Waiting to Die ~ A Zombie Novel (8 page)

“We have
to do something,” she replies as she paces back and forth in front of the
coffee table. “It’s been three days and she’s getting worse.”

Johnny
stares at the pistol on the table, eyes its polished surface and pleads within
himself for another way out.

She
looks to the gun and back up to Johnny. “Don’t you even fucking think about
it!” she shouts between clenched teeth.

“Damn
it, April, I’ve seen this before,” he explains. “The same thing happened to a
guy at the office. Hell, he only had a knick; it wasn’t even as bad as the
scratches on Sarah’s arm.”

“That
little girl in there,” she points to the spare bedroom, “hasn’t survived all of
that chemotherapy just to die from a couple of fucking scratches.”

“Do you
think if I knew of any other way, I wouldn’t try to do something to save her?”

“I’m not
sure with the way you’re acting.”

“For
fuck’s sake!” he yells and tosses his hands up into the air. He leans back
against the couch and stares at the ceiling for a moment. “When that guy at
work changed, he started eating another guy. When
that
guy died, he came
back, got up and ate someone else. That’s how this shit spreads, April. People
get bit, they die, get up and fucking bite someone else.”

“So
you’re saying that she’s already dead.”

“No, I’m
saying we don’t have any other options,” he explains, “Have you looked outside
lately? There are hundreds of those things out there, a
nd every fucking one of them is
waiting for the chance to eat
us. If we go outside, we’re dead.”

“If we
stay in here,
we’re
dead,” she recoils in anger and glares at him. “It
seems to me that we’re screwed either way.”

“But if
we stay in here, we might at least have a chance of living long enough for the
government or the police, or who the fuck ever is in charge to sort this shit
out.”

“And wait
for Sarah to die?”

“No,
that’s not what I’m saying,” he says as he shakes his head. “If she can hold
out for a little while longer, I’m sure someone will come to help us.”

“Johnny,
the fucking television went out yesterday and the power went out this morning.
I would say that’s pretty good evidence that no one is coming any time soon,”
she retorts. “Whoever
is
dealing with this has much bigger problems than
a couple of people stuck in a house that didn’t pay attention to the evacuation
notices.”

“I’m not
going out there.” He turns away from her.

“You’re
being a coward,” she says.

“That
may be, but at least I’ll be a living coward.” He shakes his head dismissively.
“Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t want Sarah to die either and as
sure as hell don’t want to deal with what’s going to happen if she changes. I
don’t know what else to do.”

April
wipes her brow in thought. “I know, I know, this isn’t the best scenario for
trying to come up with a plan, but we have to do something.”

He
raises his eyebrows. “I’m listening if you have any ideas.”

“We
could get in the car, start it up, open the garage door, and hit the gas. If
we’re fast enough, I don’t think they’ll be able to stop us,” she says looking
over Johnny’s reaction.

He looks
as if he’s been hit with a baseball bat. “You’ve got to be kidding me.
That’s
your plan?”

“Do you
have something better?”

“No, but
I’m sure as fuck not doing
that
.” He gives her a sickened expression.
“It would be different if I had backed the car in and we could get a running
start on them, but the last time I pulled it into the garage, I headed in. I
don’t want to have to back over a few dozen corpses while trying to negotiate
onto the street before I can finally get the fuck out of here. We have to come
up with something better.”

April
moves to the front window and pulls the curtain aside by a few inches. “They
move so slowly, I’ll bet we could walk right pass them.”

“We
probably could if we didn’t have Sarah,” he replies.

“What if
one of us goes for help while the other stays here with Sarah?” she asks.

Johnny
cocks his head and turns his attention to April. “That might actually work. You
could stay here and I could take the gun and see if I can find some help. I
would be a lot faster on my own. I think I can do it.”

In a
sudden burst, Johnny gets up and heads upstairs to the bedroom. He shuffles
around in the closet for a few minutes before returning to the living room with
a small, metal box. “The shells are on the top shelf of the pantry, could you
go get them for me?”

“Don’t
you think it’s kind of pointless to have the gun upstairs while the ammo is
down here?” she asks.

“I
didn’t want Sarah to get a hold of it so I kept them separate.”

April
nods and goes into the kitchen. After a while, she comes back with a box of 9mm
ammo covered in dust. “Is this it?” she asks.

“Yeah,”
he answers. “Just sit them on the couch while I clean this thing. It hasn’t
been used in a while.”

After he
has wiped the weapon down, he pulls the clip and begins filling it with the
rounds. Each shell slides easily into place with a subtle click. He slides the
clip back into place and cocks the gun, filling the chamber.

“I guess
the closest place would be the police station. Maybe I can get one of the
officers to come back with me and get you guys out,” he says.

“You
should probably leave through the back door, I don’t see any of them out
there,” April replies, peeking through the blinds in the kitchen.

Johnny
holds the pistol down at his side and licks his lips. “Wish me luck?”

“Good
luck,” April confirms with a look of intensity.

As
Johnny stands ready at the door, he instructs April to swing it open. As soon
as the door is pulled inward, he aims the pistol and steps out into the back
yard. A hand darts out from the bottom of the doorway and grabs him by the
ankle. He looks down, wide eyed and kicks at the appendage. A snarling face
gnashes out and snaps at his leg. In a flash, another corpse turns the corner
from the other side of the door and reaches out with dripping hands, blocking
April from closing the door.

Through
the open back gate of the yard, several corpses approach, wedging their bodies
through in haste as the melee ensues.

“Christ!
Shut the door,” Johnny pleads with April.

