Infestation Chicago: A Zombie Survival Series (Volume 2) (9 page)

Chapter 10 – The
Chicago Way

The large door slammed behind Holiday as they entered the house. It used to be a small bookstore before everything happened, but without any shelves in it, and only a small round table surrounded by four chairs. Destiny and Father Martin turned around shocked by the loud sound.

“Holiday!” Destiny shouted with surprise as she ran up to them. “Sam!” Destiny was relieved to see them both alive. “I thought the Corporal killed you! Is David also O.K.?” She asked
, her eyes wide with hope. Holiday and Sam both shook their heads solemnly. “No!!!!.” Destiny sobbed.

Behind her Martin slowly walked up to them.

“Hello,” he said staring blankly at them. “How did you get here?” He asked unsure of what to think about them.

“Same way you showed me to get out.” Sam said smiling. “Guess I couldn’t stay away.” She
chuckled as she shrugged.

“I just learned the reason you left child.” Father Martin’s voice trembled as he spoke. “Had I known earlier ...” He continued before pausing.

“Its O.K. father,” Sam said reassuringly, “I didn’t tell anyone.” Martin nodded in understanding.

“So,” Holiday said unsure about what to talk about. “You are?” He finished. Destiny smiled and pointed toward Martin.

“This is Father Martin. He was just telling me what he does here.” She said walking back to the table.

“I am
part of the civilian council,” Martin said with pride, “We make decisions with the Corporal to try and make the community better.”

“Great job so far.” Holiday said sarcastically.

“Sheriff.” Destiny said quietly.

“No,” Martin said raising his head slightly, “He is right.”
He sighed loudly. “The Corporal is crazy with power, and with all the government support provided by General Adams-”

“Who?” Holiday asked quickly cutting Martin off.

“General Adams,” Destiny said, “She is in some sort of bunker. Corporal was just talking with her.”

“Sounds like things are more complicated than we first thought.” Holiday continued. “What kind of support do they provide?” He asked.

“Weapons, clothing, food,” Martin listed off some of the essentials they have provided them. “Corporal oversees all of that.” He finished.

“There has to be a better way.” Holiday said.

“Destiny called you sheriff, right?” Martin asked raising an eyebrow awkwardly high up on his face.

“Use
d to be.” Holiday said staring at the ground. “Still got this hat, so I suppose somehow I still am.” He attempted to be funny but once again nobody laughed. Holiday’s sense of humor never seemed funny to anyone.

“I see,” Martin said nodding slightly. “Well General Adams can’t send anyone out to take over.”
He pointed to the table showing a map. “She is barely able to get us supplies.” Holiday walked up to the map and looked at it surprised.  It covered the only table in the room and displayed a map of Chicago with a line drawn toward New York City.

“That is where Adams is?” Holiday
guessed smiling. “New York?”

“Yes,” Martin responded. “She has a bunker underneath all the chaos. She says they plan on holding a few cities for as long as possible, Chicago being a vital one, and New York being another.” Holiday showed his understanding by nodding. “You nod a lot, you know that son?” Martin finished.

Holiday laughed quickly before continuing: “New York is where we are heading, it is good news to know the government has set up shop there.” ignoring Martin’s comment about nodding, a habit he had been self conscious about for most of his life.

“But,” Destiny said looking at Martin.

“But…” Martin repeated shaking his head, “General Adam’s will not allow civilians to be in charge of Chicago.”

He walked to a nearby boarded up window. He looked through the cracks at the people outside. “That is the only reason we are allowing Corporal Kelly to be in charge.” Martin turned sharply and walked up to Holiday. “You are law enforcement.” He said quietly. “They may allow you to take over.” Holiday raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“I’m just a sheriff.” he said, “Somehow I don’t think it is better than a Corporal.”

“He isn’t really a Corporal,” Destiny said, “He is only a Private. He is just pretending to be a Corporal to
gain the confidence of the people.” Holiday’s eyes searched the room as he began to wonder around.

“I wouldn’t know the first thing about coordinating supplies, tactics, or dealing with the General.”
He listed off why he wasn’t well suited for the job.

“The council will deal with most issues; we just need someone to be in charge.” Martin said
convincingly.

Holiday shook his head unsure of how this all sounded. “Corporal will
end up getting us all killed. You would at least care about the people.” Martin finished.

Holiday raised his arms gesturing while speaking and with a mocking voice
said,

“So what? We are just going to walk up to the Corporal and say ‘Hey, this guy is replacing you’, give me a break!”

Holiday headed for the door and swung it open fast. On the other side was Corporal Kelly standing there smiling. Behind him was a small army of twenty armored men. Kelly walked inside while Holiday backed away slowly.

Martin, Destiny, and Sam walked up behind Holiday
knowing something bad was about to happen.

