Desolation Boulevard (16 page)

“
Tell me about yesterday. I
want to know.”

He thought about it briefly then replied,
“Well, basically I think they’re becoming more aware of their
surroundings. Yesterday after I shot the first one, the others woke
up and attacked me. It was like a reflex action, though, like a
really primitive defence mechanism. I’m not even sure they were
actually conscious in any real sense, but it definitely means we
have to be much more careful from now on.”

He put his right hand on Sally’s shoulder.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”

She thought about the creature that had
stared at her when she was on her balcony two nights ago. “I’m
sure. Let’s go.”

As they worked their way down from the top
floor, Dylan continued offering safety instructions, the main being
to pay attention and not relax. Sally found it a peculiar
experience strolling through the abandoned office building in this
weird, new world. The computers, paper work and filing systems that
once controlled people’s lives were now nothing more than relics,
consigned to become nothing more than a footnote in the history of
human civilisation. Sally wondered what the city would look like in
one hundred years, or one thousand. She wondered if future humans
would find her city as mysterious as she found the pyramids.

As Dylan had predicted, the upper floors had
been empty of hiders, and it didn’t take long for them to reach the
ground floor again. Sally knew, however, that the worst was yet to
come, as they headed to the staircase that would take them to the
basement car park levels of the building. Dylan told her that it
was always a different experience cleaning out these areas,
depending on the building. Some were completely abandoned while
others housed nests of up to thirty comatose bodies. On the first
day it had just been a matter of putting a bullet in the head of
each zombie systematically, as they lay still in a state of
hibernation, but after yesterday’s attack it was clear that a nest
that big would be beyond their capabilities now. Dylan told Sally
that if they located a pod of more than four or five creatures, he
would leave them for a bigger team to clean up on another day.

Before they headed down the stairs to the
basement, Dylan flicked on the flashlight that was taped to his gun
and told Sally to switch hers on too. As they crept down the stairs
he reminded her to keep at least five paces behind him and to
notify him if she saw anything out of the ordinary. The further
they descended the more frightened Sally became. The flashlights
only illuminated one small area of the gloomy space at a time and
the long, shifting shadows that were being thrown onto the concrete
walls and low ceiling created a very eerie, threatening
environment. She looked to Dylan for some reassurance, but he
continued walking, shining his beam into every possible hiding
space, including the windows of parked cars and into dumpsters.
After Dylan had satisfied himself that this particular floor was
not a home for the creatures, he called Sally closer to him.

“
Is it empty? Can we go
now?” she asked hopefully.

He smiled gently, sensing her
apprehensiveness, and answered, “No, not yet. There’s another
basement level under this one.”

He shone his flashlight toward the down ramp
and took her hand gently.

“
Maybe you should sit this
one out. I can take you back up to the street if you like and I can
finish this search on my own. No big deal.”

But Sally knew it was a big deal. This
tough, resilient man had trusted her enough to invite her along on
this monster hunt, and despite the knot of fear that was sitting in
her stomach like a chunk of broken glass, she knew that she had to
see it through. Somehow she understood that this was a test and if
she failed, Dylan would probably become just another person at St
Jude’s who would nod to her across the breakfast table each
morning; and suddenly, just like that, she realised that she wanted
more than just friendship from him. She wanted a lover.

“
No. I want to stay with
you,” she said. “I want to help. I’m really, really scared, but I
want to stay with you and help so that I can learn how to survive.”
She looked at him, wondering how he would respond to her
plea.

“
Are you sure? Now’s the
time to pull out if you’re not up for it.”

She looked at him and considered her
decision. “I’m totally up for it. Just tell me what to do.”

He smiled at her. “Sure. Let’s get
going”.

As they headed down the ramp into the
sub-basement Dylan reached into his pocket and pulled out two pairs
of earplugs. “If we find a nest we’ll need these. Gunshots will
echo in here like you wouldn’t believe. I found that out the first
day. My ears are still ringing.”

Sally took the earplugs and put them in her
pocket as they headed into the darkest corner of the car park.

