Forest Park: A Zombie Novel (33 page)

“We all did, implies I did, and I didn’t. In fact, I haven’t been asked my opinion.”

“I think we understand your opinion,” Steve said.

“Was I talking to you, chunks?” Susan said.

“Hey, watch what you’re saying,” Kathy answered her.

“I’m just doing my job, Kathy. I ask questions and sometimes people don’t like it.”

“You’re not a reporter now,” Kathy said.

“What makes the firehouse any safer?” Susan said. “And do you always feel the need to go along with the pack, Kathy?”

Susan wanted to shut her mouth, but she couldn’t help herself.

“What?”

“You heard what I said.”

Shut up! she thought to herself.

“Maybe Tyler is right, Susan, you do have a screw loose.”

“What disappoints me the most, Kathy, is I thought we had become really close friends.”

“We’ve only just met. I’ve barely known you for a few hours, Susan.”

“You’re just like the rest of them,” Susan said, “You know you won’t be any safer there. Those things will kill you. You wait and see.”

“We will be safer there because the firehouse gives us access to power and communications, and most of all, if things continue to get worse, and we can’t get help or escape, it also has a working bunker,” Cook said.

Kathy spun around. “A bunker?”

“Tyler, Cook and I thought that if we failed to communicate with anyone, we could use the bunker for a while. At least until things cool down and then we could leave town,” Steve said.

“When were you going to talk to me about this, Steve? I thought we were going to try to get out of town ASAP?”

“The original plan still stands; it just depends on how many of those things are about. We’ve been talking, Tyler, Cook and I, and we’ve all come to the same conclusion that there’s more of those things about than we first thought. Remember when we attempted to leave town, they were everywhere.”

“See, Kathy, they’re hiding the truth from you too,” Susan said.

“Can it really be that dangerous, Steve? You know what happened at the house, you know that if you sit in one place, they’ll come. They’ll sniff you out,” Kathy said, disregarding Susan.

“I think it might be that dangerous,” Tyler answered her. “And if you don’t think so, then think about this, why haven’t we heard or seen one other person? Where is everyone? I haven’t heard a car or gunshot for a long while now. There’s a decent chance we’re alone in this place. We might be the only people still alive in a town of twenty-five thousand, and that decreases our chance of rescue, because if it’s this bad in Forest Park, it must be devastating everywhere else. The bunker is a valid option, a fall-back option if need be.”

“Liars,” Susan said.

“How big is this bunker?” Kathy asked.

“Big enough for us, and to help others, if there is any,” Cook said.

“Great plan. We already have limited resources, and you’re going to send for more people? You actually think you’re going to help anyone? Get serious. If that’s the reason we’re leaving here, then let’s can it. The other losers out there can help themselves, this is about survival!” Susan said.

“Susan, please be quiet,” Kathy asked.

“I’m doing my job.”

“No you’re not, you’re being difficult. If that is your job, then you’re the fucking CEO of the company!” Kathy said. “Just let the man talk.”

“They built the bunker during the cold war. It’s an old civil defense bunker,” Cook said.

Kathy nodded. “Okay then.”

“Sorry, I should have told you, honey,” Steve said.

“Yes, you should have; we’re all in this together, we can’t have secrets.”

“If you could only listen to yourselves,” Susan said.

SMASH! The front window of the grocery store caved in below.

“I think it’s time we left,” Tyler said.

“You don’t think they’ll get up here?” Steve asked.

“These things have a knack of doing what you least expect of them. I doubt that they’ll get up here though, but we’ll be long gone anyhow,” Tyler answered.

“Are we all agreed on what we’re doing now?” Tyler asked everyone.

“It appears to me that I don’t have a choice,” Susan said.

“There’s always a choice, Susan. Don’t ever doubt it,” Tyler said, walking away from her.

ROOFTOP CHALLENGE

Tyler stood surveying the journey ahead with a length of rope lashed to his body, a prize from the grocery store’s limited stockroom. Standing alongside Tyler was Steve, who held their only weapon, a bloodstained baseball bat. With no firearms and limited resources, they both knew the passage forward was going to be arduous.

