Dark Bites
Part 1 - Windy City of the Dead
by
Robert Ropars
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Robert Ropars on Smashwords
Revision: 12/13/10
Dark Bites, Windy City of the Dead
Copyright © 2010 by Robert Ropars
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
* * * * *
There are a few people I’d like to thank.
Nikole, for your friendship and help making sense of the horror I’m creating (and finding the goofs that crept in). My family and friends for love and support as I explore my creative endeavors. Most importantly those who inspired my artistic bent and always inspire me: David Lynch, George Romero, Edward Gorey, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Bloch, Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and those who may be slipping away from my memory at this point.
Dark Bites will be published as a series of ebooks focusing on horror standards (zombies, werewolves, vampires, etc.) with strong female lead characters and new twists on the genre and these classic legends while getting back to the basics. Once all of the parts have been published, the collection will be published together in paperback and ebook format.
Contact the author:
Email: robropars@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertropars
* * * * *
Dark Bites
Part 1 - Windy City of the Dead
* * * * *
Crow Lee awoke with a start. She was dreaming of her mother performing a tea ceremony in a kimono for her and her father. Her father was dressed in a traditional Japanese outfit as well. Her mother was Native American, and Crow bore the striking features of both her parents, but she’d never seen them doing anything like this.
Suddenly, the dream she was having slipped from her thoughts lost forever as the real world pushed its way into her consciousness. It was dark, some time in the middle of the night and something had awoken her.
Sitting up she blinked away the sleep and cocked her head to the side. At 27, she’d gotten used to living alone in the three years since moving from Seattle to Chicago. Her parents weren’t thrilled to see her go, but respected her decision.
She knew something had awoken her, and it was something she sensed more than heard. A feeling. A hum or buzz. Then she felt it, a vibration shaking her condo. What the hell was happening? A variety of theories went through her mind, but one kept repeating: earthquake.
Just as suddenly as it began it was over. At least the vibration was over, but an audible hum continued. Crow struggled to place the sound and then realized it sounded like an idling truck. That’s what it sounded like and if she were anywhere else she would believe it. But her condo was 52 stories above the city of Chicago, and she couldn’t hear 50 trucks idling from this height.
Heart racing, breathing fast, she jumped out of bed and ran to her living room. Crossing to the sliding glass door she went out on her porch. Scanning the surrounding buildings, she saw various lights coming on as other people awoke.
Shivering in the early morning air, she realized her white cotton t-shirt and boxer shorts weren’t the best choice. But Crow felt adrenaline temporarily offsetting the cold. Her condo was near Lake and Dearborn streets near the Chicago River. Crow looked east towards Lake Michigan and then down.
As the wind blew towards her sporadically, she thought she could hear a faint echo of car alarms and sirens, and to the southeast she saw smoke coming from behind a building. In the sky above the building, she saw an orange glow. Crow now realized that it wasn’t an earthquake but perhaps a plane crash.
Running back inside, she flipped on her television and started scanning news channels. At the same time, she opened her laptop and began checking news sites, social networks and video sites. It was only ten minutes since she had woken up, but she found a video clip already online.
Reaching for her purse, Crow dug around until she found her phone and a cigarette pack, which was empty. She’d forgotten she was going to grab some on the way to work.
Clicking to the video clip she flipped her phone open and quickly sent a mass text message to all of her local friends and family: “R U OK?!?! WTF think a plane crashed downtown!” As she hit send, a breaking news bulletin started on TV as the video clip started. She muted her computer and her eyes flipped back/forth between the two sources of perpetual information. Her phone began to beep as various contacts began to reply.
A newscaster was still having a microphone hooked on his label and last minute makeup applied. He quickly dismissed them realizing they were already “live” and started calmly into his bulletin. “I’m David Taylor with a WMXV breaking news alert. A few minutes ago, an object crashed in the Loop area. Apparently the object cut through the corner of one office tower before impacting near the Thompson Center.”
Crow’s multitasking eyes were trained now on the laptop that showed some inane teens performing dares in their apartment. Suddenly one of them was pointing off “camera” and in a flurry of movement, the view refocused as it was brought out onto a deck similar to hers. She watched as the inebriated kid steadied himself and focused the camera on the building next to them.
At first it was hard to see what they were looking at, but then you could see a glow starting to appear in the clouds. In the glass of the building, the reflection of an object on a collision course could be seen getting larger and clearer.
Before Crow could really see what it was the camera shook and then refocused as an object tore through the corner of the building across from the party tearing a massive hole in the process. An explosion was heard and almost instantly, a shockwave erupted knocking the partiers down and the footage abruptly stopped.
Crow refocused on the TV in time to hear the newscaster state “The FAA when contacted a few minutes ago confirmed tracking an unknown object on radar, but denied that it was a plane. Again, FAA initially reporting that the object does not appear to have been a plane.”
Crow noticed it had started to rain, and the reporter was motioning to someone off camera and was soon handed an umbrella. Looking back down she saw the video had ended and the next video had launched. Closing the browser, she focused fully on the TV.
“Rumors are already spreading online that it was a meteorite and of course some claim it was a UFO. WMXV has been unable to reach the Air Force for a comment. We will continue to…hold on…” David Taylor looked away and touched his earpiece and Crow saw him mouth “What?”
“Ladies and gentlemen…the police department has issued an alert asking all citizens to remain in their homes. Due to the potentially dangerous fires, fumes or…” why was he pausing? He looked really out of sorts she thought.