It turned out to be a small nest that they
found. Four bodies huddled together in an alcove behind a large
concrete pillar. Sally couldn’t move. These were the first zombies
that she’d seen in their sleeping state. It was almost too bizarre
for her to comprehend. There were three men and one woman, all
dressed for a day at the office, apart from the grime and blood
that covered them from head to toe. They seemed paler than they
should be, and there was a roughness to their skin that looked very
unlike that of a normal person. They also didn’t look as if they
were asleep; they looked different somehow. She couldn’t put her
finger on it exactly, but she felt like she was looking at new
state of being. Possibly somewhere between being asleep and being
dead.

“
Look what they’ve done.”
Dylan said, shining the flashlight onto the floor where the
creatures slept.

Instead of unforgiving, cold concrete, they
slumbered on a bed of broken and flattened cardboard boxes. Sally
looked at Dylan, “Have you seen that before?”

“
No. That’s new” he
replied, looking more concerned than at any time since Sally had
met him.

“
Okay,” he said. “Let’s do
this and get out of here. If we get split up just head out the way
we came in. I want you to go back over near the down ramp and wait
for me. There should only be four shots – one for each of them.
Keep your flashlight on. If you hear less than four shots or
anything else that sounds wrong, just get the hell out of here.
Don’t wait for me. Do you understand? This is not a game. Make sure
you follow my instructions, okay?”

Sally nodded her head in agreement and said,
“Please be careful”. Then she turned her back on him and went to
wait by the ramp.

Sally couldn’t see what was happening after
Dylan disappeared behind the delivery van but she could hear
metallic clicking noises that she assumed were related to Dylan
preparing his gun for shooting. Remembering her earplugs, she
quickly fished them from her pocket and jammed them into her ears
just before the first shot rang out. The noise was deafening, and
she felt buried in sound as first one, and then two blasts rocked
the concrete bunker. There was a slight pause, and then she heard
the third shot ring out and echo chaotically around in the car
park. She stood unmoving, waiting for the fourth shot, desperate
for Dylan to return and take her back into the daylight, but there
was only silence. Where was the fourth shot? Sally ripped the
earplugs from her ears and was gripped by fear as she realised she
could hear scuffling sounds coming from behind the van. Time seemed
to stand still as she frantically shone her flashlight toward the
vehicle, but she could see nothing other than shifting shadows.
Then suddenly there was a muffled scream; more sounds of
struggling, and the fourth, overwhelmingly loud gunshot, followed
quickly by the sound of something wet sloshing onto the concrete
floor. Sally froze, and dropped the flashlight, as her whole future
hung in the balance for a split second. Then, just as she was about
to scream Dylan’s name, a spectral figure lurched from behind the
van and rushed towards her as she stood rooted to the spot by a
deep, almost prehistoric fear. As the dark figure got closer she
threw her arms up in front of her face, then realised with relief
that it was Dylan as he yelled, “Quick! Pick up your flashlight! We
have to get out of here! There are others!”

Sally could see that he’d been injured, as
an occasional silvery spot of blood hit the floor and mingled with
the engine oil that had dripped from the parked cars, but she
managed to locate the flashlight, then grabbed Dylan by the hand
and led him as fast as she could toward the upper level of the car
park. She didn’t know where the blood was coming from, but there
was no time to worry about that now.

“
Quick! Let’s go!” Dylan
urged, trying to encourage himself more than anyone. “I can hear
them!”

Sally could hear them too, and the
adrenaline coursing through her body was what drove her forward,
away from them as fast as she could move. As she reached the upper
level of the basement, out of breath from exertion and terror,
Sally allowed herself to think they were going to make it. She
couldn’t hear the creatures behind her anymore, and ahead she could
see faint daylight spilling down the stairwell from the foyer. She
turned and smiled at Dylan, “We’re nearly there, look.”

He nodded, grimacing from the pain of his
leg wound.

Then, without warning, two hiders burst out
from behind a large, silver air-conditioning conduit near the exit
and their escape route was cut off.