“Sorry to interrupt.”
the Corporal said, “Please continue.” He pointed to the chairs. “Sit.”

The group walked to the chairs and sat down around the table.
Corporal Kelly walked around them slowly as some of his men walked into the house and stood near the door. “This some sort of Chicago thing?” He asked. The others looked at each other confused. “You know, the Chicago way?” The Corporal was referencing something none of the others were aware of. “Treachery, treason, backstabbing.” He continued. Father Martin stood up quickly.

“We think-” Martin began to speak but he was suddenly cut off as the Corporal rushed up to him and screamed

“That’s the problem!” He shouted. “You thought.” Corporal Kelly pushed the father back into his seat which caused Holiday to stand up angrily.

“Leave him alone.” Holiday commanded. The Corporal turned to Holiday and moved up to him slowly.

“What’s that?” Kelly’s eyebrows were raised and he turned his head to the side while speaking. He raised his hand to his ear as if he hadn’t heard Holiday the first time. Holiday grunted slightly. The Corporal then suddenly backhanded Holiday off his chair and onto the ground. Holiday’s hat flew off his head and landed by the men near the door. The Corporal then kicked Holiday repeatedly in the stomach causing Destiny and Sam to stand up to help him. “Sit down! Both of you!” Kelly screamed while pointing toward them. “I will get to the both of you later.” He sneered, smiling menacingly. They did as he ordered out of fear while his gun jostled around loudly in his holster. Kelly paused kicking Holiday in the stomach for a few seconds while Holiday coughed and gasped for air.

“Fuck off.” Holiday grunted. Kelly
was about to resume kicking Holiday but stopped as father Martin shot up from his chair and shouted at him.

“Enough!” Martin yelled. “The council will not toler-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Kelly said loudly cutting Martin off as usual. “The council is just something to make you people feel better about what is going on. It doesn’t have any real power.” He laughed while he kicked Holiday once more in the stomach, rolling him over on to his back. Kelly pulled out his revolver and pointed it at Holidays face. Holiday laid there staring at him without blinking, blood dripping out of his mouth slowly. “You will not be replacing me.” Corporal Kelly sneered while cocking his gun. “Maybe I should just wound you and put you with your friend.” He scowled. “Let you turn into those … things.”

Screaming erupted outside as shadows of people rushed by the house. The Corporal lowered his gun and rushed out the front door along with his men. Gunfire erupted as the screaming grew louder. Holiday slowly curled onto
all fours before standing to his feet. Destiny, Sam, and Martin rushed to his side holding him up.

“What is happening?” Destiny said with fear.

“Father,” Holiday grunted. Father Martin leaned close to him in order to hear him clearly “Where did he put my friend?” Holiday asked.

“We put him in the Stadium,”
Martin said quickly. “It is the Corporal’s favorite way to punish someone. The subjects turn into those zombies and are kept with the others who are stored there.”

“What?” Destiny asked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“He leaves you for dead,” Sam said walking to the door to see what was happening outside. “Along with all the zombies he has rounded up, including your ‘pet’ Gary.”

Destiny laughed
and was shortly followed by Holiday.

“We need to get your people to safety father.” Destiny said walking toward the door while still laughing. “Fast.” She finished

“Why?’ Martin asked confused by the laughter, “What the hell is going on?”

Chapter 11 – Stadium Showdown

A few minutes earlier
, in Wrigley Field, David opened his eyes. The same thing that lets David control zombies also heals most of his wounds. Only being shot in the head would actually kill him. In Iowa City, his own father had turned insane and shot him in the stomach. David healed it very quickly and used his power to control Gary and end his father’s life. David’s head still had a scar on it from when he was thrown into the boulder behind his father’s cabin. Wounds on his head wouldn’t heal like the rest of him.

David got to his feet confused as to where he was. Stadium lights blinded him as his eyes adjusted. Above him was the pitch black sky hovering over the stadium. He was
in a large field of grass beside Gary who was still unconscious. Around them thousands of zombies crawled over each other and slowly moved through the seats of the stadium. David looked down and checked where he was shot. He lifted his blood soaked shirt making sure his wound was gone. It was.

“Destiny?” David asked realizing Corporal Kelly had her. “Holiday? Sam?” David
called out looking around at the hordes nearby. His eyes searched to see any of them in the crowd, his fear played tricks on his mind. Occasionally he swore he could see one of his friends as a zombie, but after looking more closely he would realize it wasn’t one of them. “Where are they then?” He asked himself. 

He walked slowly through the right field, ahead of him was a baseball diamond
. David had never been to a baseball game. He never believed it could possibly be fun to watch people running in a circle after hitting a ball. He started thinking about everything he would never be able to do and then his mind whispered a thought that made him angry. “Never seeing Destiny again.”

