Day Beyond the Dead (Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter 2

     The very next morning the snow had stopped falling. This little fact made Christa’s heart leap because she knew what that had meant. She was headed out for Morgantown and Gerard was coming with her. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Gerard being there and it wasn’t like that fact took precedent over the fact the world was pretty much ending, but if it was ending would she really want to spend her last days with Gerard? That’s a question she had not really asked herself since the moment she saw him in the fetal position on her floor, especially since prior that day she was burning his pictures.

     This whole situation was one she rather not have been in but she was determined to make the best of it. She knew a truce with Gerard at this point was better for Bree’s sake and for hers. Besides, Gerard knew more about the current situation than she had and that was a definite benefit. Although deep down inside Christa wondered if this still wasn’t some kind of cruel joke Gerard was playing with her. In a way, she had hoped it was.

     They gathered the essentials and headed out to Christa’s SUV. She put the supplies in back while Gerard gathered up a few more odds and ends. As they both sat in the vehicle Christa bolted out the door and back into the cabin. Gerard watched anxiously and opened up the door to the vehicle to step out in case she needed him. Moments later he saw Christa reappear with what looked like a stuffed animal in her arms.

     She opened the door to her SUV and sat down. “For Bree. It’s her favorite.” She tossed the pink bear in the back seat, buckled up and headed down the long drive way. She took one last look at the cabin in her rear view mirror hoping she would see it again.

     The roads down the mountain were extremely slick, especially due to the fact there was no one to clear it off which made the start of the journey very challenging. Christa was no stranger to snowy roads. She grew up in West Virginia, but that didn’t stop Gerard from voicing his opinions the whole way down about how she should drive. He sounded like a nagging wife. She had entertained the idea of opening the door and booting him out as she kept driving on.

     They had finally reached the outskirts of Buckhannon. It was a small town of around five thousand five hundred residents. The biggest attraction was the super Wal-mart where everyone went to shop for pretty much everything. As they approached the highway it was devoid of any traffic, which wasn’t too unusual for the weather.

     As they got more into the populated areas of town it got eerily silent. There wasn’t a person in sight anywhere. The scene, however, looked chaotic as if a riot had taken place and had gotten out of control. There was trash strewn about as well as decaying old meat by the smell of it.

     “What in the hell happened here? Where is everyone? It’s as if they just disappeared.”

     “Don’t be fooled Christa. No one just disappeared, but you will have wished they had unfortunately.”

     Christa stopped in the middle of the street with her car running and slowly opened her door.

     “What are you doing?! Christa get back in the car! You don’t realize just how dangerous it is here. Please, for the love of God, get in the car!”

     “Please Gerard. No one is around and I just want to see something really fast. I’m only going to walk near that car and then straight back I promise. Okay.” Christa started walking over to the discarded trash and meat lying next to the car. She had a curiosity in the back of her mind and she couldn’t help but to satiate that curiosity. As she got closer to the car she let out a scream and ran back towards the vehicle. As she got near the vehicle she noticed movement from the right side of her peripheral vision. She paused perplexed by what she saw. A man with his face half off walking towards her slow yet intently.

     “Christa! Get in the car now!” Gerard jumps out of the still running SUV and pushes Christa in the passenger side of the vehicle and runs around to the driver’s side. Pressing on the gas Gerard drives off in the direction of Christa’s mother’s house which is just out of town.

     Tears began streaming down Christa’s face as she kept looking backwards at the still walking corpse. “Who….’what’ was that? I thought…I thought that was just meat by the car but something told me to check. It was flesh Gerard! It was the severely rotted remains of a person! What is going on?! I can’t …I can’t-“

     “Christa! You have to get a hold of yourself! I know this is all a bit much to take in but you have to get a grip! This is one time in your life you can’t afford to lose it. Bree needs you and you won’t help her if you can’t help yourself.”

     Through teary eyes Christa looks at Gerard and gives a nod as she wipes away the tears. She knew he was right. The world may be falling apart around her but she couldn’t afford to fall apart with it.

     “We will head to your mother’s house to see if anyone is there and then we’ll make raids for provisions. Okay?” As they got further out of town they came to the road in which Christa’s mom lived on. They traveled slowly to make sure they wouldn’t get hung up anywhere. The closer they got to her house the more knots that appeared in Christa’s stomach. She could see it from a distance. She could make out the porch where she would play on as a child. It was strange seeing it now. Usually when she saw this house it gave her a sense of peace and security, but today it was anything but.

