Fallen Grace (3 page)

“What’s wrong?” asked Abbey from across the room. Her voice was full of trepidation. Bobby had taken her to the sofa to make room for Gus to tend to Susan.

I watched as Gus examined her. When he got to her belly she coughed and blood flowed from the side of her mouth. I stood, knowing that Susan needed me more than Boggs right now.

“Bobby, keep Abbey over there?” I called out as I quickly worked my way to Gus’ side.

“Looks like she’s bleeding internally,” he muttered grimly. “Without supplies there’s not much I can do.”

“No,” cried Abbey. “She can’t die!”

I grew angry as I heard the dead children outside start giggling again.

“Do we have IV fluids?” I asked.

“No,” said Nathan through his grief. “We never found any.”

“Give me your knife, Gus,” I said.

He looked at me questioningly.

“Just give it to me. Now.” It’s her only chance.

His eyes filled with understanding.

“Nathan, you need to go sit with Abbey for a couple minutes,” said Gus.

“I can’t leave her.”

“Go, Brother. Abbey needs you. Let me and Zoe tend to her.”

Reluctantly, Nate stood and made his way to where Abbey and Bobby sat. He wrapped his arms around the girl and embraced her as a father might.

“Gus, you’ll need to hold her down.”

“I know. I just hate doing this.”

“Me too. Tell me where it’s safe to cut, ok?”

He nodded, and then positioned himself to hold Susan’s arms down.

“I think closest to the heart is best, as opposed to an arm or leg. Just go down the center of her chest; just not too deep. Maybe five inches long? She’ll need to bleed if we have a chance of it working.”

We looked at each other, knowing that we had to infect her. I straddled her, sitting just above her pelvis. I used the knife to cut down the center of her shirt.

“Wait, Zoe. Bobby, can you bring us the rubbing alcohol?”

Bobby quickly ran back to the box of medical supplies and shuffled through them until she found the bottle of alcohol.

“Bobby, I need you to hold her legs. Can you do that?”

Her eyes wide, Bobby nodded and positioned herself so that she was sitting on Susan’s shins. She didn’t question our motives.

“Nathan, Brother, no matter what you hear I need you and Abs to stay over there. I need you to trust us. Zoe, pour the alcohol on her skin and the knife. Let it dry.”

I did as instructed. I felt sick to my stomach.

“Your palm, too, Love. I’ll be busy holding her down or I’d do this myself,” he explained.

I looked up at him in horror, not realizing the plan had been for me to cut myself. I took a couple of deep breaths and poured the liquid onto my own hands, and then rubbed them together.

Once my hands felt dry, I picked the knife up and held it to the skin on Susan’s chest, just below her neck. As she felt the tip of it puncture her skin, her eyes opened wide. As soon as the initial shock of the pain wore off, she began struggling and screaming. Gus held her good arm and the opposite shoulder. She was unable to fight back with the swollen, broken appendage.

I paused right after that first puncture, keeping the knife in place the best I could and looked at Gus for some sort of permission to continue. He nodded, and I focused back on the wound I was creating.

Not too deep, he warned.

I tried to steady my shaking hand and drew down on the knife, creating a thin line of bright red blood that was quickly spilling down Susan’s sides. I stopped when I thought the line was about five inches long and looked back to Gus again. His face was strained with the effort to keep Susan immobile. She had seemed so weak that her new struggle was surprising. I looked at my left palm and wasn’t sure I could do it. My hands were shaking almost violently.

“Zoe, I can’t let her go. You have to do it. Just don’t think about it.”

I was too scared to reply, so held the knife to my left palm and quickly sliced downward. It hurt like a
sonofabitch, and I cried out.

“Quick, just hold it against her wound,” barked Gus.

I placed my wounded palm down flat against her chest and willed whatever it was inside of me to transfer into her; to heal her. She began screaming for God to forgive her for aborting her baby. I cried with her. I cried for her.

Within minutes, Susan closed her eyes and with a shuddering breath lost consciousness once again. I forced myself to stop crying and looked back to Gus, who still sat facing me. I held my hand out to him, my palm throbbing and still bleeding. He let go of Susan’s shoulder and arm and took my hand in his. He gently wrapped a thin kitchen towel around the wound, tying it at the back of my hand.

“All we can do is wait,” he said quietly.

Abbey was still being held back by Nathan, and her sobs were muffled against his abdomen. I was glad she had him, especially if Susan didn’t pull through this. Boggs was beginning to stir again. I un-straddled Susan and stood stiffly. I hadn’t realized I had been tensing. My hip stung from the activity of the dead outside and my head was heavy with their presence. I walked to Boggs and sat beside him. I took his hand in mine and he looked at me through heavy eyes.

“How’s the pain?” I asked.