“Or chemicals that could be released in a crash or explosion, agencies from the FAA, NTSB, FEMA, the CDC and HAZMAT teams are being mobilized for the response. Police are sealing off the area to keep back onlookers. Again, please remain in your homes and let the agencies responding handle the matter so this can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Crow went to the bathroom and peed. She was really craving a cigarette and some coffee. She suddenly remembered where she’d left an emergency pack of cigarettes. She finished peeing, flushed and headed to the kitchen, the slate flooring felt particularly cold on her bare feet.
Pouring old coffee into a mug she put in the microwave on “beverage” mode and crossed to a drawer. Sure enough at the back of the drawer were a single pack and some matches. Pulling it out and opening it, she pulled one out, struck a match and was soon inhaling and exhaling the deadly fumes that made her so calm.
Her phone continued to beep as more people replied to her message. The microwave joined in the cacophony of noises and she retrieved the heated coffee, added some sugar, stirred with a finger and sipped. It was horrible as she figured it would be, but even bad coffee was better than none.
Walking back to the living room she tapped her cigarette into an ashtray and continue to watch the news, smoke and drink coffee. The newscaster was still on reading announcements. He seemed rather disconcerted about something. Crow pondered the agencies he said were coming, as it seemed like a lot of people. For a moment she wondered if it really was a UFO.
* * * * *
Crow picked up her phone and started to scan through the messages. Her friends were ok it appeared, but she saw several from her brother. Opening the last one it read “…ing again!” Confused she paged back and read his texts from the beginning.
“Sis-check out this video. A guy I know sent me the link.”
“Did you watch it yet?”
“R U THERE?”
“I know u will say im nutz-its real its all real. They r rising up and it’s happen…”
“…ing again!”
Crow typed a reply that she was watching the video and would “BRB” so he’d stop incessantly texting her and as usual wondered how he typed so fast.
Tapping on the hyperlink, her phone’s browser opened and the clip began to load. She saw what appeared to be a college dorm room and a young man seated in front of his computer speaking into the monitor.
“Hi. This is Jason with my new video blog. Zombies. What the government knows and is keeping from you.”
Crow took another drag and sighed as she exhaled. Her brother was a few steps away from paranoid and tended to collect conspiracy freaks as friends.
On the TV, the newscaster was reporting the police were encountering looters near the crash site and were doing their best to contain the situation. The steady rain was apparently hampering their efforts and made visibility difficult.
“I was reading in the library about this supposed plane crash ten years ago in Ohio. Something about the reports didn’t make sense so I got a copy of everything I could find and read every page.”
“Then about two weeks later I found a copy of an FAA report which discussed the event and referred to the object as a bogey. It went on to clarify that no flights could be correlated to the crash. The report was stamped “CLASSIFIED” but had been apparently accidentally declassified nine years later during a change in personnel.”
“Nobody had paid attention to it so I decided to dig deeper. I contacted the witnesses and no one would talk to me. It took days before someone told me the truth. I could hardly believe it but he swears it was true. It was a meteorite. But not just any meteorite, but it had some special bacteria or virus in it. Within a few minutes of impact in a farm field, a farmer and his family were found killed.”
“The police followed a trail back to a nearby farming cemetery, one of those little ones that families use to bury their own dead for generations. The graves were dug up, supposedly from within. Yes my friends…zombies.”
Crow exhaled and coughed as she paused the video. She giggled and started to laugh as she reached for the coffee and took another sip.
“Again ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm. Police, fire and paramedics are at the scene handling the situation. We…we’re getting reports…apparently there are…we’ve received reports from an eyewitness that homeless people appear to be coming up from lower Wacker and out of the sewers attacking the first responders.”
Crow choked and spit out her coffee.
“Our reporter is now live on the scene, Natalia can you hear me?”
“Thanks David. Well as you can see behind me, a huge impact crater with flames sits in the middle of the street. Fire fighters are struggling to put out the flames and police are now faced with a growing mob of what looks like homeless people coming at them from all directions.”
Crow watched in silence as the reporter and her camera crew moved closer and suddenly stopped as shots rang out. They turned to see a police officer firing into the air over an approaching crowd who seemed unfazed. He turned to his men and gave orders, the officers drew their weapons and stepped back and aimed.
“It appears they are going to…AAUUGGH.”
The cameraman spun around in time to focus on the reporter being grabbed by two men. She was struggling and kicking and begging for help. One of the men pulled her arm up to his mouth and with a moan bit her. She screamed louder and in the background the sounds of gunshots rang out, the cameraman dropped his camera as he ran to help his colleague.
The camera ended up on its side pointing towards the police who were firing at the growing crowd, which was quickly outnumbering the officers. As they began to retreat a few spun and pointed behind them. Another group was coming from behind them cutting off their only escape. As the men fired in all directions yelling for back up and help, a firefighter turned a hose on the closest group knocking them back.
A few officers made it, but the rest were grabbed and pulled into the mass. Their shots and screams were suddenly drowned out by the foreground noise of the cameraman and his reporter obviously fighting for their lives. The rain grew in intensity making it hard to focus. Crow saw some of the crowd lifting objects in the air. The rain was ending, but it still hard to see what was happening.
Crow sat frozen in terror as she heard crying and screaming. Sickening growling sounds and what sounded like chewing and breaking of sticks emanated through her speakers. Slowly there was only the sound of chewing and moaning. A pool of blood ran slowly past the camera and started to pool along the bottom of the lens.
