Killer Z (8 page)
S
eth laughs as Andrew tears a pair of diamond
earrings off of a dead woman. After being rescued from Burger Baron they were
taken to the Red Cross emergency station near the White House but didn’t stay.
They slipped away preferring to find Seth’s drugs rather than evacuate.
Seth pops a Killer Z and strides
down the middle of the street. Crowds of panicked people stream around them,
seeking to escape from the devastated city and the endless tsunami warnings. He
doesn’t know much about Andrew but loves the slob’s obedience.
“There’s the car,” Seth says.
Seth walks to a sleek black
sedan and presses the unlock trunk button on his key chain. He slips a handgun
into his jacket and slings a black duffle bag over his shoulder.
“I want a gun,” Andrew whines.
“If you want one, take one. This
city is our playground. Look around. Do you see any cops? Military?”
“What do you mean?”
“School is out. All the police and
military are fleeing for their pathetic lives.”
Seth points to a bank across the
street with steel security shutters still open.
“Andrew, isn’t the American dream
to be rich?”
“Yes,” Andrew greedily replies.
“Let’s take what we want.”
Andrew grabs a metal pipe
and bounces over to the bank. He hits the window repeatedly until the glass
breaks. They stagger through the broken window and an authoritative voice rings
out.
“Freeze and put your hands up!”
A security guard and a banker
stand in the middle of the bank lobby. The guard points a gun at them as the
banker indignantly holds several bulging deposit bags.
“What? Not leaving me any?” Seth
rasps.
They flank the two men as Andrew
says, “There’s enough money to share.”
“Mack, do your job and shoot
them,” the banker says.
Seth moves to the left and watches
the guard’s gun follow his movement.
“Your boss is rather rude,” Andrew
says.
“Is he giving you a cut?” Seth
asks.
Mack flicks a look at the banker
and says, “Not much of one.”
“Shoot them,” the banker screams.
“Is a small cut really worth
murder?” Seth asks.
The gun trembles in Mack’s hands.
“Do you have family, Mack?” Andrew
asks and moves behind the banker.
“I have an ol’ lady,” Mack
grumbles.
“Do you and your old lady like to
party?” Seth asks.
Seth’s fingers brush across the
handgun in his pocket but he withdraws with two Zs. Mack’s eyes narrow.
“You hear of Killer Z?”
Mack lowers the gun.
“See, we can be friends,” Seth
says.
The banker croaks, “What the…”
Andrew swings the metal pipe at
the banker’s skull. The suit goes down in a crumpled heap.
“Want to join us for a little end
of the world fun?” Seth asks.
“Sure,” Mack says and accepts the
drugs.
The trio grabs as many bags of
cash as they can and leave the bank.
Seth’s heads spins as the Zs flow
through his blood stream. He’s strong, more aggressive, and ready for anything.
“I need more pain killers. Let’s
hit a pharmacy,” Andrew says.
They stumble on the street
laughing like madmen. A stray dog barks. Mack takes out his handgun, aims, and
shoots with a single
pop
. The bullet ricochets off of the
sidewalk.
“Always hated damn mutts,” Mack
says and there’s a second
pop.
The dog yips in pain. “There’s a
pharmacy this way.”
They walk a few blocks and
encounter the Michael Jackson impersonator directing foot traffic. Empty rum
bottles roll around the drunk’s feet.
“Holy shit, it’s Michael Jackson,”
Andrew exclaims and dashes over. “He’s back! It’s Michael 2.0!”
“I never left, ei-hee!” the
impersonator laughs and spins with a bow. Pedestrians steel nervous glances at
each other and hurry away.
“Why don’t you join us?” Seth
says, amused by the drunk’s antics. He offers a handful of Zs. “These will make
you a rock star.”
The man flourishes into a moonwalk
and says, “Groovy, man. Let’s be startin’ somethin’.”
Ten minutes later they loot and
set fire to a pharmacy. Outside a gun shop they run into Lin who quickly falls
in step with the rowdy group. The group skirts a block with first responders
and enters an intersection with many rough looking characters. Seth jumps on a
car. Hostile looking men stare at him. Several men pull out firearms, ready to
gun him down.
“Friends, gather around,” Seth
shouts.
“Why?” a thug wearing a Metallica
shirt and tattered blue jeans asks.
“Why settle for scraps? I give you
money and drugs!”
Andrew whips out hundred-dollar
bills and tosses them into the air. Looters and addicts reach for the crisp Franklins.
“Government has fallen and the
president is dead! Join me and become fat cats!”
Seth is charismatic and
successfully ignites the mob.
