Dead Pulse (6 page)

The children clawed at Jayne with snapping fingernails as she quickly realised that these damned children were as dangerous as their adult
counterparts were. They were not cute kids, but killers. Overwhelmed with fear the wake-up call came; Jayne Reed was going to die!

The dead walked the town of Farmore, infection and puss oozing from their bits and wounds. In spite of their rigor mortis, death no longer stopped them and they surrounded a house, attracted, and sensing the smell and energy of the living inside. Instinctively they organised themselves with strongest first, the weaker floundering, weakening less fed and lumbering pushing behind them.

The less decomposed pushed and pulled at the windows and doors looking for a weakness, a way in to get to their prize and strengthen their brains electric pulse on the living flesh inside. Rusted nails came away from the wooden frame and the metal sheeting fell from one of the windows. The dead began to bang at the windows terrifying the
starving children and adults inside. The barking dogs added to the increasing yells and screams, and the dead’s moans became louder, as they beat on the single pane glass that smashed. A dog from inside leaped out at the dead snapping at its loose skin. However, it began to yelp as the zombies bit and tore at its fur.

The living tried to keep them out but
weak from malnutrition the departed pushed their way in standing on each other to get through the window, falling into the house like wriggling maggots in a tin. More came through the opening as the adults tried to protect their young.

In time the yells, cries and screams stopped and the moans of the d
ead once again took precedence. Their bacteria ridden saliva feasted on the new dead, the young were quickest to come back to life, and joined the mob biting chunks out of the dying adults until they lost their lives and were reanimated. Subconsciously and even though the stronger dead had appeared to incapacitate the living allowing the weaker dead to feed first they still tussled for the remaining morsels of food.

Major Frank Marshal stood up from the mutilated maggot ridden female’s body, “Damn it, Reed,” he mumbled, controlling his disappointment as he held an overhead water pipe tightly.

Frank had aged well, he was sharp and still in good shape considering the injuries he had sustained during his career and the mental stress of perilous missions. His file was impressive, stationed in South Korea; Kenya; Iraq; Afghanistan; Malaysia; Oman; Ecuador; Puerto Rico and Kuwait to name a few, he was seasoned, well respected and he knew it. He watched
Hardy take the hand of a tall woman in a blue tailored suit, as she was guided towards him.

“I thought you would never come
,” she huffed, pulling her long loosely curled bright red hair into a ponytail.

As they emerged from an underground bunker into the sunlight, she wiped her forehead with a cerise neckerchief.

“Thankfully the emergency procedures were followed. You’re lucky to be alive.” Frank Marshal escorted the redhead towards two black suited agents.

“Obviously not as lucky as everyone else,
since the fall of The Pentagon, nothing surprises me,” she stated, looking around at the litter of bodies.

“I was relieved my men located you in the strong room. Obviously, the Kill 204 mission you authorised, bio-warfare test seventy-two
failed, um, and seventy-seven success is unknown. This is Agent Cole and Agent Emmanuelle Judge. You'll be safe with them Ma’am. I'm afraid your bodyguard didn't make it out.”

She glanced briefly at the bodies of the dead soldiers that lay strewn on the tiled f
loor hoping not to see her long time bodyguard.

“What became of Jayne Reed?
She was here in this bunker, correct?” queried the red head.

“The very same,
Miss Reed’s name tag has been found, along with a body, it’s been difficult to get a positive identification in the current circumstances though,” he hesitated, “the face, most of the teeth and all the fingers was missing. It probable it’s her though.” Frank gave a nervous shrug.

“So these two are going to look after me?” Her gaze flicked over Cole and
Emmanuelle.

Cole was a well-built man in his mid thirties with black hair that had started to grey
back from the temples. The female Agent, Emmanuelle, sported blonde shoulder length hair. Even in her suit, it was easy to tell that she worked out and was strong; she was younger,
mid-twenties
thought the Vice President. “Major I approve,” she stated.

Armed soldiers surrounded them and the entrance to the bunker. They let off shots causing the Vice President to jump. Through the wall soldiers stood with their back to her. She could see hideous looking people, some bludgeoned, some with limbs missing and clearly dead.

Another shot was fired and the Vice President felt faint as she caught a glimpse of a head exploding apart. She turned to Frank; he gave her a salute and made his way over to Hardy and awaiting his soldiers.

The Vice President nodded to the two Agents and was then lead to an awaiting unmarked black Mercedes.
The car sped off, swerving around the dead as they aimlessly walked in the road.

A sudden smell of
death hit the Vice President, “This evil is everywhere.” She stated gazing out of the window at piles of burning bodies that dotted the roadside.

“Sadly it is Ma’a
m,” answered Cole typing on his black Smartphone.

“Sue, call me Sue,” she leaned back into the rear leather seat. “We were so close,” she sighed.

They manoeuvred at high speed around abandoned cars. The long straight road stretched out in front of them, either side of it as far as the eye could see were fields of golden corn.

“
Don't worry Ma’am, you’ll be safe. We’re taking you to a secure location in the Ravenswood for you to rest before we regroup. I should expect you’ll be asked to go through the seventy-seven code,” Emmanuelle said soothingly, as she drove glancing at Sue in the rear view mirror.

Sue smiled. “They found the data.”

“That’s my understanding Ma’am.”

In a blink of an eye, and with no time for
Emmanuelle to swerve, the Mercedes hit one of the walking dead. It flipped from the road; missing one arm; just a fleshy stump and strings of sinew remained. Its head cracked against the windscreen with force and remained there as the car skidded colliding with a stationary horsebox. The rear window smashed into tiny squares of glass falling where Cole sat as the car veered off the road, before rocking to a complete stop next to a field.