For a moment, there was only sickening meaty, juicy sounds of feasting and then you could hear feet shuffling closer and closer. Crow watched as they came into picture and kept walking. Suddenly one of them spoke a guttural, raspy voice that said, “Brains…” The screen suddenly cut back to the studio.
“This is David Reynolds reporting live for WMXV. We are experiencing technical difficulties with our team and we’ll bring them back as soon as we can reconnect the feed. And now a brief commercial interruption.”
The channel cut away to a cat food commercial and Crow sat back. She put out her cigarette and sat for a moment in stunned silence.
* * * * *
Her phone was exploding with text messages. She went to the sink and washed her face with water before coming back to the couch. Picking up her phone she saw more texts from her brother and a friend, both of whom had seen the same thing.
Flipping open her laptop, she saw copies of the video were already loaded on the video sites and then checking social networks, various postings and trends about “Chicago Zombies” and “Windy City Zombies” were already starting to be referenced and forwarded by others.
It was impossible she thought to herself. That’s only in the movies. Zombies aren’t real. She went over to the sliding door and went back out on the porch. The glow was still present and she definitely could hear sirens and helicopters were now circling the area.
This can’t be happening. Wait that video she was watching, she’d paused it. She lifted up her phone and tapped the “play” icon.
“While the police were investigating the zombies attacked. Fortunately they were really old bodies and slow. The more recent the death the faster they were, the smarter they were. Some of them were over a 100 years old and more skeleton than anything.”
“The cops shot through their heads and then resorted to shovels. In the end, two of the cops were bitten, but they stopped the outbreak quickly. The two dead cops suddenly reanimated and they too had to be killed. It was an isolated rural area so a large-scale outbreak was avoided.”
“The government swooped in and made everyone sign confidentiality papers, paid them off and covered everything up. All of the zombie bodies were burned on the spot. My contacts in the military told me that they were hoping to analyze the meteorite to be able to make super soldiers immune to death or easy to bring back to keep fighting. I guess this would have been a case of ‘Don’t ask, don’t smell.’”
Crow had about enough of this geek, but what if it was true. That would explain what she just saw on TV and all those government agencies coming so fast. Ok just assume it’s true. Now what? Like most people in the city she ate out most of the time and had little in the way of food supplies. She didn’t have a car because parking spots are at a premium and cost more than her annual rent.
She had to get away, but didn’t want to be the stupid girl in the movie who ends up running, tripping and bitten. She had no desire to end up being a zombie snack. What she needed was a plan and weapons.
Crow thought about all the zombie movies she’d seen and videogames she’d played. She made a mental inventory of her assets as ideas came to her. Guns? None. Cricket bats? Nope. Baseball bats? Nada. She walked back into her condo and began going room to room looking for feasible weapons. What she need was something strong and portable that didn’t require ammo or fuel.
After a few minutes she had assembled a menagerie of objects on her table: a broom, a frying pan, a rolling pin, a hammer, a fire extinguisher, the back lid of her toilet, a heavy metal flashlight, and a few other odds and ends. She was sure with time she could break the legs of some chairs or tables, but it was a start.
Ok next step; protection from biting. Not much good there, but she had some scarves and joint wraps from hurting her knee. She could at least put some padding around her neck and other extremities to make it harder for them to bite her.
She paused for a minute. Was she being completely insane? It’s the middle of the night and she’s preparing to fight zombies? It’s a dream it must be. Her phone buzzed again, this time ringing.
Reaching for the phone she saw it was Rachel her best friend.
“Rachel? Did you…”
“Crow? I’m so scared! I was at a club with someone and he just ran. There are these freaky homeless people attacking people.”
“Rachel! Listen to me… they’re… they’re zombies! You’ve got to hide, get somewhere safe.”
“What? What the fuck are you talking about? They’re just crazy homeless people!”
“Rachel listen it was on the news. There was…”
“Oh no they see me.”
Crow could tell from the sounds and her breathing that she was walking faster and then running.”
“There’s more ahead… shit! I don’t know what to do!”
“Rachel listen to me you have to…”
It was clear that Rachel was no longer listening and was in a sheer panic now running like a trapped mouse surrounded by dozens of very hungry cats.
“AAAAUUUUGGGHHH LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!”
Hysterical she was running again completely ignoring Crow.
“Rachel!”
“I got to an alley I’m going to run down it and I should…NO! There’s more in the alley! I’m trapped! I don’t want to be raped and die! HEELLLLPPP!!”
By this point Crow knew Rachel didn’t even realize she was still holding a phone and that Crow was hearing everything. She wanted to hang up but was paralyzed with terror.
“Get away from me.”
They were close now, moving in from all sides. Crow could hear their moaning and groaning. Then above Rachel’s screaming and yelling Crow heard one of them speak.
“Brains….”
It started with one zombie, and then another started until it became a chorus of chanting zombies voicing that which they craved most.
Rachel was obviously trapped in the alley and Crow heard her lashing out with limbs and throwing trash in a futile attempt to keep the hoard of flesh-hungry undead away.
Crow listened shaking and sobbing as Rachel was finally trapped by the sheer mass of undead. She screamed and yelled as old teeth in ancient moldy jaws made contact with food for the first time in ages. Crow could imagine the blood beginning to spurt and pour from various wounds all over her body.
Crow couldn’t know that a younger, faster zombie had pushed past the others. It grabbed her arm and pulled her close so it could bury its teeth in her neck. Blood sprayed the crowd, many of whom were too far back to feed. These struggled to catch the spray of blood in their dry, dusty mouths. Rachel was screaming and crying out in pain and sheer terror.