“Are you ready?” Tyler asked Steve.

“No...”

“Neither am I,” Tyler responded.

Tyler stepped over the three-foot tall partition, which separated the neighboring building with the grocery store’s roof. Setting his foot down on some highset corrugated iron, he adjusted his feet sideways to allow himself to stand properly.

“Watch your step, there’re a number of cables running along the side,” Tyler said as Cook followed him over the wall.

In the dark, the low running cables were close to invisible.

The roof creaked and groaned with each footfall the men made. “It doesn’t feel too safe,” Cook said.

“Safer than down there,” said Tyler.

“Point taken,” Cook answered. “Who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” Kathy said, as Cook immediately reached out his hand to help her over the low-set partition.

“Be careful and watch your step.”

Kathy looked nervous, but resolute.

Cook then held out his hand for Susan.

Susan smacked it away. “I’m not a child. I’m perfectly capable of ---” And then she fell and landed awkwardly on her arm.

Tyler spun around and saw Susan lying on the corrugated roof and then looked away.

“Are you okay?” Cook asked her.

After she got to her feet, Susan said, “Does it look like I’m fine?”

“It’s hard to know in the dark,” he said.

“We need to keep moving ---” Tyler was saying until he unexpectedly heard a shuffling sound down below.

Tyler hunkered down while the others looked at him with bewildered expressions. Signaling with his right hand, he attempted to communicate with the group to get low to the ground.

“What is it?” Cook asked, his voice at a whisper.

“Don’t know.”

Tyler flicked on his flashlight and scanned the remaining roof ahead of the group. He crept forward to the next partition which was much higher than the first, around five to six feet in total, and raised his flashlight to head height, but a row of potted trees which formed part of a small rooftop garden obscured much of the what there was to see.

Placing the flashlight on the wall, Tyler raised himself up so he could have a better view. To his right was a wicker table and chairs surrounded by a few other smaller potted shrubs and flowers, while to his left was the roof’s access door.

It was open.

“Is there something over there?” Cook asked Tyler.

“Maybe, there’s an open door, and I think I can see blood upon the ground,” he answered.

“I can’t see anything,” Steve said as he peered over the wall. “Are you sure it’s blood?”

Tyler shrugged; he didn’t know if it was.

“I can’t see a body or any of those, things,” Tyler quickly added.

“It still doesn’t mean there’s nothing there,” Cook answered him. “Best to run with your first instinct.”

Tyler shined his flashlight toward the open door --- there was nothing.

He then heard the sound once more; it was a scrape, not a shuffle.

It sounded close.

“Shine the light on the doorway again,” Steve said.

The light flashed over the open door once more.

“There could be something in the stairwell, and if we shut the door, we could trap it, it would save time,” Tyler said.

“If there is one over there, there’s probably is another. It takes one to bite one,” Cook said.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

“I’ll go first,” Steve said.

“No, I’ll go first, I’m already on the wall anyhow,” Tyler answered him.

“I’ll come with you then,” said Steve.

“How about you take the flashlight and pass me the bat once I’m over. Then you follow me.”

“Is everything all right?” Kathy asked.

“Yeah, honey.”

“You’re sure?”

“No,” Tyler said answering for Steve, “but this is our first obstacle, and we have to keep moving. We can’t stop at every sound,” Tyler answered as he plunged down, disappearing from sight.

The legless thing was lying on the roof, close to the wall and hidden in the shadows.

As Tyler landed, one of his boots crushed the Dead thing’s chest cavity with a loud crack. It sounded like the snapping of a dry branch.

Tyler’s other boot landed on the forehead of the dead man whose rotten flesh slid from its skull, taking Tyler’s boot with it. The sudden slip spread his legs apart, and a sharp pain erupted from his groin. Tyler then tried to reach back to the wall to regain his balance, but it was too late. He fell to the ground with a thud.

Steve, with Cook’s help, boosted himself on top of the wall.

He had shone the flashlight down to where Tyler lay sprawled on the roof holding his groin, and he saw the ghoul attempting to crawl after its thrashing prey. Its teeth were striking together at the night air.