Gary’s eyes shot open and he let out a muffled roar. It stood up pounding its large fists into the grass. David knew that on the other side of the stadium’s walls
was Haven where Hundreds if not thousands of people walked around. Most of them were probably innocent enough, only the Corporal and a few of his men were a threat. David remembered watching as the Corporal took Destiny away. For all he knew, Holiday and Sam were dead and Destiny was being ‘used’ by the Corporal to satisfy his own sick pleasures.

David started shaking with the thought of such a thing; the zombies around the stadium
sensed his emotion and seemed to react to it. David knew there was only one thing he could do; he would control the army in front of him and kill the Corporal. The thought of all the innocent people caused him to hesitate slightly, but a flash of Destiny crying helped him ignore any other consequences.

He closed his eyes and began to will Gary toward the side of the wall near the top of the stands.

Gary leaped over rows of seats until he was in position. Behind him, thousands of zombies crowded behind him like puppets in David’s mind. With a loud roar, Gary punched at the wall. A loud crack of wood and groan of metal echoed throughout the stadium. The Corporal had reinforced the inside as well as the outside of the stadium so the zombies would not be able to push through it. He barricaded the top of it so the zombies could not climb out of it. But the Corporal hadn’t known about Gary until recently.

Again and again Gary pounded the wall, roaring wildly as his punches increased in frequency. After only a short while a  hole
formed in the side of the wall. David opened his eyes and rushed toward it. He crossed the field and climbed the stone stairs lining the stands until he was in front of Gary peering out of the large hole in the stadium’s wall.

“I’m coming babe,”
he muttered quietly as he watched people walking the street in front of the stadium only a block away from the theater. The large spotlights lining the streets would have to be destroyed quickly, or more than half the zombies he was controlling, would be shot dead.

David moved to the side and walked back down the stairs a few steps. He closed his eyes and with a final roar Gary plunged its body into the hole. The side of the stadium burst open spilling out waves of slow moving zombies into the street
s. People screamed in terror and began to run away from the horde of zombies as they shambled toward the lights. The lights stood loosely between sandbags at their base. The zombies easily toppled them over.

Gary leaped from the street landing on
top of one of the lights, while a group of six zombies pushed themselves onto another. Armored men with automatic weapons began firing toward the zombies causing a few to fall dead. Gary pounced on top of the men with guns and ripped into their bodies with his claw like hands.

David himself emerged from the stadium with the last group of zombies. In front of him were the thousands of zombies spreading through the city like a flood. Some
of the zombies at the edge of the horde managed to grab a hold of some people and tear into them. They almost immediately became faster as they ingested the flesh of their victims.

David walked with the zombies
, willing them in the direction he wanted and trying to use his control to keep them from eating people.  They headed deeper toward town; the only goal in David’s mind was making sure the Destiny was still alive.

* * * * * * * *

“We need to get your people to safety
Father.” Destiny said walking toward the door while still laughing. “Fast.” She finished

“Why?’ Martin asked, “What the hell is going on?”

“If we are right,” Holiday said, taking a few steps without the help of anyone. “David is looking for us.” He smiled and limped nimbly outside holding his stomach .

On the street, Sam, Destiny, Martin, and Holiday watched as thousands of zombies filled the pavement ahead of them.

“We have to sound an evacuation!” Martin yelled
as he began running away from the zombies with the people of Haven. Holiday stood there smiling as he breathed heavily.

“Think they will attack us?’ Holiday asked Sam and Destiny. They both shrugged. Nobody was sure how exactly David’s power worked. He willed them to do things but was he able to see through them? The group had many questions.

“We should get to the theater.” Sam said confidently. “If David is controlling these, we should be fine. And we have to let the General know Holiday is in charge now.” she said pretending to know what she was talking about.

“Can David clean this up after?” Destiny asked. “I mean will people even be around after?”

“Who knows? Maybe.” Holiday said, “Either way, we just go with it remember?” Holiday joked and to his delight Destiny chuckled.

The three of them slowly walked toward the ever approaching horde of zombies. The zombies completely ignored the group, while people in armored suits shooting rifles and pistols were falling all around them.

“Yup...makes sense.” Holiday said laughing. Ahead of them they saw the theater. Outside of it, Corporal Kelly and twenty armored men with guns were holding the zombies back. When someone had to reload he was replaced by another from inside the theater. Further down the road, David could be seen walking slowly through the zombies.

“David!” Destiny yelled but was drowned out by the gunfire and zombie moans. David hadn’t heard her yell, but the Corporal did.