As her friend’s phone fell to the ground, Crow dropped her hand and hit the off button as the revolting sounds of gurgling screams mixed with the chewing and biting which were escalating and bones snapping. She knelt sobbing for some time. Her best friend was dead. Fuck, soon she’d be one of them if she didn’t get her ass out of Dodge.
* * * * *
Suddenly the lights began to flicker. The TV seemed to have some interference. The newscaster was back on and was really looking upset now. He began to tell the viewers that the governor had issued a state of emergency and declared martial law. He had also requested the Illinois National Guard be deployed to maintain order and contain the rioting.
“Rioting?” Crow was immediately angry as she realized a cover up was starting. She knew they would blame everything on a small group of homeless rioters who took advantage of a disaster and sweep everything under the rug.
“A curfew has been issued and all schools and offices will be closed tomorrow to keep the city as clear as possible during this crisis. Again, there is no need to panic, the Chicago police are in the process of mopping up at this moment.”
The lights flickered again. Then the lights went out. Moving in the darkness to her sliding door, which was visible thanks to the external light, she went back on the porch she leaned over the railing. It was clear that the entire building was dark, and she could hear screams coming from various tenants above and below.
Her cell phone was buzzing, more text messages. She found her way to it and looked. It was her brother again.
“U ok?”
She replied that she was, but that Rachel had been killed. She then called him.
“Hey sis. I’m so glad you’re ok. What happened to Rachel?”
Crow told him what she’d heard and was crying well before she finished. She had another cigarette going in her shaking hands desperate to get calm.
“You were right Michael. They’re fucking zombies. They ate Rachel. Now the power is out and I don’t know what to do. I have some weapons ready, but I don’t know if I should stay or try and make a run for it.”
“Sis you’ve got to get out of the city, the last outbreak was in the country. This is Chicago. Think of all those people, the cops and firefighters, they’re going to be an army soon. You know what that means… At some point it’s going to reach a tipping point and the mayor, the governor…hell the president will give an order.”
Crow exhaled trying not to think about it.
“They’ll give an order to secure, contain and eradicate. They’ll light up the Windy City like the Fourth of July. It’ll make the Great Chicago Fire look like a backyard fire pit. You have to get the fuck out of the city right now!”
Crow sighed and closed her eyes.
“Ok. I’ll get a few things and get going right now. There has to be someone in this building with a car. Trains and buses aren’t running so that’s that. Has to be a car.”
“You’re only a few blocks from the river and not too far from the lake. Don’t forget the lake. Maybe you can get on a boat. The lake is so close, maybe that would be easier than trying to make it out of the city to the west?”
“I…I don’t know I guess.”
“Crow go now. Text me along the way. Call me as often as you can.”
“Ok. I love you. Talk to you soon.”
“Bye.”
Crow hung up and put out her cigarette. Fumbling on the table she found her flashlight and turned it on. She swung the flashlight’s circle of light around looking at her supplies. She ran to the bedroom and began hunting through her closet. Within a few minutes she had pulled out a backpack and then hurried to her dresser. Quickly extracting clothing she shoved them into the backpack and returned to the family room.
Within the kitchen, she assembled some knives, matches, the pack of cigarettes and assorted snacks and treats. Back to the living room she reviewed the weapons. The hammer she loaded into her backpack. She didn’t see that she had much choice other than the broomstick. Picking it up she kicked a few times to break the bristle part off so she was left with only the stick part.
It wasn’t the best weapon, but would have to do. She put it down, put on her backpack, picked up the broomstick, the flashlight and patted her pants pocket. She realized that she was missing her wallet.
Shining the light over to the kitchen counter she saw it. Heading over she picked up and then jumped as her phone suddenly buzzed. She turned and remembered something else of critical importance, the phone’s charger. If her phone died while she was on the run…
Moving the light over to the nearest socket she saw the phone’s charger hanging from the wall. She put it into the backpack and sighed as she paused to go over everything again.
Moving back to the living room she picked up her mobile phone and reviewed the last message. It was a text from her brother.
“Don’t trust anyone, be afraid of everyone. Remember, the more recent they died, the more the zombie…”
Crow flipped to the next message (2 of 2).
“… will appear normal and be fast. They might even be able to speak.”
“Great.”
Crow pocketed the phone and moved to the porch. Looking out, down and listening she heard more alarms and screams emanating from below. This was going to be fun.
She moved back inside and realized there was commotion out in the hallway. Looking out the peephole, Crow saw the hallway was dark, only dimly lit by security lighting. She heard a sound. She struggled to see and then realized one of the shadows was moving. Or was it? Her eyes might be playing tricks on her.
She thought she heard a low sound. What was it? Whispering?
“Keep moving…”
* * * * *
Crow could barely make out the words. Suddenly a light came on; it was a mobile phone’s screen lighting the way. She recognized the voice as one of her neighbors. He was walking hand in hand with a lady and a small child towards the stairwell.
Crow thought about the situation. With the power out, it was going to take forever to go down 52 flights of stairs. By the time she reached the bottom she’d be in no shape to outrun anything. Crow was pondering her next move when the lights came on suddenly blinding her and the three people in the hallway who screamed in unison.
Bracing herself, she opened the door and went out in the hallway. The trio looked at her and smiled while blinking their vision back into focus.
“You ok?” Crow asked.
“This sucks!” The couple’s teenaged son answered.
