The Undead Situation (11 page)

He muttered about religious courage before he noticed one Cyrus V. Sinclair in front of him, gun pointed at his balding, fat head. The priest managed to sound out the letter “W” before my bullet entered between his eyes and remained in his brain. The woman shoved him off and straightened.

“What a hero.”

Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for valor, I guess. But her tone told me she wasn’t grateful. She seemed passively upset that I took him out first. I gave her a curt nod.

Seconds after the crazy fell, Frank came from his hiding spot and began searching the body. He looked up at the woman, who was rubbing her knuckles. “What’s your name, girlie?”

“Blaze Wright, ex-Marine.”

With wild black hair and an angry scar down her right cheek, Blaze was quite the sight. Something about her seemed different and almost appealing to me. I scorned myself for checking her out.

I joined Frank in the search. A wooden cross was attached to a thin piece of twine, but no key was in sight. I ripped it off anyway, letting the cross slide from the twine and fall onto the ground. A key fell to the wood floor. It had been hiding behind the cross.There was one key, which meant all the padlocks were the same. That was luck if I ever saw it.

Frank found a a pistol with full rounds, but nothing else. He stood up and handed the woman the gun, safety off.

“Frank Bordeaux, ‘Nam veteran. This here is Cyrus Sinclair.”

The formalities were killing me.

“Great,” she said. “Let’s go.”

We left without any more dialogue, making our way back down the office hallway to the stairs. When we arrived at the entrance to the cells, we heard a pained shout.

I broke into a run, taking stairs two at a time to get back to the cells. I almost tripped over a bloodied body when I got there. The man was unconscious, his face a pulpy mess.

The warden stood behind blood coated bars. It didn’t take long to make the connection. She lured him in front of the cell and grabbed him, as she had with me. After that, his face got friendly with the bars.

Stepping around the body, I unlocked the cell. The warden came out, two women following. “Which one of you is coming with us?”

“I’ll go,” Frank said.

“Where’s my ferret?” I interrupted.

With dark, angry eyes shifting to me, the warden told me where I could find Pickle.

“You’re kidding.”

“No, they keep all animals downstairs in the kitchen for eating. They probably haven’t eaten that rodent yet because they still got bigger game. Blaze, can you come with us?”

Blaze didn’t look happy, but she nodded and stepped beside Frank.

After telling the women to stay put, the warden gave me directions to the kitchen before she headed in the opposite direction towards the offices. Frank and Blaze took the lead. Before we separated, Frank gave Gabe his second revolver.

“Well, thanks for the heartfelt rescue,” Gabe said as we jogged towards the kitchen.

Uninterested in a conversation, I ignored her and picked up the pace. We still had the advantage of stealth.

I didn’t have time to keep feeling lucky. Two men with .22 rifles came out of a room down the hallway. Our presence took them by surprise, and I managed to shoot both in the chest before they got one shot off.

As I was walking away, two shots sounded off behind me. I jumped as I turned and saw Gabe walking away from the bodies. There were bullet holes in their heads.

“Why are you wasting ammo? They weren’t coming back anytime soon!”

“They’d come back as runners. Blaze was talking about it in the cells. We don’t have time to sit around.”

I wasn’t sure what she was carrying on about, but runners was a self-explanatory term. As we picked up the pace, I remembered a group of people running through zombies, but the zombies weren’t turning to grab them. Were those runners? How the hell was that even possible? They were very bloody—one of them had been missing most of his thigh. That was in the beginning of the apocalypse. I hadn’t noticed runners then because
everyone
was running. I’d probably seen my share of them, but hadn’t been paying attention. I had a feeling I’d be seeing another soon enough. Being surrounded by living people who had to be killed made that inexorable.

As we barreled around a corner, I ran straight into a man holding a bayonet. A fucking authentic bayonet. My reaction time wasn’t fast enough, and the knife cleanly slid into the outer meat of my shoulder. I gasped and pulled back, the blade pulling out covered in bright blood.

People found the damndest weapons when an apocalypse struck.

I raised my rifle to shoot, but Gabe stepped in, shoving him against the hard wall. His head snapped back and she cracked his neck, then he slid down to the floor. Once he was down, she kicked his sides hard before popping a bullet in his head.

That was another of Gabe’s redeeming moments.

“I had a bone to pick with him,” she said as she sized me up with glittering blue eyes.

He was a rapist and she was a woman. I didn’t need clarification.

The sound of shots and screams echoed down the hall. I hoped Frank and Blaze were on the winning side of whatever was going on. Part of me wanted to help, but I had to rescue Pickle while I could.

We made it to the kitchen. It was huge. It had to be to feed a building packed with inmates. Animals were caged everywhere. Cats, dogs, and some traditional farmhouse animals looked forlornly at us. I was a heartless bastard when it came to humans, but the sight of them all waiting to be eaten disturbed me. The mammals had a chance outside. Zombies didn’t eat them.

I found Pickle first, caged with a couple other rodents, including a chinchilla. She was overwhelmed to see me, and eagerly scurried up my arm and onto my shoulder. I didn’t have a backpack on, and her being in the open concerned me. Holding her with one hand, I unlocked cages as fast as I could, cutting open the ones I couldn’t.

Between unlocking the cages of a pig and a Labrador, I searched the kitchen for a way out. Based on the exit sign above the door at the end of the hall and our location, I decided the door was the other loading dock.

Gabe unlocked the exit and herded the animals outside. The pig ran towards the light, and every animal we released followed.

As I unlocked the last cage, the swinging kitchen doors burst open. Our missing comrades saw the open exit and ran for it.

“Come on, Cyrus!” Frank said as he passed me.

Faint shouts and voices were coming from outside the kitchen. We didn’t have enough ammo to take out the horde that must’ve been on its way. Their numbers would overwhelm us once we ran outside. I scanned the kitchen, looking for anything useful.

