hand, Alex leaned out over the edge of the house and placed the club head next to the creatures left temple. With the practiced ease of a golfer Alex brought the club back smoothly then, reaching the top of the swing arc, brought the club down and through the target.

A sickening, wet crack echoes through the backyard, silencing the moaning of the creature immediately. For a few seconds after only silence could be heard; no guns, no screams, no terrifying moans of the damned zombies. To Alex, it was peaceful.

"Is it dead?" Sam's harsh whisper broke Alex's revery.

"Well, technically it was already dead," Alex snarked as he hauled himself back from the edge of the roof. "But if you mean will it walk again, no. You have to destroy its brain to kill it, and I think that gold swing took care of the job." He peered over the edge once more. "How did it get back here anyway?" Alex scanned the surrounding fence line and walked the perimeter of the yard. The side gate hung open. "Well I'll be damned. We nearly had a serious problem on our hands because we forgot to lock the side gate." Alex crouched at the edge of the roof and pivoted, swinging his body around in order to lower himself to the ground. Hanging from the gutters about to drop to the earth, Alex's heart stopped.
 

A deafening moan sounded from his left only feet from where he hung from the roof. A shambling nightmare appeared from the darkness, reaching its broken and bloody hands for Alex who was desperately and unsuccessfully trying to pull himself back up to safety. A gray, lifeless hand grabbed his shoe...

The rifle exploded above Alex's head, tearing the creature's head from its body. What was left of the zombie slumped to the ground and remained still. Alex's ears sounded as if a bomb had gone off in his head and he realized that he was holding his breath. Alex gasped for the air to fill his lungs and began to hyperventilate, causing his vision and senses to become overwhelmed with the rush of oxygen. His vision began to fade and stars burst in his eyes. He lost his grip on the roof. Alex's last thought was to push himself away from the corpse lying on the ground under him. He landed off-balance and the tunnel vision made it impossible for Alex to keep his feet under him. Alex landed hard against the fence, slamming his head into the wooden supports and finishing the job his hyperventilation had begun. Alex's world faded into darkness.

-----

Alex awoke to gunfire and something cold pressed against his forehead. He could hear crying as if from a long way distant, he sat up suddenly, realizing it was Gemma. The quick movement was too much for Alex's pounding head. He leaned to the side just in time to keep from retching all over himself.
 

Once the contents of his stomach had emptied realization set in. "What did you do?! Why am I here? Dammit, you should have shot me when I was knocked out." Alex struggled to get out of bed, hands and a spinning head keeping him from doing so. Paula was holding him down.

"Lay down, Alex. You took a really hard fall and need to rest." Alex had stopped struggling and now allowed Paula to readjust the washcloth on his head. "Sam and Tony are on the roof handling things so you stay put." There was a tremor in her voice that she could not hide.
 

"Where's Gemma and Morgan?" Alex felt as if there was something being kept from him. "How long have I been here?" This last was asked with urgency.

"You've been asleep for almost three hours, but you lost a lot of blood when you hit your head. You need to take it easy for a while. Morgan and Laura are with Gemma right now...they don't need you," Paula cut off her last sentence abruptly, pain and embarrassment washing across her face. She winced and tried to take back what she had just said.

"I'm sorry, Alex. That's not what I meant it to sound like. Of course they need you, I just meant..."

Alex interrupted her. "I know what you meant to say, Paula. It's okay." Alex moved again to get out of the bed and Paula tried once more to stop him. "I don't want to be rude, but don't try to stop me again. Those two are making the situation worse, not better."

Alex struggled to his feet and made straight for the window. He threw open the window and began yelling at the two men on the rooftop to stop shooting. "Put the guns down, dammit! You're going to get us all killed." Alex struggled onto the roof, the exertion causing his head to spin wildly. He had to hold on to the window frame for support and to keep from tumbling off the roof for a second time.

"All you two have accomplished is to announce our presence to every zombie in a five mile radius and waste our all too short supply of ammo," Alex noticed that even without the gunfire, the noise level was unbearable. The moans of the walking dead were deafening coming from a single creature. Alex could not even count the number that now fought their way to the front of the house.