“We were going to try for our car in the garage. Do you have a car? I can’t recall. Crow isn’t it?”
Crow nodded to the father and then replied that she didn’t have a car.
“She could come with us right Dad?”
“Sure, we’re heading west to get out of the city, but I figure we need to go now and go fast.”
Crow thought this was the best thing she’d heard all night.
They moved to the elevators and paused. One of them was active and coming up. The four looked at each other and shrugged.
“Well at least they’re working now. I wasn’t looking forward to those stairs!”
Crow smiled at the lady from down the hall. The husband reached out and pushed the button to ensure it would stop on their floor. They waited and Crow realized the teen was eyeing her with little subtlety…unlike his father who was obviously checking her out while trying to keep his wife calm. Crow couldn’t believe that in the midst of a zombie plague hormones were still in command.
“God this is taking forever!” The teen moved over and starting pushing the button over and over.
“Tom, calm down! It won’t come any faster if you keep doing that.”
The floor number’s light came on and there was a familiar beep that occurs when an elevator is approaching its destination. Each member of the group was ready to get out of the building alive. That was a wish that had little chance of coming true.
The elevator had reached the 52nd floor, and stopped.
For a moment nothing occurred, and then the doors began to open. Crow had always hated how slow they were to open and close. The lights inside were flickering a bit and it was hard to take in what they were seeing. Inside the elevator, a woman lay on the floor in a near fetal position with her back towards the entrance. She didn’t appear to be moving.
The floor of the elevator was a pool of dark, rich red blood. The sight burned into their minds, as their eyes were unable to look away. Bleeding wounds that appeared to be bite marks covered her body. Some parts of her forearm had been devoured exposing muscle and bones on the one arm they could see.
“What the fuck?” The teen turned to move away from the elevator and get away from the horror.
Suddenly there was a hideous shriek and with amazing speed the woman sat up, hopped into a crouch and launched like a deranged giant undead frog at Tom’s back. The mutilated arm of the corpse was almost instantly around his neck. Before anyone could react, the lady corpse with great speed leaned forward and bit into his neck.
“AAAUUGGGHHH!!! Get this bitch off of me!!!”
The zombie bit clean through with a sickening squishy crunch and pulled back spraying blood over the parents. His severed artery started spurting and he dropped to his knees convulsing. It was then that Crow fully appreciated the true horror of what she was seeing.
Whatever had attacked this woman downstairs had fed for some time. Her face was largely eaten to the bone and her undead eyes looked upon them with insatiable hunger. Her exposed teeth displayed the flesh and blood being chewed. As Crow stared, blood spilled out through the gaping holes where cheeks had been.
“Must….must have…must have some brains!”
“Oh my God!!! TOM!!!!”
The parents leaned in to push the zombie off their only child. It was very strong and shoved them away. Tom fell to his side shaking and spurting blood from the fatal neck wound. He was already losing color and would be dead soon.
“Fresh brains….so fresh…”
Before anyone could do or say anything the zombie grabbed Tom’s head and smashed it into the floor. It cracked open as she slammed it a few more times. Crow began to gag, and retch. The creature fell quickly to her knees and began to pull at Tom’s hair and scalp. Desperate to get at the brains so close she could literally smell them.
Tom’s dad screamed and ran forward tackling the creature and both fell into the elevator. It had been opening and closing due to the zombie’s proximity to its sensors. The wife screamed for her husband between sobs and screams. She crawled on hands and knees to her boy.
As Crow stood stunned, vomit rising, the elevator doors closed on the epic, but ultimately futile battle between father and undead in the elevator. The doors closed slowly and then the elevator continued its upward journey.
“Oh my god!!!”
Crow turned to see her neighbor cradling the body that had once housed her son Tom’s soul. Crow hoped that his soul had gotten away quickly.
“Jane! Where are your keys?”
“My boy!”
“JANE!”
“My boy…WHY?”
Crow walked right over to her and backhanded her hard. The shock temporarily cleared the woman’s head.
“What?”
“Where are the car keys?”
“Mike…he has them.”
Crow closed her eyes and sighed. So they were at this moment in the pockets of another soon-to-be flesh eater some number of floors above with a zombie feeding away on its prize.
“Don’t you have another set? In your condo?”
“Uh…of course I’m sorry. They should be in the kitchen.”
Jane tossed her a spare front door key, and Crow turned and ran down the hall. She stopped halfway and looked back at Jane holding Tom like he was a newborn asleep in his arms.
“Jane. You should come with me. He’s going to turn any minute and…”
“My boy…”
Crow felt bad, but time was slipping away.
“Fuck it.”
* * * * *
She got to the condo door, unlocked it and entered. She started to walk further in then stopped. Her mind suddenly thought of all the zombie movies she’d seen. Returning to the door she looked out the peephole and saw a convex image of Jane far away lost in hysterical misery. Crow turned the dead bolt and locked the chain. Until she was ready to leave, she needed to ensure she was as safe as possible.
She had taken her bag with her and once in the kitchen she opened it. She pulled out some of the scarves and material she’d found and wrapped them around her neck and wrists. She also lit a much-needed cigarette. Enjoying the smoke, she realized this was incredibly rude, but given the circumstances…
Moving quickly she found the key holder and the spare keys. Thinking it prudent, she moved from room to room looking for critical supplies and/or solid portable weapons. Moving into Tom’s room she found plenty of well-read magazines under his bed, but nothing of value. She moved through the master bedroom and considered multiple options.