Cole sat next to
Sue startled, clicking his neck he drew his gun. “You okay Judge?” he brushed pieces of safety glass from himself and Sue.

“I’m fine,” said
Emmanuelle sickened by the blood-covered windscreen.

Cole looked into Sue’s green eyes,
she was filled with fear. He gave her a smile of reassurance and touched her arm.

Before
Emmanuelle could take out her SIG P226 pistol, Cole had been dragged kicking and yelling out through the broken rear window by scores of cold and icy hands. His body disappeared into the fields of corn leaving Emmanuelle and Sue in silence.

Emmanuelle
raced out of the car, adrenalin pumping she opened up the rear door and guided Sue into the passenger seat. She touched the shocked woman’s leg.

“I’ll be right back.”

Before Sue could protest, Emmanuelle slammed the door closed and disappeared into the corn after Cole.

Sue’s amplified breathing was broken by a strange noise. She listened hard and tried to stop herself hyperventilating. Suddenly the body on the windscreen rolled down onto the bonnet of the car. Sue stared at the body waiting for it to move, jump up, smash its way through the cracked window, and attack her, but there was nothing? No movement. The bloody body just lay there, dead again.

              “Do something!” she yelled. She squeezed her legs with her hands trying to calm herself down.

What thoughts had gone through its head? Why did they want to eat her and the rest of the living?
Her thoughts were quickly lost as the car moved. She felt it move, she was sure.

She turned her head and in a moment she found herself almost sitting on the dashboard, physically shaking with the back of her head pressed painfully against the cracked screen. In front of her a dead, naked woman dragged her face across the Perspex screen that divided the front of the car from the rear. The
grey-skinned woman slowly scraped with her nails at the clear divider, her nails, soft flesh left the bones, and soon her skeletal digits were exposed.

Just then,
Emmanuelle appeared frantically running backwards and slammed into the car. She shot her weapon into the corn as the dead once again emerged from the field. Momentarily the mindless crowd appeared to be organised, lining the corn like soldiers on parade.

Emmanuelle
hit the floor scrabbling in the grit and dust around the car struggling to maintain her control she managed to get to her feet. Coughing, she yanked the bloody one armed man from the hood of the car sending the body spinning to the floor. She jumped into the driver seat, started the engine and sprayed cleaner onto the windscreen. The wipers flicked back and forth, smudging the amputees blood. She crunched the car in to reverse and knocked over some of the dead that were now reaching for the car. With her foot firmly on the accelerator, they sped off leaving the waiting dead.

“Belt
up Ma’am,” breathlessly she instructed the startled Sue. “They tore him to pieces!” Emmanuelle gasped looking in the wing mirror, “As I went through the corn there were just bits of my friend, bits of Cole everywhere!”

They drove for a minute or two in silence then
Emmanuelle adjusted the rear-view mirror. Catching a glimpse of their new but unwanted naked female passenger, she slammed on the breaks of the now dented car. The dead woman’s face hit the Perspex glass hard, leaving a bloody smear as its teeth hit the floor.

Sue’s stern face of earlier was lost, the only emotion registering on her face was now deep shock. She tried to speak but incomprehensible murmurs came out.

Emmanuelle walked to the window through which Cole was dragged to his death. She dealt the same fate of death to the female ... with a single bullet.

On the empty road
Emmanuelle dropped to her knees, her blonde hair was stuck to her face as she tried not to cry. With her gun in her hand, she rested the side of her head against the dirty car.

Aware that she
was now alone in the car, Sue looked around to see where Emmanuelle had gone. Noticing that she was now sitting on the ground, Sue joined her and they comforted each other in an embrace.

“Your time and the time of
Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings and Queens are over Ma’am.” Emmanuelle shivered and stared blankly.

The sound of the wind and the distant wails and moans of the dead made its way through the fields of corn onto the road filling the air around them.

Emmanuelle and Sue, two women, shells of their former selves staggered back into the car and drove wearily into the unknown.

“This is shit
, damn it!” yelled Frank Marshal, the ageing man slammed down his radio and lent up against an M1A2 Abram tank,
popping a piece of gum into his mouth.
Hardy you little shit
, he thought.

“Major?” Q
uestioned House his second in command.

“Remind me again why we call you House sergeant?”

“Because of my sheer size sir,” Smiled House.

Frank chewed incessantly as he explained the anomalous mission to House.

“We’ve lost communication with the Vice President. She’s was on her way to a safe room in Ravenswood city; it was under control by fourth battalion but those things have left the area red coded. She has biometric access rights to a central supercomputer that can extract seventy-seven’s backup data from the hard drive you recovered,” Frank heaved a sigh.

“No one else has the codes?” questioned House dumbfounded.

“The encryption codes are known only to Jayne Reed, it was her personal baby. She is dead. Therefore, we need the Vice. Hardy is sucking up with the higher chain of command, I’m on my own. Politics and money, seventy-seven is a great asset,” pointed out Frank.

House piped up, “
Off the record Frank this is your call but the army is falling apart, this is one mission too many, a suicide mission, you know it, I know it, but I’m a professional and I’ll do it because I want to end this.”

Frank looked blankly up at House
who turned and walked away shaking his head loathingly.

Frank watched the big man brief a platoon beneath skies that were quickly filling with darkened clouds. As
soon as the men had kitted up, House lead them towards the looming towers of the city skyline. Frank then motioned for the rest of his troops to move out. Without a glance back at House and his soldiers Frank got into his Jeep and headed south following the tanks to fulfil their primary mission.