Raising his voice above the din of noise below them, Alex began issuing orders. "Both of you get inside and find everything I'm about to ask for. We need golf clubs and baseball bats out here on the roof immediately. We also need some for of rope or cord...something to fasten us to the roof in case we slip. If you fall into that mob, there will be no chance of rescue." Sam and Tony look at each other confused. "We need to destroy the brain, but we also need to do it quietly. The rifles will continue to bring in zombies from the surrounding areas, so our only other option is to hang from the roof line and crush their skulls one-by-one." Alex looked apologetic. "This isn't going to be fun or easy, but it's what has to be done."
 

At that Alex motioned for the men to find the requested items. "Oh, and bring back one rifle. Just in case." The two men scampered inside, bent on completing their assigned task. Alex turned to face the assaulting mob, a desperate plan forming in his mind.

-----

Hours passed and the horde of undead kept coming. Alex had glanced at his watch at the start of their assault...1:30 in the morning. It was now two in the afternoon and the untold number of dead from the night before were now a mere handful. Alex had lost count of the number they had killed, but by the mound of corpses piled against the house, it had to be in the hundreds.

Alex's plan had worked, but it had been far from perfect. The golf clubs that they had started with were designed for launching a 12 ounce golf ball through the air, not for bashing in the skulls of the walking dead. The clubs had quickly been rendered useless with many zombies still at and coming to the house. Bats, crowbars, even studs from the walls that were ripped free were used to dispatch any zombie attacking them. Actually, the wall studs proved most useful, providing the defenders with sharp and jagged objects with which to pierce the skulls of the attacking horde.
 

As the sun baked down on Alex and the defenders, the last of the creatures was dispatched, its body rolling down the mound of corpses piled almost as high as the roof top. Their success was a double-edged sword. As the bodies piled higher, the men were forced to wait as the next few zombies to make their way to the top of the pile before having a chance to take them out. There were times that too many zombies would crest the pile of bodies threatening to overwhelm the defenders. Each time Alex and the others were able to hold them off, but only just. Alex knew that there was a better way to secure themselves, but it couldn't happen here.

"Okay" Alex huffed through his exhaustion. "Everyone inside." Each man crawled through the open window back into the relative safety of their home. Sam collapsed once inside, shaking uncontrollably and Tony retched on his shoes.

"Morgan" Alex called through the house. Morgan's head appeared around the corner of the door. She was afraid to enter. "Morgan, I need you to take the next watch." Morgan gasped.
 

"I...I can't...I don't know how..."

"You don't have to do much. Here, take this rifle," and Alex handed the 410 bore double barreled shotgun out for Morgan to take. "If you see anything moving, stick your head in the window and holler for me. I'll be right here in this room, but I'm exhausted and have got to get some food and rest. Sam and Tony are the same. If you think something is getting too close, just aim and pull the trigger. It doesn't kick that much." The shotgun hung there in his hands waiting for her. She did not move to take it.
 

"Morgan, you know I'm right about this. I'll be right here of you need me for anything. And I do mean anything. But we've got to let your dad and Tony rest. They can't take much more."

Morgan physically shuddered at the prospect, but moved to take the shotgun from Alex. "You don't even have to go all the way to the edge. If you could just sit right outside the window and keep a watch out, Sam and Tony can get some rest and relieve you soon." Morgan took the shotgun. It was cold and heavy in her grasp, something deadly and frightening.

Alex placed a comforting hand on Morgan's shoulder. "I'll be right here." He took her hand and helped Morgan through the window onto the rooftop. After settling against the wall of the house Alex asked her if she could handle this.
 

"I'll be fine, Alex," Morgan said with a tenderness he had not heard from her in a long time. "Get some rest. I'll call you if I need anything. Go rest."

Alex ducked back inside the window and chose a spot on the floor where he could lean against the wall and see directly out the window. Morgan leaned around the window frame and started to ask him a question. Alex was already fast asleep.
 

CHAPTER THREE

Flight

Alex had been asleep for almost two hours when an urgent whispering woke him. "Daddy?" a tiny girl's voice said. "Daddy? Are you awake?"