Dead Life (Book 4) (19 page)

              Making it to the door to the apartment without incident Edgar fumbled in his pocket for the key, inserted it in the lock, and opened the door. The living room was dark but there was just enough light coming through the sliding glass door to the balcony that he could see the room was empty. Two suitcases sat next to the door. Paula was packed and ready to go. Edgar felt guilty for having made her wait so long but was sure she would be glad to see he was finally here. The kitchen area was to right so he glanced in to see if Paula was there, knowing she wouldn't be, and went in to get a beer from the fridge. The electricity was out and the beer would be warm but that didn't matter. The day had been a harrowing one and he needed something to help wind down. Leaning back against the sink he twisted the top off the bottle and took a long drink. Edgar hated warm beer and had trouble forcing it down. Sitting it on the counter Edgar left the kitchen to find Paula; hoping she was in bed waiting for him.

              When he made it to the hallway he heard the moans coming from her room. Paula was one of them. He stood outside the bedroom listening to the incessant moaning coming from behind the closed door. Edgar stifled a sob, he had taken too long in getting here. Reaching under his jacket Edgar drew his pistol and reached for the door knob. Could he do this? He had to. Leaving her like this wasn't an option. Slowly opening the door Edgar went into the room.

              Dozens of candles cast a flickering light on the scene that assaulted Edgar's senses. Paula lay back in the bed with her head propped up on several pillows, eyes closed, lips pressed tightly together, a moan of sheer ecstasy escaping them. Her body convulsed as an orgasm racked her body. Edgar watched her breasts as they swayed in rhythm with the sensation that coursed through her. He looked at her legs, knees up, trying repeatedly to come together, stopped by the head of pink hair between them. It was Colleen, the chemist that ran his meth lab, between Paula's legs.

              “What the hell's going on?” he shouted.

              Paula's eyes flew open as she grabbed at the blanket on the bed beside her to cover herself. Colleen just looked back at him and smiled. “What's it look like?” she asked.

              Paula seeing it was only Edgar relaxed, let the blanket drop down across her breasts, and lay back again. “Why aren't you with your wife? I was really hoping we wouldn't have to do this,” she said.

              “Do what?”

              “Can't you figure it out for yourself?” Colleen asked Edgar. “She's been playing you. We've all been playing you.”

              Paula watched as the bewildered look on Edgar's face was replaced by one of anger. “My brothers are going to be here any minute,” she said. “Don't do anything stupid.”

              Edgar slouched. His arms dangled at his side. The anger that had just filled him abated; replaced by the feeling of being the fool. “The whole time?” It wasn't a statement, more a question.

              “Do you really want to do this?” Paula asked.

              Edgar just nodded his head. He didn't want to hear the whole story. He needed to.

              “It was Roy's idea. He saw how much you liked screwing around with them crack whores. He thought maybe you'd like to find something a little more fulfilling. That's where I came in. Man was he ever right. It was too easy,” Paula said, moving down the bed and sitting next to Colleen.

              “She was supposed to play hard to get,” Colleen said, placing an arm around Paula. “I still think you should have waited longer before you fucked him.”

              “My timing was perfect,” Paula said, waving her arm around the room. “Got me all this. Didn't I?”

              “You were all in on this?”

              “Yup. We wanted the money you got stashed away,” Paula said. “Would have got it too. Tell Colleen, you were about to leave your wife weren't you.”

              “Yes.”

              “I told you girl. Had him right there,” Paula said, holding out her hand. “Then this zombie shit happened.”

              Edgar could feel the anger building inside of him. The love he felt for Paula was gone. All that remained was a feeling of shame for what he had done to his wife and children. That and the white hot rage that threatened to burn everyone in this room. He clenched the pistol that he held at his side. His other hand held in a tight fist. His palms sweating. Then he felt an explosion inside of himself. Stepping forward he hit Colleen across the bridge of the nose with the pistol; knocking her back onto the bed.  Paula was too stunned to move before he was able to grab her by the throat and press the gun to her head. Colleen clasped her hands to her ruined nose, blood running between her fingers, and lay on the bed moaning in pain.

              “You two lesbian bitches ready to die?”

              “I ain't no lesbian,” Paula said, as best she could while Edgar had her by the throat. “Let me talk.”

              Edgar lessened his grip on her throat but still held her with the barrel of the gun pressed against her head.

              “When we made love the other day in the bank Edgar it was wonderful. You were so forceful that day. The way you took care of that zombie and that bitch Lisa. Ever since then I've wondered if what we were doing was right. If you would have got here before Colleen I would have left with you. I promise.”

              “You think I'm gonna fall for that?”

              “Those two suitcases by the door are full of crystal meth. My brothers are going to be here any minute. I wasn't lying about that. Let's me and you take the drugs and get out of here before they get here.”

              “I don't need those drugs.”

              “Think about it Edgar. The world is over. We can use the meth to trade for whatever we need.”

              “I've got money.”

              “Money? All that's good for anymore is wiping your ass.”

              “You little bitch,” Colleen said. “What about us?”

              “I just didn't want to be here alone while Roy and Vern were out getting the boys together.”

              “Me and you have been together from the start.”

              “She was just part of their plan Edgar. I told you. I'm not a lesbian.”

              Edgar's resolve in killing both of the women had lessened and the gun was no longer pressed to Paula's head. He still held it but had dropped his hand to the bed. Colleen pushed him away and jumped on Paula. Her hands replaced Edgar's as she sat on Paula's chest, choking the life from her. Edgar backed away from the bed.

              “Get off of her Colleen,” he shouted.

              Colleen didn't stop. “Die you fucking bitch,” she shouted.

