Authors: A.R. Wise
“Where’s Covington?” asked Duke.
Reagan sneered, amused that they were still keeping up the act.
“I’m here,” said a familiar voice from the far side of the room. A black man approached, tall and striking. He smiled as he approached, standing taller than the other men around him. He was wearing a lab coat, but his build was that of a warrior, not a scientist. “Hello Reagan.”
Charles Reagan fell to his knee. For the first time in his life, his body failed him. He felt tears rush to his eyes as his heart raced. His muscles were weak, and his lungs seemed to forget how to breathe.
“Jim?” asked Reagan as he looked at the man, no longer a forgery on a computer screen. Reagan’s son stood before him, smiling at his father.
* * *
August 24
th
, 20 years after the apocalypse
Laura has escaped the church, but the others are still inside.
The horde was closing in.
The driving rain had squelched the flames, but the town still smoldered. Embers sizzled as the rain struck the ravaged church, the blackened beams still spewing white smoke and cracking, threatening to collapse any moment.
Laura was on her back, sliding through the mud as she tried to get to her feet. The stars still glimmered above, as if a million eyes were glued to her and the rain was their tears. Lightning cracked again, streaking through the sky and revealing the clouds and smoke that were being pushed west, allowing the night sky a vantage on the horror.
“Follow my voice.”
The horde happily abided. They advanced from the street behind the church, probably caught in the midst of their escape from the flames. Now food enticed them, and they shambled to it.
Laura debated running back into the building, but she knew the Greys would just follow her in. Even if she was able to find her friends, they would be trapped inside as the horde surged in behind her. She continued to scream, hoping they would follow her voice, while knowing that every Grey within earshot would chase after her.
She turned to face the zombies with no weapon other than determination.
The first to approach was a woman, lithe and frail, wholly different from Laura. The creature held out its arms like the Frankenstein monster of old cinema, and Laura grasped her wrists. She pulled the zombie down and thrust her knee into the creature’s chin, cracking its soft spine and nearly knocking its head off. She dropped the corpse to the ground and then stomped her boot through its skull.
“Come on, mother fuckers. I’ll kill every last one of you.”
She looked over her shoulder and screamed into the church, “Follow my voice out of the church!”
Two large male zombies approached. One bumped into the iron fence that guarded the small yard outside the rear of the church, and the other stumbled through the gate and into the small playground. This must have been where the Sunday
school children played, and Laura watched as the living corpse staggered to the plastic slide and nearly tripped over it.
Laura ran to the closer side of the slide and reached across to grab the zombie’s head. He reciprocated, grasping her arms and gnashing out at her, but she fell backward. She dragged the creature down and slammed his head into the edge of the slide, catching his open mouth and splitting his face nearly in half. She slammed her elbow into the back of the monster’s head to finish the job. The zombie’s teeth rattled on their way down the slide and plopped in the mud below.
She was far from finished. The horde rushed to devour her and she ran to meet them at the entrance to the yard. She got there first, and swung the iron gate closed as the creatures growled and tried to reach over the short fence to catch her.
The old fashioned, wrought iron fence had decorative spikes on top, which had been what killed Dante earlier. The zombies clustered in front of the fence, reaching across and swiping at her.
She knew it wouldn’t take them long to get over.
“All right,” said Laura. “Let’s do this, fuckers.” She backed away from the fence as the horde tried to climb it, and then ran forward and leapt at the closest face. She grabbed the zombie’s head and drove
it down into the spike below, piercing the creature through its eye socket as she fell to her back in the mud, safe from the grasping claws of the other Greys.
She got back up to do it again.
“One by one,” she said and wiped her brow. “I’ve got all night.”
Then the gunfire started. She was startled and ducked as the zombies on the other side of the fence started to drop. Laura looked back and saw Ben emerge from the smoke,
Laura’s assault rifle in his hands.
“Oh thank God!” She
stayed low as she rushed back to the church entrance. Ben stopped firing when she got close and she asked, “Where are the others?”
“We got separated,” said Ben. “There were Greys in there.”
“I’m going back in for them.”
They heard Stubs bark from somewhere inside the church.
“No you’re not,” said Ben as he held Laura back. “Zack was right behind me. He went back in for Billy and Harrison. You stay with me.”
“But I need him,” said Laura, without even realizing why she’d said it. Ben looked at her and she said again, like a heartbroken teen, “I need him.”
“He’ll be fine. I’m starting to think that guy’s impossible to kill.”
“You’d better be right.”
Laura got down and stared through the pocket of air that hovered over the floor of the church as the white smoke billowed out. She heard the pounding of feet on the stairs before Zack came bounding up. She moved out of his way as he thundered past, a force of nature with a barrel chest and scorched cheeks, eyes clenched shut to protect them from the smoke. He knocked Ben to the side as he blindly charged into the yard and then gasped for air as he knelt down on one knee. Billy and Harrison were each laid over one of his shoulders and he tried to gently lay them down before he collapsed to the mud. Harrison held Stubs aloft with both hands, like a cherished treasure stolen from an ancient, collapsing shrine.
“Zack!” Laura crawled through the mud and fell over him as he huffed. She kissed him over and over as she cried. “You son of a bitch! You almost got yourself killed. What would I do without you? Are you okay?” She kissed his forehead, and then his lips. “I love you, you big dumb bastard. Are you okay?”
He reached out and set his rough palm against the side of her face. “Never better.”
“That’s sweet and all,” said Ben. “But we’re not out of this yet.”
“Holy shit,” said Zack as he saw the horde on the other side of the fence. They were clamoring to get over, some of them even impaling themselves on the spikes in their attempt. The sacrificed Greys acted like bridges for the ones behind, and the zombies started to flood into the yard.