“
Where’s your gun?” she
shouted frantically, as Dylan looked at her, eyes full of fear,
shaking his head.

“
Shit!” she screamed, as
the zombies came at them.

Chapter 30

“
Hey fat boy! Wake up and
get these cuffs off me!”

The corpulent figure of Brock, who had been
snoring happily, jerked out of his sleep and sat up as quickly as
his pudgy frame allowed.

“
What? What?” he blurted,
still befuddled from dreaming.

As soon as he saw Matt, though, his mind
cleared and the bitter resentment returned. “You motherfucker! What
do you think you’re doing? Are you stu…?”

Matt could tell that this insane, fat man
wanted to come over and beat him badly for this unexpected sign of
rebelliousness, but Matt just smiled and pointed at Montana, who
was sitting calmly on her bed pointing a shotgun at him. Brock
swung around in her direction, “Montana! What the fuck? Don’t point
that thing at me. Are you fucking stupid?”

“
Sit down!” Matt ordered.
“Now!”

“
The fuck I will! Who the
fuck do you think you are?” Brock bellowed, as his face turned red
with rage.

“
Shoot him Montana,” Matt
ordered calmly.

She aimed the gun at Brock’s crimson,
acne-scarred face and cocked the hammer. The anger in his face
quickly turned to fear as he realised he had been outsmarted.

“
Wait! Wait!” he screamed.
“Don’t shoot! I’ll sit down! Fuck, what is wrong with you
two?”

Rather than sit, the big man almost fell
down on to the single bed as he glowered in confusion at his
betrayer. “Montana?” he pleaded.

She didn’t move. The gun was still trained
squarely on his face, which was now sweating profusely.

Matt spoke. “Brock! Forget her. You need to
listen to me, okay? Don’t say a fucking word until I’m finished.
Okay?” The fat man nodded his head.

“
Good. Now listen. Montana
and I are leaving. This place is very bad, and I also happen to
think that Montana needs someone better than you. So I’m taking her
back to Millfield with me and she’s happy with that. But, if you
want to come with us, that’s fine too, only I’ll be in charge. If
you do come, you have to change your ways and you’ll have to work.
There’s no free ride for anyone anymore. I don’t particularly like
you, but in this new situation we’re all in, people are going to
have to help each other. So it’s your choice.”

Brock started to talk, but Matt cut him
off.

“
Shut up! I haven’t
finished. Listen! Whatever your decision is, you’re going to let me
out of these handcuffs when I say so, and then you’re going to go
back and sit on your bed. If you try anything silly, Montana will
shoot you, and that won’t really bother either of us. It’s going to
be hard enough to survive these feeders without having to worry
about you as well.” Matt paused and turned to Montana. “Don’t
hesitate. If he tries anything, shoot him. We don’t need
him.”

Montana nodded and smiled, “No problem.”

“
Okay Brock,” Matt asked,
“What’s it going to be? Start a new life with us in Millfield or
stay here and try to survive on your own?”

Matt honestly had no clue as to how this
half-assed kidnapper would answer, because his behaviour was so
erratic. Brock sat on the bed silently, with his pudgy hands balled
up into fat greasy fists. When he answered it was with barely
controlled rage through clenched teeth.

“
You think I want to come
with you? Fuck you! You think you’re fucking great, don’t you?
Coming into my town and stealing my girl! You can fuck off to
Millfield and take that slut with you. I hope those feeders kill
you before you get home, you cunt!”

“
Okay,” Matt replied,
trying to maintain his cool, despite his heart hammering his
ribcage like there was a monkey playing a drum in there. “That’s
good. You’ve made your choice. Now I need you to get the key for
these cuffs so that we can leave.”

Brock stood up, awkwardly stuffing his hand
into the front pocket of his jeans to retrieve the tiny key. Matt
needed him to stay cool so he continued giving him calm, simple
instructions. “Good. You’ve got the key. Now come over here and
release me, then we’ll get out of your hair and you can get on with
things. But don’t forget Montana will shoot you if she has to. I
don’t think she’d enjoy it, but I reckon she’d do it.”