He squeezed my hand. “Better.”

My heart was aching seeing him like this.

“You’re a bad liar.”

“No, really, the morphine’s helping. God you’re beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Do you want some water?”

He shook his head side-to-side. “Is Susan ok?”

“She’s in rough shape,” I said truthfully. “We’re hoping she pulls through.”

“I should go to her.”

“Shhhh. You need to just stay still. Nate’s with her.”

“Nate? He’s ok, right? And Abbey?”

“
Yeah, just fine. Bobby and Gus too.”

“Good.”

He closed his eyes again. Bobby knelt down next to us and handed me a cold, damp washcloth. I took it, smiling my thanks to her, and set it upon Boggs’ forehead.

Outside, a little girl started calling out “Red Rover Red Rover, send Adelaide on over!” It was followed by group laughter; malevolent laughter.

I shivered. I looked immediately to Gus, knowing that when he was so ill after being stabbed, he had muttered that name. He looked pale and angry.

“Boggs,” I whispered into his ear. “I need to go talk to Gus for a minute.” I kissed his cheek and made my way to where Gus had been busy sorting through the medical supplies.

“Gus?”

“Hmm?”

“Who was she? Adelaide?”

He paused what he was doing, and after taking a heavy breath he looked at me.

“My sister.”

“When you were so sick, you called out her name. I hadn’t wanted to ask you.”

He grunted. “I don’t talk about her. I haven’t in many years. But you know you can ask me anything.”

“If you ever need to, I’ll listen.”

He took hold of my uninjured hand and squeezed. “I know, darlin’. I know.”

“We should get back to Susan and Boggs,” I said.

“I’ll go take a look at Susan. I want to talk to Nathan about our next move. We need to think about getting out of here.”

“Ok.”

He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. His touch made my insides felt like they were on fire, almost as if I had been cold and unaware until his lips touched mine. By the way he tensed, I knew Gus had felt it too. We touched foreheads and just took in each other’s scent and warmth for a long moment.

“I love you,” I said so quietly that I could barely hear my own words.

“And I you,” he breathed back.

I found it hard to catch my breath, needing to be with him but knowing I had to let go. Knowing we might die. My moment of feeling an overwhelming love was interrupted by the sound of Susan coughing. We both stood quickly and went to her side.

“Nate, Brother, let me look her over?”

“She looks bad, Gus.”

“Abbey, honey, let’s go see about Boggs while the guys tend to Susan?” suggested Bobby.

The girl stood but was quiet. I could tell she was quickly withdrawing into herself. I walked with them to Boggs’ side.

“He’s sleeping,” I said quietly. “That’s good.”

The crying outside began again; weeping. My head was beginning to pound from the constant torment of the dead. Their noises were now joined with that of heavy wind and loose sand beating against the building. The dead children all began screaming; this time a fearful shrieking that hinted of something even more evil approaching.

“Nooooooo,” moaned Abbey. She sat beside Boggs, hugging her knees, rocking back and forth. “It’s something bad.”

“I feel it too,” said Bobby, clutching at her own chest.
     

I collapsed to my knees, the pain inside my head suddenly so intense that I had trouble breathing. While I had felt the children filling my mind with their presence, I hadn’t been able to see through their eyes. Now, though, something was approaching the motel. It was consuming my own visions with its own. The picture before me was of the dead children running and hiding. They seemed terrified. The images devouring my mind were jumping. One frame would be off center and in the next moment to either side as if the creature were jumping or perhaps stumbling. It was disorienting, to say the least. It didn’t seem to be searching for us, but rather for the dead. I could feel its desire. Not just a desire to devour them, but a desire to make them part of itself. I felt strong arms wrap around me protectively. I had clenched my eyes shut and curled into a ball the best that I could. I knew by his smell that it was Boggs holding me. How he was on his feet again was beyond me.

“Let it kill them,” I groaned. “Whatever it is, it wants to kill the dead children.”

I felt something warm drip over my lips. Soon the strong taste of my own blood was invading my mouth. I wiped it away with my arm.

“Your nose is bleeding,” whispered Boggs.

“It’s in my head. It hurts, Boggs.”

“I know. Nate and Gus are working on it.”

“What do you mean?” My words were strained. They sounded muffled to my own ears.

“They’re getting weapons ready. They’re about to go out.”

“No. No, they can’t!” I moaned, trying to keep my voice down.

“They have to. There’s no choice.”

“Then I have to go with them.”

“Look at yourself, Zoe,” said Gus from beside me. “You’re in no shape. Let me and Nate handle this. Stay here with Abs.”

