The ZWD Trilogy (Book 1): Zombie World Dominance [The Destruction Begins] (12 page)

The
sidewalk was not as wide as they liked, but the men made it work so they could
walk three abreast, the ladies following, and the drivers behind them.

The other
two drivers, who also served as bodyguards, were not fond of being in the open
like this. It was more difficult for them to keep their employers safe.

Vyacheslav
was walking on the inside of the sidewalk next to the buildings. As they came to
an alley, he stepped off the sidewalk into the alley in order to give the
others more room to walk. At the edge of the alley the three men heard the
noise. It was a low, guttural sound. In less than a moment it happened; several
of the same creatures that had been reported in other parts of the world were
standing in the darkness of the alley. The closest one stretched out its damaged
arm with a claw for a hand, grabbing Vyacheslav by the throat and pulling him
back into the alley. With a simple squeeze and twist of its clawed hand, it
ripped his neck open, severing his jugular vein and carotid artery along with
his larynx and trachea. With this one simple motion, Vyacheslav’s spine became
visible through the gash in his neck. The creature released his body and let it
fall to the cobblestone surface of the alley. As he fell, he could not make a sound.
Everything in his throat had been severed. The only thing he could do as his
death was upon him was stare vacantly in horror.  

Ivan, walking
in the center of the three, turned to see their friend being dragged into the
alley. All Ivan could do was stand frozen at the sight of the creature that was
killing Vyacheslav, as it dragged his friend into the alley to kill him.

Ivan stood
frozen in his steps, and a second creature reached out, grabbing him. It tugged
him back into the alley, wrestling him to the ground next to Vyacheslav. It
knelt beside Ivan, who was lying on his back, as it began to swing its ridged,
bony arm and ripped his chest open with the furiousness of a blood-crazed
animal.

Swing
after crazed swing, one after the other, it savagely killed Ivan, slinging his
blood and bits of flesh onto the walls of the nearby buildings and the cobbled
pavement of the alley.

The
two bodyguards, who had been walking two steps behind the wives, saw the men
dragged out of their sight into the alley. They pulled their sidearms and ran
forward to help. The women, walking behind their husbands, were shocked by how quickly
it all occurred. They abruptly stopped walking as Dunyasha began screaming.

“Hurry!
Something has grabbed Vyacheslav and is dragging him into the alley! It’s killing
him! Please help him!”

“It
has my Ivan, too! It’s pulling him away from me! Sergei! Grigori!
Do
something!
They’re dying!”

“Mrs.
Orlov, we are here. Please move back down the sidewalk out of our way so we can
protect your husbands.”

The three
women, along with Boleslav, backed down the sidewalk half a dozen steps, giving
the bodyguards room. Sergei and Grigori drew their guns while running to the
alley.

When
they got close enough, they began to fire at the creatures. There were six or
seven of them milling around in the alley. The bodyguards fired again and
again, emptying their weapons and quickly reloading.

The
creatures’ mutated and torn bodies were twisted by the impact of the bullets,
but then they turned back to the task of killing the men. Grigori shouted to
Sergei, “Our guns are having little effect on these creatures. One of them has fallen
and has not gotten back up, but we do not have enough ammunition to stop all of
them. We need to get the others back to the theater. They will be safe inside
the building. I’ll call Dmitri to bring his car here. As far as I can tell, Mr.
Konstaninov and Mr. Orlov are dead. We need to get the others out of here.
Start moving them back to the theater as fast as we can.”

They ran
as fast as the women could manage. Dunyasha shouted to their guards, “What
about our husbands? What if they are still alive? They need to be brought home
so we can tend to them. Do you think this was a planned attack against our
husbands?”

“No, Mrs.
Orlov, it does not look like it was planned. I think it is something much
worse. I have never seen anything like the things that attacked your husbands.”

“Sergei,
look! Those things are coming this way. We need to get the hell out of here!”
shouted Grigori.

“Mrs.
Orlov, we need to return to the theater. The building should give us the
protection we need. Then we can decide what we need to do. Come on, we need to
hurry. They are not moving quickly. We can outrun them,” Sergei said.

“Sergei.
I want you to bring up the rear,” said Grigori. “I will get everyone to the
theater. Do you have any ammunition left?”

“Yes! You
lead the way, and I will cover the rear.”

The
six of them ran as fast as they could. Their speed was hindered by how quickly
the women could run in their evening gowns and high heeled shoes. In the middle
of crossing the street to get to the theater, the women kicked off their shoes and
ran barefoot so that they could go faster. As they got to the theater, five or
six couples were standing on the steps watching what was happening.

As
Grigori reached the door, he pulled on it. Luckily it was still open. As he
forced his way through the door into the theater, he grabbed the few remaining
theater patrons, pushing them out onto the steps. Holding the door open, he
grabbed his four charges, dragging them inside. They were followed by Sergei
behind their charges. Sergei and Grigori slammed the door shut. They found a
chain on the floor that they used as a lock, threading it through the door
handles.

“Grigori,
stand guard at the door! Do not allow anyone to enter the building other than
Dmitry. He should arrive soon. I will make a quick inspection of the theater,”
said Sergei. He went off to round up the other people inside with them.

After fifteen
minutes, Sergei returned with three people that he had found during his
inspection: Luka Petrov, Nataliya Alkaev and Sofya Kozlov. They were the
building custodians responsible for keeping the building clean. Grigori asked
them who was in charge; Luka raised his hand.

Grigori
told Luka, “You are in charge of your people. My name is Grigori. By the door
is my partner Sergei. Our third partner, Dmitry, will be joining us shortly.
The four people behind me are our employers. We are their security personnel.
They have attended many theater events here. They are Boleslav Nikolayevich
Volkov and his wife Evdokiya, Tasha Konstaninov, and Dunyasha Orlov. They were attacked
while leaving this theater. Ivan Ilyich Konstaninov and Vyacheslav Ivanovich Orlov
were killed. They were Tasha and Dunyasha’s husbands. We have been with them
for so many years that we think of them as friends, as I believe they do us.”