              Edgar raised his gun and shot her in the middle of her back. Colleen fell forward across Paula and rolled to the side ending up on her back. Blood oozed from the hole the bullet had made exiting her body between her breasts. She tried to say something but blood bubbled up from her mouth and she stopped moving. Edgar turned his back on the scene and went for the door. Reaching for the knob he heard Paula scream from behind him and ducked down. Something hit him hard in the shoulder and he fell to the ground. She stood over him with a baseball bat.             

              She brought the bat up over her head. “You pathetic piece of shit,” she screamed, and brought it down.

              Edgar rolled to the side and the bat came down hard on the floor beside him. Rolling back into the bat he was able to get one arm around it and stripped it from her grasp. Paula fell on him with her fists; pummeling him with blows to the head, neck, and shoulders. Edgar used the bat and wedged it between them pushing her off with the handle.

              Paula lay on the ground crying. “You stupid fucker. You didn't have to kill her.”

              Blood sprayed the walls of the bedroom. Edgar beat her with the bat until his arms ached. Dropping the bat to the ground Edgar picked his pistol back up from where it fell from his grasp when Paula first hit him with the bat. Edgar went into the front room, got the two suitcases from by the door, and brought them back into the bedroom. Roy and Vern were supposed to be here any minute and he sure wanted to have a talk with them.

              Edgar woke up bathed in sweat. He looked beside him. Colleen's dead eyes stared back at him. Jumping off the bed he went to the window and pulled the curtain back. The mid-day sun greeted him. He looked at his watch and was shocked to see that he had slept through the night and most of the next day. Paula's dead body lay at his feet. His stomach churned when he saw by the light of day just how badly he'd beaten her. She must have brought her arms up in an attempt to shield her head because they both jutted out at unnatural angles. Her head was pretty much gone; having been smashed flat by the repeated blows he had rained down on her.

              One thought possessed him. He had to get back to Jenny and the girls. He still had a life with them. All he needed was a good story to tell Jenny. The nursing home was overrun when he got there. Ever since then he's been trying to stay one step ahead of the zombie horde that's been chasing him. Edgar grabbed the suitcases and ran from the room. Now that he had a plan he was ready to get out of here. To hell with Roy and Vern. They were probably dead already and if not, let them try to figure out what had happened here. He was going home.

              He took the suitcases full of drugs and threw them in the trunk of his car. Something else for Roy and Vern to figure out. He drove to the entrance of the apartment complex but had to stop. Thousands of zombies made their way down the street in front of him. He backed away from the road barely avoiding being trapped by the hundreds of the undead that came after him. There was a back entrance. He would have to try going that way. If they were out there too he would try to make it back to Paula's apartment and wait it out there. Hopefully zombies couldn't do steps. If they could he was screwed.

              The back exit was clear for the most part. There were a few strays in the road but he drove around them or over them; whichever was easiest. Edgar was relieved to see the roads weren't as bad as yesterday. Most of the zombies in town were probably traveling with that horde Edgar had seen earlier. There were still lots of cars blocking the streets and he found himself backtracking quite a lot. A trip that would normally have taken fifteen minutes turned into a two hour ordeal.

              He finally came to his street but was unable to get down it. The horde was making it's way toward his house. Edgar tried every side street he could to get to his house. Every street he tried was  blocked. He even got to where he could see his house from the road but couldn't get there because it was on the other side of the street. He was relieved to see the house was safe so far. The horde hadn't made it's way down the long driveway. After watching for an hour or so it started getting dark and exhaustion took over as he fell asleep.

              In the middle of the night he awoke to the sound of someone knocking at the door. Who would be out at this time of night he wondered? As he drifted in and out of sleep the knocking got more insistent. Finally deciding to get up and answer the door he pried his eyes open. He looked to his left and saw a horribly disfigured face staring in the window at him. The creature pounded on the window trying to get at him. Edgar came fully awake in a flash and remembered where he was. Starting the car he drove away. His street was still blocked by the horde so he decided to get further away from his house and try again in the morning.

              The next morning Edgar woke up early. He was about two miles from his house sitting at the end of a dead end street. Worried that the horde had got to his family in the night Edgar drove as fast as he could trying to get there. His street was finally clear. The zombies were gone and so were the cars that had been abandoned along the street. He was wondering where all the cars had gone, not thinking about the road, when a zombie stepped out in front of him. He was going over fifty miles an hour when he hit it. Black zombie blood exploded everywhere coating his windshield. The car careened out of control and Edgar crashed headlong into a tree.

              When he finally came to the horn was blaring. Edgar pushed his door open and fell out of the car. Laying on the ground trying to regain his senses Edgar heard footsteps. Then he heard the moaning. Dozens of zombies were converging on him. Getting to his feet he got his pistol out and aimed at the closest boy. When he pulled the trigger nothing happened. The gun was empty. Throwing the useless weapon at the zombie Edgar started to run. His entire body ached from the combination of sleeping in his car and the wreck he'd just had. Thank god the zombies were slow. All he had to do was keep moving and he would be able to out distance them.

              He wasn't moving very fast but felt confident he would be fine. Looking over his shoulder he could see he'd already been able to put a little distance between him and the undead. Then he heard the distinct sound of running behind him. He risked a glance back. Three zombies had broken away from the pack and were running after him. Picking up the pace he was able to stay in front of them. There was only a quarter mile to go. He had to push harder. All those years sitting behind a desk were working against Edgar. His lungs felt like they would explode and his calf muscles felt like they were on fire. He wasn't going to make it and if he did all he would be doing is bringing the horde to his house.