Dead Life (Book 4) (13 page)

              “What's that little girl?”

              “Kill em all.”

              “You can count on that,” Al said as he turned and walked away.

              I took Gina in my arms and held her tight. “I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I am about your dad.”

              “That's okay. This is the world we live in,” Gina said, breaking down in tears.

              I pulled back from Gina. “I love you. Now get in the truck. Keep the radio on, I'll let you know when we're about to go in.” We kissed and I watched her climb into the truck and drive away.

              Al was waiting for me at the gate. “She'll be fine. This won't take long, in and out,” he said, as we started into the woods.

              We hadn't gone far when we discovered the source of the horrible zombie smell that permeated the air. The road was lined with zombies tied to the trees. There were dozens of them. Ropes were around their necks and torsos. They reached out at us as we walked by. From the way they'd been ripped to shreds whoever was at the end of this road drew their entertainment from shooting them like country folk liked to shoot up road signs as they drove past them. None had been shot in the head but their bodies were riddled with bullet holes. Some had arms and legs blown completely off. One hung from the ropes around it's neck, both legs lying on the ground beside it, reaching for us as we walked by.

              “These are some sick fuckers,” Al said. “No telling what kind of a mess we'll be walking into.”

              “Oh my god. Look at that,” I said, the bile rising in my throat.

              Back a ways off the road I could see a zombies naked ass sticking up in the air. I drew my sword and walked into the woods. A tree had been cut down about two or three feet off the ground. What had once been a woman was staked to the stump on her stomach. Two spikes stuck up out of her back, both arms had been chopped off, and duct tape was wrapped around her head covering her mouth. As I approached, it tried to turn it's head to get a look at me and began struggling against the spikes that held it in place. Used condoms littered the ground at my feet. Fighting the urge to vomit I split it's skull with my sword and went back to where Al waited for me in the road.

              “I'm surprised we didn't see something like that sooner,” Al said.

              “What do you mean?”

              “There's a lot of sick people in this world and it looks like God in all his infinite wisdom let most of them survive the end of the world. You saw what those two fucks were doing to Pete's girlfriend back there. Believe me Steve, this won't be the last time you see something like that.”

              “You really think this is the end?”

              “I didn't at first but now, yeah I do.”

              We walked in silence. I could feel the rage building inside me. Was it really worth living in a world gone mad? I couldn't wait to get at these guys. When we first started back here I was fighting with my inner self. I didn't think it was right to come down this road and kill every one of them like Gina wanted. In this world where so many had died surely every life was precious. Now I was sure that  whoever we found at the end of this road needed to die. If there was one or one hundred, I wanted them all dead.

              “We're getting close. Look at the trees, there's no more zombies tied to them,” Al said. “We need to get off this road.”

              We went inside the tree line, staying close to the road, and made our way through the underbrush. It wasn't long before we came to a clearing in the woods. A rundown shack sat in the middle of the clearing. Beside the shack was what used to be a barn. Four brand new pickup trucks were scattered in the yard around the shack.

              I unhooked the radio from my belt. Al glared at me and then just held his hand out palm down. I assumed he was giving me the okay to talk, as long as I was quiet. “Don't answer me. We're at the house.” I put the radio back on my belt and checked my rifle.

              “You go to the right, I'll go left. Come on the side of the house if possible, avoid windows. When you get to the house try to find Cindy, work your way around to the back. I'll take the other side and work my way to the front. If anybody sees you shoot them, don't hesitate. If you hear a gunshot find someone to shoot. If you find Cindy don't wait for me, get her out of there. I'm going to do the same. There's a truck close to the woods on your side. Check it for keys on your way in.”

              “Alright Al,” I said and started off.

              “Steve,” Al said, under his breath. “I mean it. Don't wait for me.”

              “Wasn't planning on it.”

Chapter 11

              The whole episode with Edgar had taken us in the opposite direction that we were supposed to be going. We were pretty much lost and had to stop for a map check before things got worse. Half the day was gone and we needed to put some distance between us and the horde we had been playing tag with all day. I was having a hard time dealing with everything that had just happened. How many more times would we run across something like what had happened to that family? I was sure this wouldn't be the last time. Not all people would handle themselves with honor in this new world we lived in. Opportunists were everywhere and we'd need to keep an eye out for them. We talked about it while driving and decided that maybe it would be best if we tried to keep our contact with other survivors to a minimum.

              Lily wanted to try and find a new ride. It seemed the Kia didn't fare too well when we had forced our way through that intersection earlier. Something had happened to the wheel alignment with all the sideways stress that had been put on the suspension. There was a small town north of our current location and we hoped to switch out vehicles there. Besides we needed to find a place to clean up soon. More specifically John smelled like shit. He was still covered in gore from when we had cleared that accident from the road earlier. He wouldn't admit it but he was mad at me for shooting that zombie lady in the head then having him steer while we pushed the van out of the way. It all tied in together anyway. The smell would never come out of the Kia so a bath, change of clothes, and new vehicle were at the top of our to do list.