      The car came to a stop and Gerard turned off the ignition and looked over at Christa. “Please, stay in the car. I don’t want you to see anything if there is indeed anything to see inside there. Once you see something you can’t unsee it. I don’t want that image in your head.”

     Gerard got out of the vehicle and walked towards the front door, grabbing the shovel that was resting on the side of the railing of the front porch stairs. He approached the door, turned the knob and disappeared inside. Christa’s heart raced and her stomach turned. It was like a bad movie playing out in front of her eyes only she wasn’t sure of the setting inside and that fact got to her.

     The minutes felt like hours as there no sign of Gerard, but then she saw him come outside on the porch with shovel by his side and his head down. He looked up at her and motioned her in. She got out of the vehicle and ran over to him. He opened the door and on the couch laying under a mound of covers was her mother. She ran over to her side and embraced her.

     “Mom! I’m so happy to see you are okay. Where’s sis?” Christa could tell by her mother’s demeanor that she was dead. Suddenly she heard a thud near the back of the house and she turned her head immediately in the direction of the noise. She glanced up at Gerard and his sympathetic look filled her with confusion. She then turned her attention to her mother and she knew that noise was her sister. “She’s back there isn’t she. When did it happen mom? When!”

     She went into town to go to work and the clinic was filling up with people who had these intense flu-like symptoms and one of them bit her. That was just before the situation spiraled out of control here. She fell ill and I found her dead in her bed the next morning. As I went to leave the room she woke up and came after me. It was all I could do to close the door in time and she’s been there ever since. Eventually I got really low on food and the gas ran out. Then I got really sick. I can feel the pneumonia in my chest Christa. I’m so weak.” Her words ended there due to the coughing fit that ensued.

     “You sound awful mom. We need to get you out of here. We can get you some med-“

     “I’m not going anywhere.”

     “What? What do you mean you’re not going anywhere? That’s nonsense mom. Come on let’s go. Get your stuff.” Christa got up and took a cover off of her mother.

     “No Christa. I love you with all my heart and I am beyond glad that I made it long enough to see you one last time but I’m in no shape to go anywhere. I’d be dead before you got to the end of the road and you know this. I can feel myself dying.”

     “Stop it! Stop talking like that mom. You’ll be fine but we have to go now.”

     Christa’s mother just gave a smile and touched the side of Christa’s face. She looked over at Gerard, “Please take care of her Gerard, her and my grandbaby.” She turns her attention back to Christa. “I didn’t tell you yet but I heard from Daimon and Bree. They called here trying to get a hold of you. Last I heard he was stuck in his apartment in Morgantown. That was about two weeks ago before the telephone stopped working. I don’t know how much longer they can hold out up there in that city so you better hurry. Bree needs you. She needs her mommy.”

     “I need mine too.” A tear rolled down Christa’s cheek as she pleaded with her mother.

     “I’ll always be with you. You can’t get rid of me that easily. Now please Christa go get my grandbaby.” She gives a look to Gerard as if pleading with him to take Christa because she wouldn’t leave on her own. Gerard goes over to Christa and pulls her to her feet and grabs her arm pulling her towards the door.

     “Come on Christa. Listen to your mother. We have to go get Bree.” Christa let Gerard slowly pull her to the door while she kept eye contact with her mother the whole time. Pausing at the door she Christa and her mother exchanged I love yous and she made her way reluctantly to the vehicle where she couldn’t help but shed a few tears.

     It was hard for her to drive away knowing the fate that awaited her mother. She couldn’t help but to watch in the rear view mirror until the house was out of sight. That part of her life was in the past and as she took the last glimpse of the house she grew up in, she felt that fact more than ever. Once they got to the end of the road Christa couldn’t help but think about what her mother said about not being alive by the end of it. She shook that thought from her mind. She didn’t want the last thought about her mother to be that one.

     “Christa, I know you don’t want to hear it now but I love you.”

     She quickly composed herself and wiped the tears from her eyes, “You are right Gerard, I don’t want to hear it.” She couldn’t help but be a bit callous towards him, even now. At this point they were both relying on one another for preservation purposes.

     Gerard looked over at Christa and she could tell he was about to say something. “Please don’t. Not now.”

     “What?”