Corporal Kelly scanned the throngs, looking for the person she was yelling to.  He spotted David walking calmly through the zombies toward him. When David’s eyes made contact with the Corporal’s, the zombies all at once focused their attention toward him. The twenty armed men fell almost at once while the Corporal shrieked loudly and ran into the theater. David rushed after him releasing control of the zombie horde outside.

Suddenly a single zombie
lunged at Destiny. She was yanked to the side by Sam who instinctively yelled, “Run!” The three of them rushed through dozens of zombies as they were groped at and nearly bitten several times until they reached the theater.

They rushed inside and slammed the door behind them. Several zombies pressed against the door.

“Go,” Sam said, “Get David.” She pressed her body against the door motioning for the others to leave. Ahead of them, in the main lobby, David stood almost in a trance at a table filled with guns. Destiny rushed up to him and yelled his name.

“David!” he whipped around surprised to hear her voice. His face turned into a massive smile from ear to ear and he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and laughing slightly.

“I never thought I would see you again.” David said softly.

“I’m here,” Destiny responded closing her eyes and kissing his lips. “The people here aren’t all bad.” She continued as he stopped holding her up.

“A lot of them are good people David.” Holiday said concerned. “Can you stop this?” He asked. David nodded his head. He was slightly confused why the others didn’t want this ‘Haven’ destroyed but he closed his eyes and reached out to the zombies. All the moaning from the zombies outside stopped abruptly.

“Guys!” Sam yelled from the door. “They are leaving?” She said curiously
, opening the door she was pressing against. Outside thousands of zombies walked slowly back toward the stadium. Sam went into the street to get a better view. David was putting them all back into the Stadium. Gary stood beside the hole in its wall.

“He will keep them in there.” David said walking up to her. “They should all continue on their own inside it.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Want to help with the Corporal?”
he asked.

“No,” she said quickly, “I have to find father Martin and tell him the good news. Just make sure Kelly doesn’t leave here alive.” She said with disgust in her voice before rushing toward the house they were in earlier. David nodded understandingly and walked back inside. He walked up to the table he was at earlier and was once again in a sort of trance.

“What is it?” Destiny asked walking up to him again and looking at the table he was at.

“Perfection,” David replied staring at his
own pistol that Holiday had given him in Iowa City. It had been cleaned and fully loaded with six .44 caliber specially made bullets. “Almost poetic isn’t it?” David continued while picking it up.

A loud smash came from upstairs drawing his attention to the door at its base. David, Destiny, and Holiday all walked up the stairs quickly. At the top they
saw Corporal Kelly sitting on the floor in front of the T.V. monitor, his reclining chair was tipped over on the ground. On the screen, was General Adams with the same facial expression as before.

“I don’t understand.” David said softly.

“I do,” Holiday said walking up to the Corporal in front of the T.V. “Ma’am.” Holiday said removing his sheriff hat and placing it on his chest. “I must inform you that Haven is now under my charge.” He spoke confidently and with respect. The General’s eyes squinted slightly as Corporal Kelly sobbed quietly. “A civilian? In charge?” She said sharply.

“No Ma’am!” Holiday said loudly. “I was the sheriff in a small city just outside of Iowa when this all started. The citizens here have requested I take over for Private Kelly here.” He said pointing to the bulky muscular private
hunched over in a ball on the floor.

Suddenly Kelly lunged up and plunged a knife toward Holiday. Holiday grabbed him and attempted to hold the knife away but after a few seconds it was clear that Kelly was stronger. A single gunshot rang through the small room. Holiday
was stunned as he watched Kelly’s head concave. As he flew toward the T.V. monitor, Holiday looked up at David who stood there holding his massive pistol. He had shot Private Kelly.

Kelly landed into the T.V.
with a loud fizzle; the picture cut out.

“Are you still there?” The general
’s voice asked over the speaker.

“Yes ma’am.” Holiday said quickly, “can you still hear us?”

“Yes, sheriff.” The general replied. “We will allow you to be in charge for now and see how things go.” The General continued. “Adams out-”

“Wait ma’am!” Holiday yelled attempting to stop her from disconnecting.

“What is it sheriff?” Adams said after pausing for a moment,

“My good friend David here is immune to the virus, as
well as my other friend Sam.” Holiday paused afterward to give the general time to respond. She did not.

“They are heading to New York to help with a cure; I understand that is where you are?”
He asked. Again he waited for an answer and just as it seemed he would never get one the General responded.

“Interesting,” she sounded
as cold as before. Her voice carried very little change regardless of what she was saying, “We will be expecting them.” she continued.

“Any chance of some transport?” David asked quickly.

“I am afraid,” the general continued, “we are spread so thin following ‘other’ leads that you must make your way here yourselves.” A long pause followed her words. “If you two are immune as the good sheriff suggests then you should have no problem reaching us. Adam’s out” A loud click came over the speaker as everyone smiled.