Authors: Simon Smith-Wilson

Zombies: The Black Rock (2 page)

‘
Did
you see that?’ asked Doctor Fills.

Commander
Van said nothing. He was too shocked.

Soldiers
took aim on the zombies coming over the ten-foot gate, but it was no
good. The zombies were organised, they were fast and they were
effective. And now they had gained accesses into the base. Glass
exploded into the interior of the command room. Val and Fills spun
around towards the reinforced glass window. It had been destroyed.
Several people in the room had been impaled by the glass. Stood in
the window was something not of this world. It was big. It oozed a
liquid that dripped from its black skin. It was like an angel of
death. It looked like a black shadow of pain and agony. A strange
clicking sound vibrated from its throat. Four long arms opened up,
spreading six foot across. Razor sharp claws shone like blades from a
samurai movie. A terrifying smile split the creature’s mouth,
revealing teeth that should have belonged to a great white shark.

***

The
sound of the motorbikes powerful engine echoed across the open
landscape. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, casting the
world in a strange purple glow. Bishop kicked down the stand and
swung his leg off the bike. Beth was tucked into the backpack on his
back. The young zombie girl had half her skull exposed, the rest of
her face flapped in the wind. Beth had lost her arms and legs in the
battle of Green Hills. Bishop scratched at his exposed cheek bone. It
was weird because the injury didn’t hurt, but it felt like it
itched pretty damn bad. A bullet to the face could do that to you.
Python stumbled off his bike and gave out an annoyed tut. The rotund
bearded zombie was still getting used to the makeshift wooden leg
that Bishop had made him. Python had lost his right leg from the knee
down. A bunch of fucking humans had tried to kill him, but he had
managed to escape. He thought he was going to die until Bishop and
Beth turned up, feeding him fresh meat to stop the madness setting
in.

‘
She
isn’t far away,’ said Bishop, sniffing the air.

He
had been following Natasha since Green Hills.

He
was following his wife.

He
wouldn’t stop until that bitch was dead.

Natasha
had used Bishop’s five-year-old daughter as a shield when
Bishop had turned. At the time, Bishop was just another brainless
zombie, but the more fresh meat a zombie eats, the more of its former
self it regains. Bishop remembers everything and soon he would have
his revenge. A beautiful red glow of light hovered in the air. It was
like some kind of beautiful optical illusion. Only he could see it.
It was the link between him and Natasha. There was nowhere she could
escape. He could follow her blood anywhere.

‘
We
may have trouble,’ said Python.

‘
I
smell it too,’ added Beth.

Bishop
frowned. He was so consumed by Natasha that he couldn’t pick up
on the scent of fresh blood.

‘
There
is a human in there.’ Python pulled his pump action shotgun off
his motorbike and headed towards the petrol station. ‘I will go
round the back, you go around the front.’

Bishop
slipped the backpack off his shoulders and placed Beth down by the
pumps.

‘
I
will be right back.’

‘
Okay.’

Bishop
pulled his revolver from his pants. Only six bullets left.

***

‘
Shit!’
Crystal ducked down behind the petrol station counter, as the two men
began to approach. ‘Shit. Shit. Shit,’ she cursed, as she
clutched her five-week old baby to her chest. In her left hand, she
held a long kitchen knife. The blade was soaked with blood. ‘What
am I going to do? What am I going to do?’ The baby began to
cry.

***

Bishop
pushed open the glass door and stepped into the petrol station. One
complete aisle length shelf unit had been knocked down onto the
floor. Pretty much, every single item of food had been ransacked from
the place. The only things that remained were various types of
domestic cleaning bottles and clip strips full of crap that you
couldn’t even get rid of in a looting spree.

He
sniffed the air.

The
scent of blood was powerful and fresh.

‘
I
know you are here,’ he announced, raising his gun towards the
counter.

Broken
glass cracked beneath his boots, as he walked through the small
store.

‘
You
should come out now and make it easier on yourself.’

‘
Please
don’t hurt me,’ said Crystal, her voice full of fear.

‘
I
am not going to hurt you,’ Bishop lied. In truth, he didn’t
like hurting people, but a zombie had to eat. If he didn’t eat
then, the hunger would take him and he would turn into a bumbling
idiot just like those other zombies. The only way to keep your sanity
was to kill. Crystal appeared from behind the counter, holding her
baby. A tinge of guilt filled his chest. Why did she have to have a
fucking baby?

‘
I
have a baby,’ she announced.

The
baby groaned.

Bishop
frowned.

The
woman covered the babies face.

That
was not the cry of a baby.

He
raised the gun.

‘
Show
me the child.’

‘
No!’

He
stepped forward. Crystal waved the knife in the air, but that wasn’t
going to do a fucking thing to hurt him. Python placed the barrel of
his shotgun against the back of her head. He had managed to get right
behind the woman without her even noticing.

‘
Show
us,’ he ordered.

Slowly,
the woman removed the hood of the baby outfit.

The
zombie baby growled and chewed at the air. Dead eyes looked up at the
mother. Dried blood covered the newborn baby’s cheeks and chin.

‘
Now
that is fucked up,’ said Python.