D
runkenly, Larry looks to his left expecting to see Mary, but she isn’t
there. Pixel trots obediently at his side, her ears perked and alert. Ahead the
upper story windows of an old brownstone explode outwards and he drops behind a
parked car. Smoke fills the street, forcing him to cough and squint. His eyes
water as he sees a young couple run from the burning building and stumble in
the middle of the street. The man falls to the ground and a brunette wearing a
snug purple sweater and blue jeans screams.
“Please help my husband!”
Pixel runs over and sniffs at the prone man as
Larry approaches. A large gash runs from the side of the man’s neck. The woman
looks at him with deep blue eyes glossy with grief. Larry kneels down to
confirm what he already knows. There’s no pulse.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. He’s dead. Are you alright?”
“Hey,
need any help?” a voice calls out.
Through
the settling dust two figures appear. Pixel gives a happy bark and bounces
towards Juliet and Harry.
“Why
aren’t you evacuating?” Larry questions them as the woman sobs.
“My dad works at the hospital,” Juliet answers.
“Harry is helping me find him.”
Larry grunts as Harry kneels beside the woman.
There are glass shards protruding from her upper left arm. Juliet fishes out the
med kit from her backpack.
“Please help my husband first,” the woman sobs.
“I already told you…” Larry turns away from the
group and fumbles for more booze.
Juliet attempts to remove the glass from the
injured woman’s arm. “What’s your name?”
“Karen.”
“I’m Juliet. This is Harry and that’s Officer
Anderson.”
“Pixel, here!” Larry commands.
The canine sits at Juliet’s side, tongue lolling,
and ignores him. Larry curses and takes another drink. He’s oblivious to the
disgusted glances of the others.
“We’re on our way to the hospital. I’m sorry about
your husband, but he’d want you to come with us,” Juliet says.
Karen stares at her husband’s body, his loss
finally settling in, and then takes his ring and wallet.
“Larry, why don’t you get your hand looked at the
hospital too?” Harry asks.
“Sure,” Larry slurs.
Suddenly Pixel barks and runs into a park.
“Pixel! Come back here you stupid mutt!”
Larry stumbles after the dog. In the park Pixel is
running in between two men trying to catch her. They turn and face Larry. Their
white-filmed blank eyes alert him of danger. Fear rips through his body like
cold lighting.
“What the hell…” Harry says behind Larry.
The two zombies sprint at Larry at a dead run. He
pulls out his gun, points, and shoots with a double
pop
. The closest
man twirls and falls to the ground. The second man takes the bullet in the leg.
A putrid smell hits Larry as the zombie lets out a deep animalistic groan.
“ZOMBIE!” Juliet shrieks from across the street.
Harry catches the zombie under the chin with an
open palm strike. The hit would have blocked the airway of a living man, but
the zombie clearly isn’t alive. He strikes and breaks the man’s vertebrae in
between the shoulders. The first man Larry shot stands back up.
“Stay back,” Larry screams.
“Shoot it in the head like in the movies,” Juliet
yells.
Pop pop pop.
The zombie absorbs the damage. Harry throws the
monster to the ground and slams his foot into its face with a squishy
ploosh
.
The steel toed boot obliterates the zombie’s head leaving only bloody gore on
the grass.
“I tried telling everyone but no one listened,”
Harry grumbles.
“Holy shit,” Juliet says and crosses the street
with Karen.
“We need to go,” Larry says, unsure of how to deal
with the situation.
“There’d be helicopters at the hospital,” Harry
says.
“My dad works there. I know for a fact there’s a
helipad,” Juliet replies.
Karen stands staring mutely at the carnage, clearly
in shock. Larry back steps and wraps an arm around the unresponsive woman.
Pixel trots at his side as Juliet and Harry lead.
“I’ve seen this before,” Harry tells Juliet. “One
time, south of Seoul, we were trapped by three red units. Tommy, our medic, had
the brilliant idea of contaminating the enemy’s water hole with this
experimental drug they were trying out to combat radiation sickness. In small
amounts it made you sicker then a dog. No one knew what would happen in big
amounts. I think it was called Compound Z or something.”
“Did they become zombies? Like what’s happening
here?” Juliet asks.
“The ones that drank the water went nuts. They bit
and killed most of the villagers. It spread so fast. MacArthur wanted to use
nukes to contain the infection.”
“I thought he wanted to use nukes against the
Communists?” Larry interjects.
“That was the political spin back in 1954.”
“So the military did this?” Juliet asks.
“I suppose,” Harry says, considering.
“Did you take the compound whatever? Is that why
you don’t look your age?” Juliet asks.
“I never really thought about it, but perhaps. You
gotta understand that when I lost my arm, the medic had no choice. No morphine
available, you know?”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah,”
Harry says and falls silent as they near the George Washington Hospital. The front of the hospital is chaos. The parking lot is filled with hastily erected
emergency tents and hundreds of injured survivors begging for help. Bracing
themselves, they push through the crowd.