              I tried the sat phone several times while we were diving and hadn't been able to get a signal which surprised me. This thing was supposed to work as long as there were satellites in the sky. I knew that eventually it would be useless, when the satellites it up-linked with strayed out of alignment or just outright fell from the sky, but it was too soon for that to happen. I wanted to find out if my dad was okay and still headed for Fort Leonard Wood. Maybe I would try again when we stopped for the night.

              We got to the town of Viola at about three in the afternoon. We chose it because it looked like a small town on the map and our hopes were that there wouldn't be many zombies around to deal with. We couldn't have been more wrong. It seemed like when the shit hit the fan everybody in the area headed for town. As far as we could tell there weren't any survivors in Viola. The streets were small and everywhere we looked jammed with pick up trucks and the undead. We only got about a half a mile into town when we were forced to turn around and try to find a way to make our way around the town proper. There were too many zombies roaming around. Trying to get through the center of town turned out to be a bad idea.

              On our way out John spotted a small hardware store off on a side street. “Pull down there,” he said, leaning forward into the front seat and pointing to the left. “We still need to find something to siphon gas with.”

              The front window to the hardware store was busted out so Lily backed in as close as she could get and we went in. It was difficult to be quiet making our way through the shattered glass that was everywhere on the ground right inside the window. We drew the attention of two good old boy zombies as soon as we entered the store. They made their way toward us but it was easy work putting them down as both were in pretty bad shape. The larger of the two actually fell as he tried to make his way in our direction. He tripped over his own entrails. His intestines tangled around his feet as they hung from his mid-section that had recently been torn open. John stomped on his head while I pushed my knife through the eye socket of his bib overall wearing buddy whose head hung at an unnatural angle. His throat and most of his neck was missing.

              “These two look pretty fresh,” I said. “Whatever killed them is probably still in here.”

              That's when a huge fat woman came running at us from the back of the store. She was over six feet tall and had to weigh at least four hundred pounds. The was no way the behemoth had ever moved this fast in life. She came straight at Lily, who simply stepped to the side when the zombie made a grab for her and watched her tumble out the broken window. The huge zombie crashed into the back of the Kia further damaging the already ailing SUV. Lily followed it out the window and gave the zombie it's final death with several well placed shots to the skull with a shovel that Lily had grabbed from a display by the door.

              Not only did we need to find a hand pump for siphoning gas we needed to find weapons. Something that didn't ring the dinner bell like a gun did. Knives worked fine, stabbing them in the temple worked great, but letting those teeth get that close to you was a little unsettling. I didn't want us in here too long. When we came into the store I didn't see any zombies around but that could change in a heart beat. Something had to have heard all the noise Gargantua the zombie woman from hell made when she crashed into the back of the Kia.

              Safety outweighed the need for speed so the three of us stayed together as we searched for a pump. The front of the store was well lit from the large display windows but the back end of the aisles were too dark to see anything. I grabbed a flashlight and some batteries which helped considerably. However, at the same time the light acted as a beacon to whatever waited for us in the store. We started at one end of the store and crept down each aisle. John took the right side of the aisle and Lily looked to the left. I checked each corner we turned and watched for threats to the front and rear of us.

              In with the tools John found some nasty looking roofing hammers. One side of the striking surface was for cutting shingles and looked like a small thick ax blade. The other side was a typical hammer. We each grabbed one and continued on. Two aisles over we ran across a little gem called Fiskar's Chopping Brush Axe. It was about two feet long with an eight inch curved blade. Best of all it had a leather strap on the handle that fit nicely around my wrist. It was love at first sight. I sat my hatchet down and grabbed one. Roofing hammer in one hand and brush axe in the other, I dare the next zombie that comes along to try any shit with me. John and Lily got brush axes too and we continued on. John found some files in the next aisle and threw a few in his back pack. We went through the entire store picking up a few other necessities along the way but didn't find anything to siphon gas with.

              “We've been in here too long. Let's head for the front of the store. I want to grab some more flashlights and batteries on the way out. I guess we'll have to look in an auto parts store for a pump.” I said.

              “I saw a cooler in the front of the store. It was fully stocked. Everybody grab a duffel bag,” John said, pointing to a shelf full of them. “We'll load up.”

              Lily was filling the bags with sodas and waters while John and I watched for zombies. “That Kia's shot. We should really try and find a different ride while we're here,” she said, throwing bottles into the bag as fast as she could.

              “We can't go back. The streets are jammed and those fuckers are everywhere. Maybe we'll find something outside of town,” John said.

              Lily held a full bag out to John. “Take this and give me yours,” she said. “I'm telling you the steering is shot on that thing. It's pulling hard to the left and getting worse. I don't think it will make it much further.”

              I handed Lily my bag and took the one she had just filled. “As soon as we get out of here we'll look for a new car. He's right, we can't try to go back through town. There has got to be a house or something close by. First thing Lily I promise.”