The creature that was ripping the inside of my head into figurative shreds was busy playing hide-and-go-seek with the children. I heard screams of agony as the hunter found the first one and sensed satisfaction as it tore the dead child apart, limb by limb. Fear emanated from the remaining child zombies as the hunt began again. They were fast, but they knew full-well that they would not be fast enough to outrun the beast. The second screamed louder than the first as the hunter lifted it above its head. Seeing through the hunter’s eyes, the dead child was small and shriveled; merely bones covered in dried gray skin that was worn through in places. It wore a dress that might have been yellow when it was new. It was impossible to tell now. The girl’s eyes were blue. They were bulging from her head. Her emaciated tongue protruded from her mouth as the hunter squeezed her neck while holding her mid-air. Those blue eyes were full of raw fear. Just before her head was squeezed from the rest of her body, she smiled sweetly. Mockingly.

The hunter held her severed head in both hands and sniffed at the opening where it would have sat upon her shoulders. I could feel the liquefied brain matter going down my own throat as it tipped the decapitated head up and drank from it. I coughed, ‘tasting’ the rotten slush in my own mind.

“Nate, are you ready, Brother?” I heard Gus ask.

I coughed, ready to vomit from the intrusions in my head. “Gus, no. Wait. It’s killing the other zombies. Let it finish.”

My connection to the dead had never been this strong before; never this hard to cope with. I tried as hard as I could to push the beast out of my mind, but failed miserably. I closed my eyes again as I watched through the hunter’s eyes. It was already searching for its third victim. As it walked, its arms swung at its sides. They were large and bloated with massive green boils festering on the surface. Fluids from the slaughtered zombie children had splattered its arms. The hunter was angry and hatred emanated from its core. It reached the next child in short order, finding it just outside our safe room hiding behind a dumpster. It cowered down as the hunter approached, too frightened to fight back.

I could hear myself whimpering as the creature ripped the little one’s limbs off one by one and then crushed its skull with what I assumed was a rock. It didn’t feed on this one, but rather began the search for the next. The last two ran together in a feeble attempt to escape. They were so much faster than zombies we had experienced so far. They led the hunter down the beach, where they met their ends together within a matter of moments. The last one to die giggled as the hunter threw it against something hard that was lying in the sand.

“They’re all dead. It killed them all,” I groaned.

Looking up to all three men, who were watching me as if I might explode before their eyes, I tried to clear my head. The hunter was walking back our way.

“It’s coming back this way,” I whispered. “We have to kill it. Now. It’s big. It’s angry. All it wants to do is kill anything it can.”

“Let’s go.” Gus cocked his shotgun and walked toward the door that would lead to the small parking lot. “Nate, open the door. I’ll go first.”

Boggs was gently holding me by the arm, preventing me from going with them.

“Whatever this thing is, it’s got some serious effects on you. Stay here, Zo. Let them handle it,” he said weakly.

Bobby appeared at my side. She seemed especially nervous. She held a dry washcloth out for me.

“Your nose,” was all she said.

“Thanks,” I whispered back. I held the cloth to my nose. The stream of blood had, thankfully, slowed to a trickle.

“Susan isn’t looking so good, guys. I’m not sure what to do for her,” sighed Bobby.

“I’ll go check on her,” I offered while standing.

“Hold off on more morphine until I can examine her, ok?” called Gus.

Nathan opened the door, letting daylight stream in around us. The hunter was instantly aware of our presence as a result.

“It’s coming back this way,” I said with dread in my voice.

Gus and Nathan were already outside the safe room.

“Oh God, Gus!” I yelled, nearly at scream-pitch. “It thinks you’re one of them! Oh shit!”

I shoved Boggs off of me and ran to the open doorway.

“Nate!” I screamed. “It’s coming for Gus! Oh God, help him!”

I could see Gus through the eyes of the hunter. It believed he was one of the dead. It was ravenous and infuriated. Its goal was to kill other undead, plain and simple. My lover, through the eyes of the hunter, was surrounded by a red aura. Nathan and I were both surrounded in white outlines. My head swam as I tried to push the visions of the hunter from my head and see only through my own two eyes. The creature was massive; at least seven feet tall and nearly as wide with bloat. I had no doubt that once upon a time it was a human, but now it was a gelatinous blob full of pure rage and unending hunger. It reminded me of shows I had once seen on TV where people would have legs and genitals so swollen that they could barely move. This creature, though, was assuredly dead and rotting. Despite those facts, it was fast and nearing us too quickly. The stench emanating from it was seemingly a mixture of rotten eggs and putrefying animal remains.

Nathan and Gus both aimed their firearms at the hunter, which seemed unaware of their intent. They both fired, and both found their mark on its head. The hunter fell forward with such force that its body literally exploded before us. Nothing about it appeared to be solid. It left behind a large pool of dark green slime and something resembling pus. Birds circled overhead, anxious for their chance to feed.