She wondered if they had any guns, it seemed unlikely, but worth a check. As quickly as she could, she went through the master bedroom closet. Finding nothing she moved to Mike’s den. There she found two things of interest: a baseball bat and a real samurai sword. Mike had apparently collected antiques, and they were fair game given the circumstances.
Briefly thrilled at her luck she dropped the broomstick and slung the samurai sword’s strap over her shoulder. The fit was a little big, but it would work. She practiced drawing it and swinging it. It was a little awkward at first, but it was surprisingly light and she quickly felt comfortable. The bat weighed more, and she figured she’d carry that as long as she could.
Returning to the main room she poured herself a drink and continued smoking. She knew she had to get going, but this brief reprieve was calming. Fortunately, or unfortunately, reality reasserted itself a few minutes later when she heard Jane yell from down the hall.
“Tom! NOOOO! AAAUUUGGGGHH!”
Running to the door, she watched the convex Tom attacking his convex mom. In a quick move, zombie-Tom had swung out of his baby position and knocked Jane to the floor. He had bitten her neck and was now attacking her face. From here Crow could only watch Jane’s convex feet struggling and jerking frantically and could barely hear her gurgling cries for help.
As if in slow motion, she unlocked the door and started to walk down the hall towards the horror. Hefting the baseball bat, she began to trot, then run as fury overrode common sense. Lifting the bat high she ran full speed towards Tom’s back. He was fully engaged in his meal and she had the advantage.
As she was almost upon him, Tom suddenly stopped feasting and jerked around to look at her with blood red mouth filled with cheek flesh and muscle. His black eyes filled with nothing but hateful hunger. He hissed at her and she started to lose momentum.
“You’re…next…eat you…eat your brains…”
Crow sped back up and swung the bat straight down on Tom’s head. The sound was a sickening crack that made her stomach turn. Tom shook from the impact and fell backward onto his side. Crow moved quickly stand over him, kicked him flat on his back and began to swing the bat.
It was a few minutes later when Crow stopped swinging. She realized she’d been screaming the whole time and tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. They stopped suddenly and she backed away from the broken, smashed face of zombie-Tom. She had just fought a zombie…and won. His brains were a strewn bloody mess sprayed from his cracked skull.
Turning slowly to Jane’s body, she saw it was still twitching. She dropped the bat, and reached down and set Jane up in a sitting position. She drew the sword from its scabbard, she needed the practice and Jane had volunteered. Jane was as good as dead and soon would be undead looking to eat her brains. Crow prepared herself and swung towards Jane’s neck.
“Ding!” The approaching elevator sound distracted her for a second and her aim was a little off. The sword easily cut into Jane’s left arm slicing it off just below the shoulder and getting stuck into her ribs. The elevator had stopped.
“Fuck!” She began to desperately pull at the sword now stuck into Jane like an axe into a tree. The doors began to slowly open and she began to panic. Using her foot to push on Jane for added strength, she pulled the sword free. The doors opened fully and zombie-Mike stood there, bleeding from where his eyes had been sniffing the air and smiling.
“Hungry…must…must feed…I smell them…I smell brains…so close…”
Crow pulled back the sword and this time with pure instinct driving her muscles, the sword sang through the air, connected with zombie-Mike’s neck and in one motion severed his head from his body.
“I’m…”
The head fell and bounced/rolled on the ground.
“Uuuuhhh…”
Crow spun to face Jane who was struggling to lean forward and grasp her leg with her remaining arm, mouth opening and closing in biting motions.
“So…so hungry…”
The sword met its mark this time and Jane’s head joined Mike’s on the floor. Their lifeless bodies lay in bloody pools mingling with Tom’s. Crow noticed she wasn’t shaking or crying any more.
She kept Mike’s body in the elevator doorway to keep it on this floor while she searched their pockets for wallets and quickly had some credit cards and cash to add to her own. Crow was now completely dedicated to self-preservation. And that meant getting to the garage and stealing a car.
* * * * *
Moving Mike out of the elevator, she entered and checked the buttons. There weren’t any other buttons lit so at least she knew she could reach the bottom without stopping. She tried to ignore the fact that she had no way of knowing if anyone below had hit a button, but she had to take that chance.
She reached out to press the lobby button and stopped. Instead she pressed the third floor button. If that original zombie had been in the lobby that could mean more were coming into the building from the street. She would take the stairs from the third floor and if any came up she’d at least have the high ground.
The doors closed slowly and the elevator began to descend.
“21…20…19…18…”
A few seconds passed between beeps and it seemed to her that this was the single longest ride of her life.
“14…13…Beep.”
Crow had a sharp intake of breath-someone had pressed the floor button on thirteen. “Fuck!” she thought as the elevator slowly came to a stop and already she was hearing things she didn’t want to hear. The muffled sounds of screams, moans and chewing were emanating from the hallway beyond the doors.
The doors started to open and the sight was almost too much to bear. At least six zombies were in the hallway attacking or feeding on residents of the condos on this floor. Most of her neighbors were already dead, but a few were still twitching.
At the sound of the doors, the two nearest zombies paused their gruesome feeding and turned to look at Crow. She reached out and began to stab the close door button. The zombies stood quickly and began to walk down the hall towards her.
Crow hefted the bat and braced herself as the doors started to close again with agonizing slowness. Growling and hissing the zombies started to move faster, breaking into a run. She inhaled quickly and raised the bat ready to swing.
One of the zombies moved ahead of the other and was nearly to the elevator. The doors were almost closed, but Crow knew that if any part of that zombie got between the doors they’d start to reopen. It would take even longer to get away.
