The Beginning (4 page)
Authors: Mark Lansing
“Like what? We’ve got some old bits of chip board in the garage downstairs we could use to board up the door.” Col
lin stroked the end of his salt and pepper beard.
“That’ll only hold them back for a while. Their sense of smell is ridiculous.” Kelly fidgeted with her hair and flashed a look towards Mollie’s stationary figure. “We need to cover our smell.”
“With what?”
“The only thing I saw work when I was in the city was a dead infected. Petrol, paint or chemicals don’t cover us. But when the infected die, they seem to rapidly digest themselves. It gives off such an awful smell.” Kelly swallowed hard, as if forcing dow
n a rising glob of sick.
With a surprising taint of venom in his voice, Collin roared: “You’re not touching her. She might not even be infected. She is just... sick.” Collin looked to Martin for help, but even he was unsure.
Martin walked towards the window and stared out at the fields below, in the distance the barn cast a long shadow as the sun got lower. “I shot one of them from the bunker. From in the bunker.” Martin glanced curiously at Collin. “I’m not sure what with though.”
“.50 Cal mounted turret.
”
Kelly’s eyes grew wide at that answer. “Wow.”
“But she isn’t dead. When I made my way over here she was crawling across the ground. But if we can get to her, we could use her.”
Kelly stood and Duke bolted up as well, eyes focused on Kelly. “Okay, let’s
go. It’ll be dark soon and believe me, you don’t want to be stuck out there out night.”
**
Martin and Kelly stood at the threshold of the house, looking out onto the field.
Duke was sniffing around the hallway, taking a particular
interest in the broken picture frame. Collin had given them his old hunting rifle and a few rounds which Martin had taken. Kelly had the cleaver in one hand and the Duke’s lead in the other.
Kelly squinted into the distance, craning her head forward slightly. “Where is she?”
“Over there somewhere, she was still moving when I left her a few hours ago.” Martin pointed vaguely towards the left side of the field.
“Duke should be able to sniff her out. When he starts going crazy, you’ll know she is near. Let’s hope there aren’t any more of them out there.”
They walked out the door and crossed the porch in three quick steps. Duke padded alongside them, ears pricked up and tail low.
“How have you been then?” Kelly tried to fill the silence that surrounded them, she’d always hated awkward silences.
Martin was looking ahead for any signs of movement, the gun was slung over his shoulder loosely. He took a second to consider his answer, lie or be honest. Honesty. “Shitty to be honest,
Kel. That’s why I came back here. I lost my job on the force and then Karen left me.” Martin hesitated, he didn’t want to tell her he’d start drinking again.
Kelly forced out a smile. “Well, none of that matters at the moment. Until they find a cure, the only thing is survival.”
They’d been walking for a couple minutes now without seeing anything, then Martin stopped abruptly, gazing into the distance.
Kelly leaned in close to Martin and dropped her voice to a whisper. “What is it? What do you see?”
Martin put a finger to his lips and then pointed to a rock on the floor about 20 metres in front of them. Then it moved, and Kelly realised it wasn’t a rock at all, but a very slow moving woman.
Duke let out a low growl and lowered himself to the ground, his snout level with his haunches
.
The women was crawling away from them, dragging her body along and oblivious to them behind her. Martin drew up his hunting rifle and rested the butt in his shoulder, aiming at the gradually moving woman’s head. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Out of the corner of his vision a hand rose up sharply and pushed down on the barrel of the gun. Kelly mouthed no and handed Martin Duke’s lead, then, cleaver in hand, started to quietly creep towards the woman.
**
Collin paced the room restlessly.
The
only sound in the room was Mollie’s deep breathing. His Mollie. The love of his life.
He’d checked under the bandage over an hour ago and it hadn’t looked good. The blood around and in the cut had turned black, the veins around the bite-mark were raised a
nd shockingly violet.
He looked out of the window, plunged his hands into his pockets and watched his son and Kelly cross the field. Behind him, Mollie’s eyes opened.
Crunch.
The nurse whirled around at the sound of Kelly’s foot breaking a branch and let out a high pitched shriek. She began dragging herself along the ground with new found vigour.
The nurse’s awkward movement reminded Martin of a documentary on the Discovery Channel about the Komodo dragon. The commentator had said that despit
e its awkward gait the Komodo dragon was deceptively quick and was able to reach speeds of 12 mph.
It seemed the woman had some Komodo dragon blood in her as she was soon racing towards Kelly.
Kelly didn’t hesitate and plunged the cleaver into the forehead of the woman in one motion. The woman went limp immediately and had the image of clinging onto Kelly’s cleaver, almost like a puppet.
Kelly pulled the cleaver out. “Right, you grab her under the arms.”