Luka
nodded.

“I am
the security leader of our group,” he continued. “Before you do anything, you
must clear it with me first. No one will enter or leave this building except
Dmitry. Now, the first thing we need is a safe place for all of us tonight. Do
you know of such a place where everyone, including the three of you, can stay? Second,
we need to ensure that this building is locked up tight.”

Luka
thought about Grigori’s request for a moment before answering. “As far as a safe
place is concerned, I would think that the dressing rooms behind the stage and
one floor down would be the best place for all of us to stay together. They are
against the foundation wall of this building with access via only two doors,
one at each end. There are beds there. Some of the dressing rooms have sinks
and showers, with a small bed. There is also a small dining area for meals. As
far as securing this building, that will be easy. There are but two ways into
this building. One is through the front doors you came through. The other way
in or out is by the doors at the rear of the theater for the cast or supplies.
Those doors were locked two hours ago. What would you like to see first?”

“I
would like Nataliya to take our four friends to the dressing rooms. You will
show me the rear door so I can make sure that it is locked. In the meantime,
Sofya will wait here with Sergei until Dmitry arrives. Once he gets here, Sofya
will bring them down to the dressing rooms. Will that work for you?”

“Yes,
it will, Grigori. Nataliya, please take our four new friends to the dressing
rooms. You are to remain there with them until we all return. Sofya, I want you
to stay with Sergei at the door. When Dmitry arrives, bring him down to the
dressing rooms. Do you both understand what I want?”

“Yes
we do, Luka. I will take these four to the dressing rooms. Sofya will stay with
Sergei.”

“All
right,” said Grigori. “Everyone knows what needs to be done. Tasha, Dunyasha,
Evdokiya and Boleslav are to follow Nataliya to the dressing rooms. Luka will
take me to the rear doors. We will meet you in the dressing rooms shortly. All
right, everyone, let’s get going. Luka, show me the back doors, please.”

As
Nataliya led the four to the dressing rooms, what had happened to their
husbands started to sink in. Tasha and Dunyasha began to shake. Their eyes filled
with tears. They held on to each other as they walked. Evdokiya and Boleslav
walked with them, consoling them. The four of them talked among themselves.
What had happened to the two husbands was terrifying. Dunyasha was the first to
speak through her tears.

“Tasha,
do you know what happened out there? Whatever attacked my husband killed him
instantly. You lost your husband just as quickly as my Vyacheslav was killed.
Where are the police when we need them? Why did this happen to us? Was this a
hit on our husbands? Who would do such a thing to them? Our husbands are not
gangsters. Why did they have to die like common criminals?”

“Dunyasha,
I lost my husband as well. I do not know what happened to them. They were
walking with us one moment and the next moment they were dead, just that
quickly. I could see a bit of what killed our husbands. They did not look like
humans... They looked more like some sort of animal. I could see them get back
up time after time as they were shot. You saw them shot them, over and over
again. It did not have any effect on them. What killed our husbands was not
human, yet they were not like any animal I have ever seen before, either.”

“I
understand that what happened to your husbands was horrible. We are nearly at
the dressing rooms. You can rest there. If you are hungry, I’ll get you some
snacks from the dining room. We only have to walk down these few steps.”

“Thank
you, Nataliya. I’m sure that all we need to do is get a quick bite to eat. Then
we can rest a while.”

As
they stepped off of the last step, Nataliya turned a corner, opening the door
to the dressing rooms.

“Here
are the rooms that I have been talking about. I think you will be most
comfortable in the biggest room over here. It has a table, sink, shower, two
couches that are pull-out beds. While you get comfortable, I will go make a
plate of snacks for you. It will only take me a few minutes. I’ll be right
back.”

As
Nataliya was getting everyone settled in the dressing rooms. Dmitry was
hammering on the main theater door. Sergei unfastened the chains holding the
doors shut, letting Dmitry inside. Then Sergei secured the chains back to the
doors, holding them shut.

“Dmitry
my friend,” Sergei said. “How is it outside?”

“There
are some sort of creatures wandering around on the streets. They look like they
are searching or hunting for something. I don’t know what they are after, but
they look mean as hell. They look like a cross between a human and a blood-crazed
animal, vicious and deadly. They seem to be wearing human clothes; they have
huge, gaping wounds with chunks of their flesh missing. They move while
upright. I saw one with a missing foot, and it was still doing its best to
walk. I had to take a different route to get here than the one I usually do.
The creatures are all over the place outside. We need to find someplace to go
to get away from these things.”

“Dmitry,
it has gotten worse. We had to fight several of them across the street. Ivan
and Vyacheslav were killed. We barely got away with our lives. We shot at them
so many times we reloaded our guns twice. Bullets do not have much effect on
them. They just kept getting back up after being shot. I think one of them did
not get back up but it took so much firepower.”

“Grigori
is with Luka, checking all of the doors in this place. This is Sofya. She will
take us down to where what is left of our people are resting. Are you ready?”

“I am,
my friend. Sofya, lead the way to our people, please. Sergei, are you sure that
this chain will keep the door closed?”

“I was
told by Luka that for many years, all they have had was this chain since the
keys to this door were lost. Whoever or whatever wants to come through this
door will have to break it down to get in. If you are ready, we can go find our
people.”

Sofya
led the men to the dressing rooms behind the stage. As they arrived, they were
met by Nataliya with a tray of food in her hands. Seeing Nataliya, Sergei asked
her where everyone was. Pointing towards the room that she was walking towards,
she said.