     “I can tell by the look on your face you wanna say something.” Christa watched out the window at the passing scenery. She could tell they were heading for the Super Wal-Mart a few miles away. She knew they needed provisions and hoped this trip would prove fruitful.

     “Christa, we haven’t spoken about that day. We need to talk about it.”

     Christa turned to look at Gerard and it was obvious by her scowl she was not enjoying this at all. “No, we
don’t
need to talk about it because there is nothing to talk about. I think seeing your tongue down Becca’s throat was enough for me. Don’t you? Now please, drop it.”

     “That was a one-time thing and it was a big mistake. I wish I never-“

     “Yeah well I’m glad it happened. It showed me exactly the type of person you are.”

     “What type is that? The type that would come save you when-“

     “You didn’t
save
me Gerard, please don’t get this twisted. You broke into my cabin and I decided to let you stay and then take you with me. That is all. So please don’t act like I owe you something. I don’t owe you anything.”

     Gerard lets out a sigh, “You’re right. You are absolutely right. I’m sorry Christa. I truly am and whether you believe me or not, hurting you was the worst thing I ever did. I can’t live with myself and I’ve never lov-“

     “Please don’t-“

     “Christa stop interrupting me. I don’t want to die without saying what I feel. Please?” Christa held her tongue and let him speak.

     “Like I was saying, I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you and if there is one thing in my life I could take back it would be that moment. She came over to see you, or so she said, and she cornered me in the bathroom. I know I gave in to temptation and I regret it every day. I don’t expect us to get back together but I wanted you to know that there’s not a moment that goes by I don’t pay for what I did. I truly am sorry and it ruined the one thing in my life I wanted the most. You.”

     Christa didn’t want to hear an apology, but on some level it did resolve some things in her own mind. She looked at Gerard without saying one word as if to say I hear you and then turns to stare back out the window. She had nothing left for him.

Chapter 3

     The parking lot of the Wal-mart looked like a tornado had went straight through it. There was carnage everywhere you looked. The stench of dead bodies as well as scattered items from inside the Wal-mart were strewn about.

     Christa and Gerard stepped out of the vehicle with their hands clutching their faces due to the horrendous smell in the air. They had parked as close to the entrance as possibly for easy loading of whatever they might find inside. As they walked through the busted doors they could tell it was only half lit inside the store, which made the situation all the more dangerous.

     “Stay close to me. I can’t see anything moving from here but that doesn’t mean much.” Christa got closer to Gerard as they entered the store stepping over a few bodies and trash. There was blood smeared on the floor which gave Christa a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

     Gerard bent down and grabbed a bar that appeared to have come off of a close rack. Christa’s first thought was too head to the hunting section to see what weapons were left that she could possibly utilize. While she wanted to stay with Gerard she couldn’t help but think if they split up they could possibly make this trip go faster.

     “Listen, you go check the food section out while I check out the hunting section. Don’t forget to take a buggy with you.”
     “Christa I don’t think that’s such a great idea. What if something happens? I’ll be too far away to help in time.”

     “Well then I’ll just make sure not to get myself into trouble. Don’t forget to stay out of trouble yourself. Besides if we split up we can hurry up and be done with this. I don’t wanna be in here any longer than I have to. This place creeps me out.”

     Gerard reluctantly agrees to split up. He hands her the metal bar and watches as she walks in the opposite direction and disappears around the corner. He can’t help but wonder if he did the right thing because the nervous feeling that is taking over his body is screaming that he didn’t.

     Christa looked down the long dark aisle that was met by various other aisles that stemmed from this one. She paused contemplating the possibilities and none of them were good which gave her tremendous pause. She took a few steps forward and gave a quick glance up and down the connecting aisles. She started to rethink the whole let’s split up scenario.

     She could see part of the hunting section ten rows down. She made it through one set of aisles and went on the next. Each aisle was darker than the last. She noticed the aisle where the flashlights were and made the decision to go down it to retrieve a flashlight. Her feet hitting various objects beneath her that she had to work her way around but luckily did not move. Although she couldn’t help but wonder what it was she was stepping over.

     She finally reached the section of the aisle where the flashlights were and proceeded to grab one. She could tell it is where they were because a few glimpses of light shown through various vents in the ceiling. She opened the flashlight that had the batteries with it and put the batteries in and turned on the flashlight.