‘
Please,
don’t hurt her,’ begged Crystal. ‘She is only five
weeks old. They bit her, you know? She turned into one of those
things. She doesn’t even have teeth, how is she supposed to
feed?’

‘
Is
that why there is a chopped up dude out the back?’ asked
Python.

‘
I-I...
I had to do it,’ said Crystal, madness swirled behind the
windows of her soul.

‘
You
have been feeding your kid live humans?’

‘
She
has to eat.’

‘
You
are one dedicated mother. So, what do you want to do with her?’
asked Python.

Bishop
sighed and holstered his gun. This was too fucked up even for him.

‘
I
think we should refuel and get....’ An agonising pain
splintered across his skull. It was like someone was trying to rip
his brain from his head. Frightening images of a large black
creature, screaming faces, a towering black rock and an army of
zombies appeared within his mind eye. Bishop stumbled backwards, as
the edges of his vision blurred into darkness. The world appeared to
be spinning. Demonic black soulless eyes of the terrifying creature
played in his mind like a bad movie. And then there was nothing but
darkness.

***

Crystal
ran outside, her heart was beating at a hundred miles an hour. She
skidded to a stop at the sight of Beth’s mutilated body. The
child was unconscious, too, just like the two zombie men inside.
Crystal didn’t know what just happened, but she knew that
someone up there was taking care of her. She was sure they were going
to eat her, but then, for no reason, they both collapsed at the same
time. Tired eyes looked up at the heavens. The sun was setting and
the darkness was creeping in. She had to find a new shelter within
this limited light. Crystal sprinted across the main road, climbed a
small wooden fence and began to run off across a field.

***

‘
Come...
to... me...’ the voice spoke in a low, deep growl. ‘Come...
to... me...’

Bishop
woke with a start. He gasped for air, as he tried to take stock of
the situation. Had someone tried to kill him? What had happened? One
moment he was standing in front of that woman and the next he was out
for the count. Python was sitting up against the counter, looking
equally as confused.

‘
What
the fuck just happened?’

‘
I
haven’t got a clue,’ replied Bishop.

‘
HELP!’
Beth screamed at the top of her lungs. ‘BISHOP, HELP ME!’

‘
Fuck!’
Both men were up and moving in seconds. Bishop had never heard her
sound so distressed.

***

Bishop
was the first one out. Wide eyes caught sight of the two dogs tugging
on Beth. Intestines, guts and lungs were scattered across the petrol
station forecourt. Bishop fired off a quick snapshot, missing both
dogs. The sound of the gunshot echoed like a thunderclap. Both dogs
scattered. Bishop holstered his gun and approached Beth. If the
little girl could cry, she probably would. There was not much
left of her. Bishop was surprised she was still alive. She had lost
half her face, all her limbs and all her internal organs. How much
damage could a zombie take before it finally died? Beth was the very
definition of a fighter. Bishop lifted the bloody torso from the
floor and hugged her close to his chest, life a father holding a
baby.

***

‘
I
don’t think this is a good idea, Colt,’ said Lisa. The
window wipers throbbed back and forth, as the rain lashed down upon
the windscreen. Colt was sitting in the driver’s seat.
Two more cars made up the convoy of survivors.

‘
You
don’t have to come with me,’ said Colt.

‘
Don’t
be like that.’

Colt
sighed. ‘I have to know what happened to my family.’

‘
The
city is overflowing with zombies,’ said Sheridan, from the
backseat.

‘
It
is a suicide mission,’ added Lisa.

‘
We
will find shelter tonight, but I will go on alone tomorrow,’
insisted Colt. It didn’t matter what any of them said he was
heading into the city. He had to know if his family got out alive or
not. He had to know. ‘What the fuck is that?’ The truck
slowed to a standstill on the bridge. All eyes turned to the black
rock embedded in the city centre. Towering buildings overshadowed the
impact crater. The black rock looked so foreign and out of place.
Suddenly, a small explosion erupted at the end of the bridge. Colt
strained his eyes to see through the downpour of rain. Two soldiers
were running onto the bridge, followed by two dozen zombies. ‘Lisa,
get on the gun.’ Lisa didn’t need telling twice. She
unlocked the top hatch and climbed out onto the machine gun. Colt put
the truck into gear and pulled forward at speed.

***

Blood
splattered across the windscreen, as the decaying corpses popped like
balloons. Colt’s truck smashed into the group with brutal
effectiveness. Tires screeched, as they came to an abrupt stop at the
end of the bridge. The window wipers throbbed back and forth,
removing lumps of flesh from the windscreen. Colt looked beyond the
bridge towards the hundreds of zombies ambling through the streets
towards them. The back hatch was thrown open as Sheridan dived out
onto the bridge. Colt followed. The rain lashed down hard upon them.
It only took a handful of seconds to soak them all to the bone. The
majority of the zombies on the bridge were disabled bodies that
shouldn’t be alive. Legs were facing the wrong way. One zombie
had been cut clean in two, but still continued to reach out for them.
Colt pulled out one of his handguns and put down the zombies closest
to him. He made killing the walkers so damn easy. Two soldiers were
on the bridge. They were both in their early twenties. One guy
approached them with relief written across his face.