Then I saw it.

The footsteps of our enemy grew louder, echoing down the hall. They were yelling scriptures fanatically, screaming about avenging their lunatic leader’s death. All normal conversation for crazies.

Frank and Gabe yelling for me to hurry up almost distracted me from unscrewing the propane tank. Since the door was open, we could’ve made a run for it, but they’d still be on our trail. If my plan worked, the kitchen exit would be unusable, and the crazies would have to deal with a prison on fire.

Pushing my luck and ignoring my companions, I set the tank in front of the entrance and turned my back. Gabe was gone, but Frank moved towards me. Couldn’t he put two and two together? The explosion from the propane tank would be severe; no one who wanted to live should be anywhere near it went I shot.

“What the fuck are you doing? Run!”

They were behind me. I heard the entrance open, knocking the tank on its side. They were at the opposite end of the kitchen, but that didn’t matter to bullets. Frank finally disappeared through the door, but Blaze was yards away from it. I saw her bend down behind a steel counter, reach for something, almost lose it. I thought she was capable, but whatever she was doing proved me wrong.

By the time I got to the exit, Blaze was there too. She was halfway out the door when I pushed her to the left against the outside wall. I pivoted on my foot just outside of the doorway, my body slamming into hers. As I spun 180 degrees, the kitchen came back into view. Crazies were in clear sight, getting ready to fire, unaware of the hazard in front of them. It only took a second to aim and shoot the tank just a few feet in front of them.

Everything happened at once. The door beside us flew off its hinges from the force of the explosion, landing in overgrown grass. Heat washed over me, making my eyes hurt and my skin tight. The impact shook the thick stone wall we used as cover, and pebbles and dust burst from its cracks.

The explosion happened quickly, but the aftermath was what hurt the most. My ears were ringing and my head felt fuzzy. Smoke billowed from the kitchen. I coughed as I inhaled. Pieces of fiery debris caught the browned grass on fire; some areas were already beyond control.

From inside came agonizing screams. The explosion would’ve killed all the crazies I saw, but if my prediction was right there would’ve been even more headed for the hallway. The flames and impact would’ve kept traveling in every direction, hitting them too, but some less severely.

I’d been holding onto Blaze. I released her, taking a shaky step back.

The ragged brick wall hit my face as someone pushed me from behind. I felt my skin tearing as the stone dug in.

Pressure on my shoulder made me turn my head. A tremendously overcooked face snarled, and its blackened teeth tried to latch onto me. His skin crackled, while the smell of oily, burnt fat filled my nostrils. Lips were long gone, and his teeth gnashed furiously. I tried using the wall as leverage to push us both back, but he had been a big fucker before he died. He weighed too much and moved too violently.

This one was a runner. It dug its hands into my shoulders, trying to pull me closer. Its strength was no more than it was when it was living, but the determination in its oozing, grip made up for it. The smoldering zombie pushed me back against the wall just as I was gaining leverage, my head spinning as it hit.

She was there then. Blaze was fast, pushing the thing off me. It stumbled then lurched forward towards me. A bullet went through the middle of its forehead. Boiled brains spewed from the exit hole and the body fell.

My strength came back as I stepped away from the wall. I felt my face, and my hand came away with blood after I pressed my fingers into the throbbing wound. A stinging, sharp sensation reminded me my shoulder was sliced up. Everything was going downhill. We had to get out of there.

If there were more runners, they weren’t coming outside. Frank and Gabe stood near the red Mustang we’d seen earlier, their eyes fixated on the doorway.

I paid attention to my surroundings. Moans and groans filled the air, but they weren’t coming from inside. I wasn’t sure if the night brought out the dead, or if it was the ruckus inside the prison that drew them, but they were here in all their slimy, undead glory. The stench of rot was overwhelming, and I almost choked when I inhaled. Sunny weather made corpses extra juicy and pungent.

“This is mine. Get in,” Blaze said as she walked to the Mustang.

All of us were frazzled, but we were regrouping faster than I thought.

Frank said, “We have a Hummer up front.”

“Just get in. I’ll take you.”

We were still in a hot zone, so I didn’t argue. I wanted to blame the impact of the explosion for rattling my mind, but since everyone else was fine I couldn’t. Frank slid into the backseat with Gabe and I got into the front.

The Mustang smelled like old leather and tobacco. There was a pack of cigarettes on the floor of the front seat. Empty cigarette boxes littered the dashboard.

“This is yours,” she said as she dropped an angry, squirming ferret in my lap. “Don’t thank me. I’m not interested.”

My mouth hung open. I couldn’t say I word.

She turned the car on, while all of us remained silent.

The Hummer was untouched. I was surprised, since I thought any insane rapists left alive might use it to escape. As we drew closer to it, and the entrance of the prison, the area remained empty.

My time with Blaze was drawing to a close. Since she had a car, there was no logical reason she’d want to stay with us. She pulled the Mustang alongside the Hummer, keeping her foot on the brake instead of parking it. I opened the door and pushed the seat forward so Frank and Gabe could exit.

We all turned our heads when we heard the faint echo of a gunshot from within the prison.

I handed Pickle to Frank who took her into the Hummer, leaving Blaze and me alone. I wasn’t ready for our time to finish. There were only a few people on Earth, most of which were probably dead, who I found interesting. Blaze was…

“Cyrus! Let’s go!”

I glared at Gabe for the interruption. She sunk back into the cushioned backseat before slamming the door shut. Through the window, I saw Frank looking anywhere but at me.

“We’re going east,” I said. “We’ve got a cache of guns and supplies in the Hummer, and a safe destination.”

Blaze’s eyebrows rose, but I didn’t think she was surprised. Her expression made me feel like a toddler.