     As the flashlight illuminated the space in front of Christa it also illuminated the man in front of her with his face half off that lunged for her with mouth wide open. She let out a scream as she backed up immediately and turned to run back the way she had just come from. It was then she had finally realized what she had been stepping over. Dead bodies. They were everywhere and as she tried to quickly make her way through them another undead corpse walked from around the corner. She was caught between two walking corpses. Christa looked for a way around frantically and decided to try and run past the one on the end. She had noticed they moved rather slowly.

     She bolted for the end cap but as she went to pass the decayed man he grabbed her shirt which threw her off balance and she landed on her back on top of a pile of corpses. Screaming she pulled her legs back and started kicking the undead grabbing at her legs with the other one vastly approaching. Christa was running out of options at this point. She jumped up after her last kick and started to climb the shelves.

     As she reached the top she felt a hand grab onto her ankle pulling her down. As she looked back she could see the other undead reaching out to grab onto her as well. She felt the other hand grab onto her as her grip was slipping. She started to kick with her other leg but could feel the shelf leaning from all the weight pulling down on her. As her grip was slipping a hand from the other side of the aisle grabbed onto hers and started pulling. It was a face she had never seen before.

     “I got you. Come on.”

     Christa could feel the hands on her ankle lose their grip. She fell on top of the stranger that had just helped her and then quickly got to her feet. He held her hand and pulled her to the opposite end of the aisle where she had come from.

     “Come with me. This way.” They ran past the aisle where she had just gotten attacked and hid behind the glass counter in the hunting section. “Hi, my name is Darren. I can’t believe there is actually still some weapons here. I came in to hopefully find something but really didn’t put much faith into it. Then I realized I wasn’t alone as you have noticed yourself from your close encounter in the flashlight aisle.”

     “I’m Christa. Thank you so much for saving my life by the way. I really thought that was it for me.”

     “Are you alone?”

     “I have one other person with me. Gerard.”

     “Your boyfriend?”

     “No, not my boyfriend.”

     “Oh, well let’s get what we can before our friends find us shall we.”

     Christa and Darren grabbed shotgun shells and loaded them into a nearby bag, as well as knives. There was only a few knives in the case the rest had been cleared out some time ago. They had acquired two shotguns by mere chance. One was found under the countertop, obviously kicked there in the midst of a commotion and the other oddly enough was still attached to the wall in the glass case.

     As they finished packing the bag the two walking corpses from Christa’s previous encounter had finally made their way to their position. Darren loaded a shotgun and began to aim it at them as Christa abruptly stopped him.

     “Don’t. Let’s handle this quietly.”

     Darren looked at her in disbelief, “What? Are you crazy?”

     “Haven’t you ever watched a zombie movie or at least The Walking Dead? Sound is supposed to attract these things. I don’t really want more. Hell I don’t even want two.” As soon as the words came from her mouth Christa just couldn’t believe it. Zombies. The Walking Dead. These are things she never thought she would use in a conversation in all seriousness.

     “We are not exactly pros here either. Do we want to take that chance?”

     “Do we want to take the chance we attract more?”

     Christa pulls a knife out of the bag and shoves it with all her force into the temple of the first corpse that approached her. She was surprised at how little force she had to put behind her thrust to make sure it went through. She had never stabbed someone before but she was pretty sure the fact that the flesh was decaying had a lot to do with how easily it penetrated.

     As she pulled the knife out to stab the other one Darren blew past her and shoved a knife straight through its eye. She watched as it fell to the floor. They stood there in silence realizing what had just happened.

     Christa broke the silence, “This is like a really bad movie. 

     “Yeah, too bad we can’t turn the channel.” They shared an awkward laugh.

     Footsteps were quickly approaching which startled both Christa and Darren. Darren pointed his loaded shotgun in the direction of the noise.

     “Christa! Are you okay??”

     “Stop! It’s Gerard!”

     Gerard stood there bewildered at the sight of this new individual with Christa. “Are you okay,” he asked as he kept staring at Darren.

     “Yes Gerard, I’m fine. This is Darren. He actually helped me when I got jumped by two……zombies.” She couldn’t believe she said that word in all seriousness. It sounded so strange to her to have heard it out loud and from her mouth no less. “Um, Darren, you can stop pointing the shotgun at him now. It’s ok.”

     “Oh, I’m sorry. My nerves are all over the place.”