“Wow, wow, wow. What the hell just happened? Kelly Aldrich. The girl who was pissed when she broke a nail, now stabs people in the head like it’s an ordinary cheerleading move or something?”
Kelly let out a low chuckle. “You guys out here really have no id
ea do you? These fuckers will kill you.
It’s you or them. Now, let’s go. It’s getting dark.”
Martin looked down at Duke and gave his lead a tug as he started walking towards the woman’s body.
“She’s scary isn’t she, boy? Hold Duke while I pick her up.” Martin flung the lead towards Kelly before she could react.
“NO!”
But it was too late. Duke was already running.
Followed closely by Kelly, sprinting off towards the forest.
**
“He’s got to be the worst behaved dog ever.” Martin mumbled.
“Wait. Listen.”
They both stood still and listened. To the left of them came a faint scratching sound and then the unmistakable whimper of Duke. Kelly pressed her finger to her lips and then began slowly walking towards the sound.
They came to the edge of an opening and ca
ught sight of Duke. He was scratching at the bottom of a tree looking up towards something in one of the branches. As Martin and Kelly entered the opening it became apparent what had fixed Duke’s attention.
“Oh Jesus Duke. A squirrel? Really? Don’t you kn
ow what’s out here?” Kelly crouched and wrapped both her arms around the dog. “Don’t you ever do that again. I thought I’d lost you buddy.”
Martin glanced up at the orangey sky through the upper canopy. “The sun is setting.”
Kelly grimaced and stood up. “We’ve got to hurry.”
Kelly bent over and reattached Duke’s lead to his collar. She wrapped her end of the lead around her hand once, then after shooting a look at Martin, wrapped it around her hand again.
“Let’s go pick up the nurse before it gets too dark.”
They retraced their steps out of the forest and crossed the field quickly in a hurried walk.
The daylight gradually decreased and the night crept in all around them as they approached the spot where they’d left the woman’s body.
Martin let out an inv
oluntary gasp. “What the-“
“What is it?” Kelly fired back, not bothering to stop.
“Something.. gooey.” He peered down at his feet and squinted his eyes. “Oh god, its blood.”
Kelly’s eyes darted across the floor. “This is where the nurse was. Where’s the
body?”
“Maybe they just disappear when they die?”
“No. They just sit there and rot. The smell is..” Kelly’s voice trailed off and she shuddered.
“She’s gone then. Now what?” Martin started to pace.
“We won’t survive the night without something to cover our smell.”
Kelly and Martin were looking towards the house in the distance, silhouetted in the last shades of daylight. Something suddenly became apparent to them both.
“None of the lights are on.”
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Other “Bunker Z” Series Books
Bunker Z: Dawn of the
Droners
(Excerpt below)
Bunker Z: Subnation (Coming Early February)
Excerpt from
Bunker Z: Dawn of the Droners
Martin and Kelly saw lone
infected, some stalking darkness with fierce aggression, others—perhaps further along in the virus-cycle (or recently fed)—barely moved, occasionally walked full-on into walls, trees, even one another. A few sat gazing blankly in neatly mown front yards, not reacting to the splash of the SUV's lights.
Martin killed the headlamps, wishing they hadn't been necessary, but with practically the entire grid down...well, he hadn't experienced this degree of darkness since a vacation years ago in the Sonoran Desert. It seemed like decades ago; another world.
"Here's Vine," he said. "I know you don't need me to remind you, but—"
"This pistol is now part of my hand."
"Okay. Good."
He tapped the brakes, tail-lights redly flaring against black buildings. Too bad
those
weren't disconnected.
The tires hummed over the old brick street, and Martin dreaded the noise. Right now he didn't want to attract
any
attention. "We're gonna be getting out in less than five minutes. Sure wish I'd thought to toss a few bottled waters into the front here...I'm dehydrating. What about you, Kelly?"
She ran a hand through her hair. "Hell yes I'm thirsty, and from the way Duke's panting back there he's probably feeling the same way. He's not growling or thrashing around, and I know he should be."
"It's possible he can't pick up their reek in here, with our body odors and all the plastic and rubber shit this thing is built from."
"That could be, but he's
gotta be really thirsty and hungry—fuck! How are we gonna lug our supplies into the bakery? They'll slow us down
way
too much, we can't—"
"You're right," Martin cut in, "we
can't.
Too big of a risk. We're carrying guns and nothing more. We just have to bank on their good-neighbors policy, right?"
Kelly said nothing.
Martin's breathing quickened. He clenched his jaw. "Here's the alley..."
He coasted as far as possible before hitting the brakes, tires crunching dead leaves, and finally stopped. Kelly did her best to scan all around, but in this dark... "What's the plan, boss?"