As the zombie reached the door, Crow realized there was no way out other than to fight. She leaned forward and swung the bat. It connected with the zombie, a young teen girl obviously only recently turned into a hungry undead killer.
The bat connected with the undead teen’s head with a crack. She fell back with a cry of pain and rage as blood began to pour from a hole in its head. The other zombie collided with her, and they collapsed in a pile in the hallway.
The doors had begun to slowly open again thanks to her bat swing. She was stabbing the close door button again furiously. They reached a fully open position, paused for what seemed like ages before starting to close again.
The zombies who had collided were fighting and clawing at each other in a rage. They were for the moment ignoring Crow, but as the doors started to close again slowly, they fell to the ground continuing their fight. As the doors were halfway closed, they stopped suddenly and looked towards the elevator and Crow.
Growling, they sprang up and started down the hallway. The doors were nearly closed and she braced herself again for the attack. They yelled in rage and lurched forward as the doors finally closed. As the elevator began to move downward again, she heard the two zombies beating their fists in frustration and growling against the doors.
Crow stumbled against the back wall. She sank to the floor of the descending elevator. Staring straight ahead she reached for her purse, realizing it wasn’t within reach, she used her foot to bring it closer.
Still staring ahead she reached for her cigarettes, pulled one out and while placing it between her lips with one hand, fumbled in her purse for the lighter. Finding it she lit the cigarette, took a deep drag and exhaled. The elevator began to fill with the fog of her smoke.
11…10…9…
The elevator politely called out each floor as it came and went. The small falling box was fairly cloudy with smoke, but Crow didn’t care. She realized the elevator might make the destination without interruption this time.
Slowly she got up and assembled her stuff. Hefting the bat, she finished her cigarette, dropped it to the floor, and smashed it with her foot as her eyes focused on the floor numbers.
4…3…
* * * * *
The elevator slowed and came to a stop with its usual beep. Other than her own breathing and the usual elevator noises, Crow heard nothing else. She tried to remember if she knew anyone on the third floor and decided she didn’t. After tonight, she probably never would.
The doors began to part as slowly as usual. The hallway was empty and the lights were starting to flicker again. Cautiously, she stepped out into the hallway. She worried about being able to use the elevator again so she dropped her bag in the path of the doors. She scanned the hall for something, anything she could use to keep them open and the elevator reliably parked.
At first she saw nothing but a hallway and the various doors, some of which were open. She looked up at the ceiling and again saw nothing of value. Frustrated, she knew she was getting further and further away from relative safety of the elevator. Her heart was starting to race and the only sound was that of the doors slowly opening and closing, over and over.
She was near the end of the hall, almost to the stairs when she saw something on the floor. At first she wasn’t sure what it was, some kind of toy she thought. Moving closer, fighting the visual confusion caused by the flickering lights she knelt and reached for the object.
Her hands grasped the small toy, not much bigger than her hand and lifted it up to get a better look. The movement triggered something in the toy, which she now realized was a clown. It was a tattered, well-worn clown toy that seemed to be amused by something. Crow hated clowns and wasn’t amused.
“Hey boys and girls….”
Due to its age and obvious heavy use by the kid who owned it, the voice had a slight warble to it. Crow hated it, but realized it was her best hope for a doorstop.
“I wanna play…”
Crow sighed and started to turn before freezing. She had let her guard down. The doors were still making their noise, but she realized she was being watched. She didn’t want to turn around, but knew she had to look. Whipping around she saw a small figure standing facing her in front of the elevator.
Crow had to get her backpack so she slowly moved back down the hall. The young girl stood almost motionless, swaying every so slightly her black eyes transfixed. Crow’s foot caught the rug and she nearly fell. In the process, the clown toy shook and erupted in giggles. The dead child in front of the elevator seemed confused and then laughed. It was the creepiest laugh Crow had ever heard and she felt chills along her spine.
The little figure screeched and lurched forward with lightening speed. Now fully in the light, its front was covered in blood and gore soaked into its shirt and particles were on its chin and shirt, no doubt brains. Crow cursed her luck and braced herself. As she started to back up, she noticed the child zombie seemed to follow her hand movement and the doll in particular.
Shaking it to life, it again spoke its uneven recorded blurbs.
“I like kids…”
The zombie child shrieked and lurched at her reaching up for the toy in a joyous rage. It was a gamble, but she held the toy up out of reach. The child began to wail in a horrifying shriek.
“QUIET!” Crow yelled as loud as she could. The child reacted in terror as if its ears were hyper sensitive and it quickly backed down the hall to an open door and ran inside crying. Crow stayed frozen and listened to the whimpering behind the partially open door. After a few minutes the weeping ceased. Then she heard what sounded like a low moan, which evolved into a growl.
The child came out of the apartment running and shrieking in a full rage. Crow reacted quickly and threw the toy to her left into another open apartment door. “Fetch!” The child nearly knocked her over as it barreled down the hall after the toy which exclaimed, “Let’s try a new game…”
Crow turned, raced over to the elevator and grabbed her backpack, put it on and drew her sword. The bat was stronger, but it was a kid, zombie or not. She wanted to make this a quick kill. Crow walked slowly, but steadily down the hall with her sword at the ready.
The creature had apparently found the toy and was proceeding to shake it and screech horribly as the clown laughed.