Allowing himself to drop as gently as he could, Steve landed to the far side of the legless thing, and then called to Cook for his baseball bat. He raised it high into the air and brought it down on the Dead thing’s mutilated head.

“Are you okay?” Kathy asked from the other side against the wall.

“Yeah,” Steve answered.

“Are you all right, Tyler?” Steve asked.

“I’ll be all right. However, this is the first time I’ve done the splits for about thirty years,” he said.

“Can you stand up?” Steve asked him with a wry smile.

“In a minute, just give me a moment.”

Tyler sounded embarrassed.

“Get the door,” Tyler said as another set of feet landed on the roof behind them.

Expecting to see Cook, Steve found himself surprised to see Kathy.

She speedily ran over to her husband and embraced him.

“Stop being so damn brave,” she said.

“I’ll try,” he said.

“Can someone shut the fucking door,” Tyler said as he sat upright and rubbed his groin.

Steve reached for the open stairwell door, only to launch himself rapidly backward as he came person to person with another Dead monstrosity at the top of the stairwell.

The thing howled as Steve stood only inches from its gaping mouth.

“Not tonight,” he said, as he slammed the door in its face, leaving it trapped forever.

The next rooftop they traversed was flat and unobstructed. The only feature being two skylights, which revealed the interior of the store below. Tyler peered downward into the store, but the darkness refused to reveal its secrets. He then stepped over another low wall and rubbed his sore groin as he examined their next challenge, a high-pitched corrugated roof.

Tyler turned to the others. “I’ll climb up first and drop the rope down to you.”

“Can you climb with that groin?” Cook asked him with a grin from ear to ear.

“Sure, it’s feeling better already,” Tyler said, while he checked for a place to start climbing.

Having easily spotted the screws that held the metal sheeting to the roofing gables, Tyler positioned his boot on one.

It gripped.

He then reached up and found another screw, and gripped it with his fingertips as he raised his other boot to the next row of screws.

Before long, he was on the axis of the roof and looking down the other side.

Much of the rooftop area was hidden from view, but it had a flat deck and what appeared to be a pigeon coop at its midpoint.

“How’s it look?” asked Cook.

“Good and bad. There are no Dead things over here, so that’s good. Although the next roof looks to be separated by an alley, so this might be the end of the line for us.”

“Can you see the firehouse?” Steve asked.

“Hang on,” Tyler said as he inched along the axis of the roof and found a ladder down to the next level. He tied the rope to the top rung and flung it down to the others.

“Answer the man,” Susan said. “Can you see the firehouse or not?”

“Yeah,” Tyler retorted. “I can see it. And it looks clear.”

“Who wants to go first?” Steve asked everyone.

“Ladies first,” said Kathy. “Susan, would you like first dibs?”

“I don’t think I can climb a rope like this,” Susan said rubbing her arm. “It really hurts.”

“How about you go first anyway, and I’ll help you up from behind,” Kathy said, “then Tyler can pull you up from above. You’ll be up there before you know it.”

Susan moaned.

“Come on, ladies,” Tyler said.

“Sorry,” Kathy answered him.

However, Tyler knew Kathy wasn’t to blame as he glanced down at the things below.

The creatures in the street beneath knew something was close, and they moaned in frustration.

They wanted them; they wanted to touch them, to feel their warmth.

The Dead things sensed them --- fresh and clean --- unpolluted from death and decay. They could almost smell their vibrant blood, as if it breathed through the pores of their living skin, ebbing and flowing in strong-scented currents; pumping and coursing with living cells that stirred through blue veins and twitching muscles. Warm blood that drove through the heart’s chambers embracing its beat and feeding it energy. Dark ruby-red blood, which sparked the brain with living memories and conscious thoughts. Blood that when spilled, warmed the Dead’s flesh for a few moments as it flowed down a dry throat to nowhere.

They were dead.

Dead things, which craved the soothing, warm liquid of life.

Tyler leaned over and looked into alleyway, which separated the two buildings. It was close to pitch-black down there, he thought. “We’re going to have to climb down from here,” Tyler said. “Hopefully that car blocking the entry will hold the Dead back.”