“I
can’t,” she screams as she wrenches on the doorknob.

Johnny
turns and stomps the body on the ground, snapping off its nose with the heel of
his boot. The creature doesn’t flinch as the skin hangs precariously from its
face, drooping across its cheek. It snaps again and snatches Johnny’s pant leg.

He
swings his leg around the creature’s head while it has a firm hold on his
pants. The kick is so swift that Johnny is able to jerk the ghoul’s head around
before he stomps down, snapping its neck. He turns his attention to April as
she struggles with the other corpse.

“Get
back!” Johnny shouts.

April
ducks as Johnny points the pistol at the other creature’s head.

The shot
cracks in deafening report and the corpse jerks backward. Its skull explodes,
sending fragments of bone and hair arching through the air. Dull slaps hit the
walkway behind the creature as the gore lands and scuttles off in the direction
of the gunfire.

The
other bodies are making their way up the sidewalk, shambling and moaning. Bent
frames lurch toward the sound and continue to pour through the back gate.
Painful moans creep from the dead, filling the air with ghastly calls.

“Get
back in the house!” Johnny yells.

“Goddamn
it, I can’t,” April screams back. “The body’s blocking the door.”

“Shit!”
he exclaims as he leans down and grabs the spent creature’s legs. He keeps a
watchful eye on the ghouls as they bridge the gap between him and the yard.
“Fuck, help me!”

April
grabs the body’s shoulders and tugs upward. “He’s too heavy!” she shouts.

The dead
are only a few feet away now as Johnny looks back at them with horror in his
eyes. “We have to go,” he says as he drops the body and grabs April by the
shirtsleeve.

Johnny
pulls her out of the way and bends down in a linebacker stance. With his
shoulder low, he launches himself toward the nearest corpse and sends its legs
out from beneath it. The creature catapults through the air, twisting and
snarling before it lands hard on the grass.

He turns
and grabs April again, tugging her behind him. “We have to get the fuck out of
here,” he shouts, aiming the pistol and firing at another ghoul. Its hisses are
cut short be the bullet that rips through its face, splattering a grizzly,
rotten body behind it.

All of
the dead have made their way through the gate and are swarming around the pair
in the yard. Rancid cries ring out as they draw nearer.

April
can’t react as she’s pulled along through the back gate as more cadavers
encroach from the alleyway behind the house. Johnny is nearly dragging her now
as he sprints away from the bodies.

“Wait!”
April yells, but can’t seem to muster the breath for the rest of her thought.

A block
away and the dead are beginning to thin out. There are fewer bodies as Johnny
pulls April behind him into a nook alongside a house. He is panting through the
sweat that drips along his face. He stares blankly, stricken by fear and
adrenalin.

“We have
to go back,” she whispers.

Johnny
looks at her like she’s gone mad, “We can’t,” he breathes.

“We
have
to go back for Sarah.”

“It’s
too late, there’s nothing we can do for her. There are too many of them,” he
gasps.

“Goddamn
you, Johnny, she’s just a little girl!” she raises her voice.

“Alright,
listen,” he says. “We’ll backtrack and go into the yard next to ours and see if
we can get to her. I locked her bedroom door so she should be safe for a
while.”

Inside,
Johnny can feel his instincts kicking in. He wants run. He wants to get as far
away from this as he can. He wants to forget about the child that he knows is
already beyond help and get April and himself to safety. It’s a burning urge to
be the coward and get away, to survive, to live to fight another day, but he
knows April would never forgive him if he doesn’t try.

Going
against his instincts, he makes his way back to the house with April close on
his heels. They jump the fence into the yard a few houses down from their own
and cross from yard to yard.

“There
it is,” he says, looking from the back porch of the neighboring house. “Christ,
April, there’s too many of them.”

“What if
we go in through the upstairs window? We might be able to get her out that
way,” April says as she glances to the rain gutter.

“I can
try,” he breathes.

A set of
hands slap up against the window, startling April. She swallows a scream as she
watches Sarah’s white, lifeless face slap against the glass with jerking
squeaks as the blood smears in its wake.

“Oh my
God …” she says as she looks away.

Johnny
frowns and diverts his gaze to the ground.

“We
can’t leave her like this,” she says with a look of determination.

“What?”
Johnny asks in shock. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going up there.”

“We
can’t leave her like one of those
things
,” she replies, still staring at
the smearing face of the child.

“Damn
it, April, listen to what you’re saying,” he pleads with her. “She’s already
gone, there’s nothing we can do.”

“We have
to kill her, we can’t leave her like that,” she says, expressionless.

“We’re
going to do no such thing,” he says. “We’re going to get the fuck out of here
while we still can.” He grabs her by the shoulder and tries to shake her, but
she pulls away.

“If
you’re too much of a coward, then I’ll do it myself,” she says and walks toward
the fence.

Johnny
grabs her and pulls her to the ground. “The fuck you are.” April kicks at him,
but he manages to subdue her. He pins her arms down and looks her in the eyes.
“We haven’t gotten this far for you to go and make some stupid mistake. I would
never forgive myself for letting you go in there and getting yourself killed.”

April
breathes heavily and begins to cry. Her face wells up and begins to redden
along her cheeks.

“It’s
okay, let’s just get out of here,” he says as he helps her to her feet.

“And
where are we going to go?” she sobs.

“We’ll
head to the coast, steal a boat and see if we can find a rescue ship.”

She
looks at him, almost convinced.

“We’re
only a few miles from the beach and unless those goddamn things can swim, we
should be safer on the water.”