A rush of panic chilled Martin—he had to swallow a few deep breaths. "Sorry, sorry... Trying not to flip out."
Kelly squeezed his hand. "You and me, Marty...and Duke. The unholy trinity, baby."
Martin faced her. "Now I know why I used to love you..."
Kelly's heart jumped—she absolutely couldn't deal with
feelings
. "Marty, let's get this over with."
"Yeah. We sit here much longer we're doomed. I'll get out first. You get a good grip on Duke's lead, and stuff the flashlight into one of your cargo pockets—switched on and pointing up. There're napkins in the glove compartment...shove a wad of '
em down to brace the light. You won't be able to guide Duke, control your gun, and hold the flashlight at the same time."
"I'm fucking scared, Marty!"
"Me too! But I'll need both hands with the rifle, and it's the only weapon that can take out any shooter who goes hostile on us. It's virtually impossible to hit anything with the Browning more than fifty or sixty feet away—especially in the dark. We try and blind anyone with the flashlight, they'll read that as hostile and blast us. We just need them to see
it
in order to see
us."
"I understand." She opened the glove compartment, and pulled out a ragged stack of McDonald's napkins—
thanks again, Colin...
Ready now, Martin opened the door, slid the rifle off the dash, and stepped onto the road.
Kelly had the flashlight glowing from her pocket, opened her door and jumped out quickly. In a few seconds she had Duke out too, and the doors shut. "Leave it unlocked," she said.
"You know it—we might end up running back here, depending on our hosts' mood."
"What if they think the infected are smart enough to mimic the living—as in, 'use a flashlight'?
Martin scanned all around, jaw tight with tension. "Kelly, don't ask me a question like that."
"Sorry."
"Follow me. Hopefully Duke will respond to any threat we might miss."
"Yeah. Hopefully."
They moved efficiently, briskly, toward the alley Martin spoke of earlier. A service lane, actually, lined with Dumpsters used by the few cafes, small businesses, and specialty shops on Aspen Street—the main route through town. The alley opened onto the south face of
Robinships Bakery, and the employee parking lot. Martin figured this the "safest" approach, as it had the least number of windows where shooters might perch.
A brutal cry stabbed the night.
"Christ,"
Martin hissed, "that was close—gotta be someone, or some
thing,
in the parking lot..."
A gunshot.
"I saw muzzle-flash," Kelly whispered. "It came from the bakery roof."
"Yeah—I caught that too. Let's be real fucking careful when we get to the end of the alley. We might be facing a sniper with a night-scope."
"That ain't so good..."
"What is?"
Halfway along now. Kelly trembled, more from fear than the chilly dark. Duke pulled ahead. "Hey!"
A tall figure shambled out from behind a Dumpster.
Martin froze. "Fuck!"
He'd been focused on the bakery roof.
Duke jumped ahead, raging like a wolf. "No!" cried Kelly.
The figure halted, raised its arms as if preparing to tangle with the dog. A wave of rancid rot washed over Martin.
"Kelly..."
An instant before Duke collided with the attacker, Kelly fired once—Duke immediately stopped,
tucked his tail submissively between his legs.
"I hit him," Kelly said. "I
hit
him—just a freakish lucky shot!"
They stepped closer, Martin turning a slow circle with the rifle. The flashlight standing in Kelly's pocket provided a dim glow, and she stepped back. "Shit
shit shit! He's not one of them, he's—"
"Shut up...we don't know that."
"Fucking
look."
The tall man lay stretched, as if imitating Superman in flight, a black watch cap torn and bloody from the bullet. His unshaven face looked normal, just another guy lurking in a darkened alley during mass chaos and horror...
"Cover us. Get hold of Duke before he takes off."
Automatic weapons-fire raped the quiet—Duke slammed into Kelly.
"Hey
buddy...hey..."
Martin crouched, laid the rifle down. "He smells awful, like road-kill and cigarette smoke."
Shoveling his hands under the corpse, Martin turned him over. "Keep covering us. Don't worry about this guy...he's got an inflamed, well-defined bite above his right kidney—one of
them...
or was soon to be."
Gun on point with the alley's end, Kelly simply sighed.
"You did him a favor, Kelly..."
"Good. Hope he stays that way and doesn't track me down to
return
it."
Martin grabbed the rifle and stood. "From what I'm hearing, whoever's sniping is shooting toward Aspen Street—the bakery's front face. We might have made a good choice going in this way. But that doesn't mean they won't have guards posted all around the perimeter."
"We'll find out..."
"Yeah." Martin stepped closer and embraced her. "You're really something...just wanted you to know that."
"So are you, Marty. Now let's keep it that way."
Kelly wound in Duke's lead, allowing him only three feet of slack. Guns forward, they moved toward the alley's end.
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