Crow moved quickly down the hall quietly passing the open door on the way to the stairwell exit. As she reached for the doorknob, the lights went out. She froze in a panic in complete silence and darkness. Behind her the clown toy laughed anew. And then there was silence. And then a little girl zombie said loudly “Uh oh.” Crow strained to see any movement in the dark. With a flicker the lights suddenly came back on and she was momentarily blinded.
“Fuck…gotta get outta here…” She said mainly to get herself going. She turned the knob and opened the door. She paused in the doorway. There was a noise, but not close. The little undead girl came running out of the apartment after her.
Bracing herself, Crow drew the sword up and back and waited. The girl was running fast and screaming. She was almost to Crow when she swung down on her head. The sword cut straight through the girl slicing her into two halves that fell to either side of the hallway gushing blood and twitching.
Crow knelt and wiped the sword off on the girl’s left half side’s portion of her dress. She rose and calmly returned the sword to its sheath. Turning, she walked through the stairwell door and let it close behind her.
* * * * *
Cautiously she looked first down and then up the stairwell. She definitely heard something in the distance above. It appeared to be more of the creatures further up the stairwell. There was no way to know if they were going up or down, and she started to descend quickly and quietly.
Moving a landing at a time, she worked her way down the spiral stairwell from floor three to two and then one. She debated exiting at this level, but decided to continue with her original plan and reach the garage.
Continuing down the stairs, she quickly reached the bottom. She suddenly wondered why she hadn’t met more people trying to flee. Maybe they were all dead. Maybe some were still blissfully sleeping unaware of the impending doom and horror.
Crow now faced the door to the garage’s main parking level. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the keys and held them firm in her right hand. Taking a deep breath she slowly opened the door, which was mercifully silent and looked across the parking garage.
The hum of the fluorescent lights was nearly deafening, as was her pounding heartbeat. Looking left and right she stepped forward and closed the door carefully behind her. She moved slowly and deliberately forward, constantly scanning her surroundings and listening for any sounds.
She suddenly realized she had no idea what car she should be looking for. She paused and tried to remember if she’d ever seen that family driving, but she hadn’t. She didn’t want to try every car door, but she was afraid to walk around clicking the key ring to prompt the car to beep. What if a zombie was nearby and heard the noise?
But time was of the essence and she had to get out of here. She looked at the key ring and its buttons. She double clicked the unlock button. Nothing happened.
Walking to the central aisle, Crow continued to periodically double click the key ring while slowly circling and constantly scanning the garage. She was about halfway down the row when she heard two sounds.
“Beep! Beep!”
A car six spots further suddenly made a noise and the headlights flashed twice. She had found it. But she also heard another noise. Behind her the door to the garage slammed open with a bang. There stood two zombies looking around and growling. One stepped forward and let out a hoarse, scratchy yell.
She began to run towards the car only pausing to look back as she reached the door. Behind her she saw at least seven zombies now fighting against each other to get through the doorway and feast. As they got through, they began to run towards her.
Crow got in and closed the door and locked the doors. She fumbled for the keys and finding the one for the car, slid it into place and turned it. The car came to life and she quickly flipped on the lights and put it in gear. She hit the gas and turned the wheel towards the exit.
She flicked on the radio and hit the “scan” button to try and find some news if any were possible on the AM channels. As she started to move forward, she felt the small compact car react to a weight landing on the roof. She jerked the steering wheel left and right as she hit the gas. A rage-filled shriek erupted from above as a zombie woman, who looked vaguely familiar, flew off the roof and crashed into the side of a van.
The radio locked on a news channel and she heard something that made her blood go cold. “…are up. Repeating our top story, reports are coming in to WBSX that all of the bridges across the river are up. A full blockade of the city east of the river has been initiated. National Guard troops have been seen setting up roadblocks on Lake Shore Drive and Roosevelt. It appears that there is an effort to contain the outbreak using the river as a natural barrier.”
* * * * *
Looking up briefly at the rear view mirror she saw more and more zombies coming into the garage. She drove as quickly as she could towards the exit. The security gates were down so she hit the gas and braced herself and drove right through them sending debris in every direction.
Her momentum took her out onto Dearborn, and leaving the lit parking garage momentarily disoriented her so she hit the brakes. Before her eyes fully adjusted, she realized the interior of the car was illuminated and a bright light was coming from her left. She tried to react, but there was no time before a speeding car crashed into the front of the car.
The impact lasted only a few seconds, but Crow felt like she was spinning for a long time. She was whipped around as the car turned 180 degrees and she struck her head against the door window. She hit the brakes and the car stopped. She put the car into park and turned off the ignition.
In what felt like slow motion, she turned to her left and watched the other car crash into the front of a building across the street and from the rocking and lighting she could just make out a zombie in the back seat attacking the driver. The car quickly caught fire and was soon engulfed in flames.
Before she could even think about anything, her head turned slowly back to look into the parking garage. The windows on the other car exploded outward and she looked back to see a zombie in flames struggling to get out of the car window.
Something was moving in the peripheral vision of her right eye so she returned her gaze to the garage. The lights were flickering now creating a strobe effect. She thought she saw movement in the distance between the cars. The inconsistent lighting was making it hard to discern shadow from caster.
Crow sighed as she looked around the front seat and saw her purse on the floor. Turning away momentarily from the madness, she undid her belt and scrambled to the passenger side floor to grab her purse and cell phone. Getting back up she ignored the zombie from across the street, fully engulfed in flames wandering around the street casting a fiery glow as it stumbled about screeching.
Download this book for your ebook reader.
(Pages 1-34 show above.)