Billy and Harrison moaned as Zack nudged them. “Get up, guys. We’ve got trouble.”
Billy coughed and groaned as he tried to get up. He saw the zombies climbing over the fence. “Oh great, and here I thought shit was about to get easier for once.”
“Oh fuck this,” said Harrison as he sat hunched, looking every part
like the drunk hurling in a back alley. He put the dog on the ground and then grimaced as he straightened his old bones and stood tall. “I take back every nice thing I said about you, God. You’re just prolonging this now, aren’t you?” Lightning snapped in the air as if in response. Harrison shook his fist at the sky and yelled, “Oh shut up!”
Stubs growled at the horde and started to spin in a circle. Then he lifted his leg and peed on the corpse near the slide before kicking dirt back at it, like a bull getting ready to charge.
The group stood against the horde, bearing the meager weapons they had left. Ben handed Zack the axe. Billy still had his rifle and Laura had her pistol in its holster under her suit. She wormed her arm through the sleeve to reach down and retrieve it. Harrison grabbed a piece of wood, willing to do what he could when the horde got close enough.
A light glowed on the horizon, bright white splitting the darkness as the wind pushed the storm west, driving rain into their faces as they stood against the
crowd. “What in the…” Laura started to ask just as the horn of a semi blared.
“The Rollers!” Zack exclaimed and thrust his axe in the air. “Look who came back for us!”
“Those dumb bastards,” said Billy, a wide smile on his face.
Zack laughed and spun, performing a silly dance as joy overwhelmed him. “I told them not to, I swear. I told them to get out of here, but they never listen to me. You see? They don’t listen to a damn word I say.” He laughed and then cheered.
Most of the horde that hadn’t scaled the fence turned to watch the trucks advance. The others were easy for Billy to take out with his rifle, which also sent a signal to The Rollers that they were there.
Three trucks rumbled up to the rear yard of the church and there were Rollers on the top, ready to clear the scene. They ravaged the horde, shattering the Greys into splinters of bone and strips of flesh.
When the massacre was over, she saw Arthur in the passenger seat of the lead truck.
“You were supposed to get to safety,” said Laura as she walked toward the gate.
“And you were supposed to get in the truck,” said Arthur. “So let’s not start pointing fingers.”
“Where are the others?” asked Zack.
“We split up,” said Arthur. “The survivors from Vineyard and our wounded went ahead a ways to wait for us. We got together some Rollers to come back here and save your asses.”
“You know how I feel about people disregarding orders,” said Laura as she opened the gate and started to climb over the corpses to get to Arthur’s truck.
“Oh shit,” said Zack. “You pissed her off now, kid.”
She climbed up to the side of the truck, trying to keep a scowl on her face as she opened the door. Laura took Arthur’s head in her hands and kissed him. “I owe you one.”
Abe was in the driver’s seat beside Arthur and started laughing. “Shit, I thought she was about to deck you.”
Then Laura slapped Arthur. She smirked as she pointed at him. “Don’t disobey me again.”
“Yes Ma’am,” said Arthur as he rubbed his cheek.
Laura waved at the others. “Mount up, guys. This ain’t over yet.”
Two years after the apocalypse
Reagan is in the Nederland facility, facing his son.
“We have a lot to talk about,” said Reagan’s son. He snapped his fingers and waved at the others to leave. “Can I have a moment, please?”
The men in lab coats put down their beakers and clipboards, and headed for the door. Duke and the other soldier stood sentry as the scientists left.
“You two as well,” said Reagan’s son to the soldiers.
“Sir,” said Duke. “With all due respect, he’s dangerous. We have no way of monitoring this room. I’d feel more comfortable if you let us…”
“Enough.” Reagan’s son had mastered the art of command. His tone was perfectly terse and tense enough to silence the soldiers without shaming them. “Thank you for your concern, but I’ve known this man for a very long time. I’m in no danger here.” He held out his wrist to reveal a simple, silver bracelet. “Besides, I’m hooked into The Electorate’s bio-monitors. If he somehow manages to break his cuffs and murder me, you’ll know it. I assure you. But he won’t do that, because if anything happens to me, then we’ll kill his two little friends.”
“Yes sir,” said Duke. “Should we wait outside?”
“That would be fine,” said Reagan’s son.
Duke and Reagan’s choking victim went out of the room and closed the door. Reagan’s son followed and then turned the lock on the door which caused vents in the room to kick back on, changing the air pressure. Reagan’s ears popped during the process, as if he had been descending a mountain.
His son rubbed his ear and snickered. “Sorry about that. We’ve found the virus proliferates better at lower altitudes, which makes experimenting in the mountains a bit of a challenge.”
“Jim
, what’s going on?” asked Reagan, his mind reeling. “How are you alive? I don’t understand.”
“Please, have a seat,” said Reagan’s son as he motioned to a stool opposite the lab table he was standing beside. “I’ve got answers for you, but first we have to come to an understanding. The last time we met, it didn’t turn out so well for me.”
“Jim, I never wanted to hurt you. Everything I ever did was for you and your mother.”
Jim put his finger to his lips and squinted as he shushed his father. “You have no idea what you’re saying. Sit and be quiet for a moment.” He walked to another part of the room to
get a computer tablet as Reagan sat down. The captain’s muscles were unwilling to keep him up. He felt like the world was spinning without him as he braced himself on the gleaming black surface of the lab table.
Jim returned with the tablet
and held it up to show Reagan a security footage feed displaying several small squares. Reagan recognized the hallway outside of the room they were in where Duke and his friend were standing guard.