              We went to the busted out window and checked outside. Miraculously all was clear. “Shit I forgot the batteries. Take this,” I said, handing my bag that Lily had just filled to John. “Load up, I'll be right there,”

              They went out the window and I went back to the register where I had found the flashlight. My rucksack was full so I grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with batteries and threw in a few more flashlights. There were all kinds of handy little gadgets and devices at the display by the register and that's when I hit pay dirt. On the bottom shelf was a plastic bag. Inside was a rolled up hose with a squeeze bulb. I'd found our siphon. No more sucking gas. Now all we needed was a new car.

              The best way around Viola was south of our current location. So we headed in that direction until we got out of town. Lily didn't seem too impressed with my finding a pump but she hadn't had to siphon gas yet. John on the other hand was relieved to see we now had a pump as the Kia was running low on fuel. I knew Lily was bound and determined to find a new vehicle before we were forced to refill the tank on this one. Unfortunately there weren't many homes out this way. The roads we drove on went mostly through wooded areas and the houses we did find sat empty, with no cars in their driveways.

              It was getting dark out so we headed down a gravel road just to get off the main roads. We were faced with the prospect of spending the night in the Kia when we came to what had to be the nicest house I'd seen since we'd left Birmingham. To top it off there were three cars in the driveway. The nicest of which was a Cadillac Escalade. From here on out we'd be traveling in style. Unless of course the owners were home. The prospects of that didn't seem too good. The front door stood open and was covered in bloody hand prints.

              As soon as I got to the door the smell of rotten flesh filled the air. There were either zombies, dead bodies, or a combination of both inside. The interior of the house matched the exterior, expensive. The furniture, carpets, drapes, everything was white. If it wasn't for the blood that stained every surface in the front room I would have been blinded by the glare. Just inside the foyer was a huge blood spot that at one time must have been a person. Other than a few shreds of clothing and one half eaten shoe there was nothing left. Bloody foot prints went off to the right and we followed them down a short hallway. A blood stained door stood open and I went through to what turned out to be the dining room. Seated at the table was the most grotesquely swollen zombie I yet had seen. She sat with her back to us and tried to stand when we entered the room.

              She couldn't have been more than five feet tall and in life weighed less than a hundred pounds. The dress she wore was split open everywhere. Her arms and legs were still stick thin it was just her torso that was swollen to astronomical proportions. Whoever she had gorged herself on must have been many times her own size. All she could do was flail her arms and try to get to her feet. My guess was that this once petite woman now weighed well over two hundred pounds. I had my brush axe and roofing hammer with me so I went around the table and got behind her.  She tried to turn and face me but even that was beyond her capabilities. I hit her once on the top of the head with the blade of my hammer thus ending her struggles. The now fully dead zombie's head fell forward and banged off the table causing her to fall to one side, spilling from the chair she sat in. She hit the ground and split open. Everything that was inside of her spilled out onto the ground.

              “Oh my god,” Lily shouted. Her body started convulsing and she projectile vomited onto the table in front of her.

              This got me started. I could feel the bile rising in my throat and was unable to stop the inevitable. I threw up on top of the still expanding pile of gore that was in front of me.

              John ran from the room. I could hear him vomiting from just outside the room. I did the only thing I could and ran the opposite way, ending up in the kitchen. Here I found another blood spot identical to the one in the front room. That little bitch had eaten two whole people, maybe more. We still had to check out the rest of the house. I walked around the stain on the floor and went to the sink in an attempt to wash my face. My luck was holding steady, the water didn't work. Lily burst into the room. Upon seeing the blood on the kitchen floor she threw up again. She ran to the sink and pushed me out of the way. I tried to tell her the water didn't work but couldn't get the words to come out of my mouth, all I could do was gag. She got me started again and I was doing everything in my power not to lose it.

              John walked into the kitchen about the same time that I had been able to pull myself together enough to get a water bottle out of my rucksack. “What a fucking pig,” he said, seeing the blood stain on the ground.

              I went through the drawers and found a washcloth. I poured some water on it and pushed it into Lily's hand. Her head was still in the sink and she continued dry heaving. I poured water over my face and down the back of my neck. I couldn't stop shaking. I looked out the window and saw that there was a pool in the backyard. Even though it was the middle of September and too cold for swimming I knew where I was headed.

              “Let's finish clearing this house. There's a pool out back. Anybody else feel like they need a swim?”

              “I just want to get out of here,” Lily said, from the depths of the sink.

              “We have to find the keys to that Escalade,” John said. “It's almost dark. We'll just stay out of the dining room. There's a staircase here in the kitchen and that hallway over there probably leads to a different part of the house. We'll clear the rest of the house then decide if we're going to stay or not.”

              “Sounds good,” I said. “Lily if you want to sit this one out you can. Just wait in here. We'll be back as soon as we're done.”