     “Well that makes me feel better considering you still have it pointed at me.” Darren quickly lowered the shotgun.

     “We found two shotguns, shells and knives. That’s better than nothing. Did you find any food?”

     Gerard looked at Christa with concern, “I did, but I left it to come help you as soon as I heard you scream. I knew we shouldn’t have split up. I really thought you were gone, especially when you didn’t scream anymore.” Christa could tell Gerard was really shook up. She couldn’t help but go up to him and rub the side of his arm.

     “I’m fine. Well I’m fine thanks to Darren.” Darren nodded and gave a half-smile. “Well let’s go get the food you accumulated. The sooner we get out of here the better. This place gives me the creeps.”

     Gerard gave her a look, “What? Everyone loves Wal-mart. Where else can you get clothes, food, shotgun and matching towels?” Christa just rolled her eyes.

     They all proceeded to walk towards the grocery section to get supplies for their trip. When Gerard looks at Darren and let’s his curiosities be known, “So Darren, I don’t recall ever seeing you around Buckhannon before.”

     “Yeah I suppose you wouldn’t have because I’m from Elkins. I was headed to Morgantown when I stopped here. The only reason I did is because it was right beside the highway which made for a quick in-and-out or else I wouldn’t have. I have a sister who goes to school up there at the University and I haven’t heard from her in a week. I got really worried and made the decision to check on her.”

     Christa couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when she heard Darren say he was headed to Morgantown as well. She thought to herself what dumb luck running into someone who was headed in the same direction as they were.

     “We’re headed up to Morgantown too. My daughter is up there with her father. No one has heard from them for a while either so we’re headed there to get my daughter.”

     “We should go together since we’re both headed there. There’s safety in numbers and I think pulling you to safety a few ago just proved that.” Darren had a point. If two was better than one then three was definitely better than two.

     They got to the food section when Gerard stopped with a look of confusion on his face. He started looking around as if he was looking for something. Christa couldn’t help but inquire, “What’s wrong?”

     Gerard looks at her, “It’s gone. It was right here. I know it.”

     “What’s gone?”

     “The buggy that I sat right here. I already had some groceries in it but it’s gone.” That was extremely odd Christa thought. Why would a buggy come up missing in the middle of a store filled with nothing but corpses? Christa immediately looked up in fear as it hit her all at once. They weren’t the only ones in the store. Her eyes frantically searched for signs of life.

     “Let’s get out of here NOW,” the urgency in Christa’s voice was more than evident.

     “Yes, let’s.” The blade felt cold against her neck. “Hand over the keys to your vehicles now. The faster you do the better her life expectancy looks, you understand? Good.” Gerard and Darren slowly take out their car keys and slide them over to the stranger holding a knife to Christa’s neck. He slowly bends down with Christa in tow and tells her to pick up the keys, which she does. “The buggy of groceries are near the front door. Head to the front door, I’ll follow behind you and then you’ll load the groceries into your car. Move it.”

     Slowly they make their way to the entrance and the stranger motions Gerard and Darren to start loading Christa’s SUV. They load the groceries in the back of the SUV and turn to the stranger. Gerard can’t contain his anxiousness, “Ok, we did what you told us to now let her go.”

     “You must be confused because as I recall I am the one giving the orders around here. I don’t’ think you want to try my patience. I tend to get a little shaky with my hands when someone tries my patience.” The man holds the knife tight against Christa’s neck which causes her to tilt her head back to get relief from the blade.

     “Stop, stop! Ok, ok! Just please don’t hurt her.” Gerard could see the fear in Christa’s eye and it killed him he was helpless to do anything about it.

     “Ok, back away from the vehicle and keep going until I say stop.”

     Gerard and Darren just looked at each other and then started backing up. The stranger headed for the driver’s side of the SUV and forced Christa in and as soon as Gerard saw this he started running for the SUV.

     “Christa! Christa! No!” Gerard ran after the SUV as it pulled away, but he couldn’t keep up. He tripped and fell due to the icy roads, but watched just enough to notice that as the stranger drove off he took his knife and plunged it into Christa’s chest.

    Gerard stopped dead in his tracks and fell to his knees. He couldn’t believe what he just witnessed. Sitting there with a blank look on his face as the shock sends him reeling, he could feel the tears building up, but he also felt this inner struggle. It was a struggle between sadness and extreme anger. He couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. Darren came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.