Our Undead (41 page)

He stops mid-aim and turns
to see that Margaret is looking upward and to the left above the
forest trees. He follows her gaze and sees a jet-black military
helicopter approaching their position. If it wasn't for the zombies
coming out of the forest right below it, they might have been able
to run for it, but Billy has another idea. He puts his arrow back
into the knapsack and reattaches his bow as well, and then runs
back to Margaret and scoops her up.

Billy:
C'mon! Get up!
Up!!

He gets her up and back
into her piggyback position on his person, then continues running
in the direction they had been, down the center of the field. The
distance between them and the undead has shortened significantly
now due to the break they had taken, and to make things worse, they
hadn't even made it past the whole mob that is
still
coming for them from the
highway. These zombies are
still
throwing themselves off the elevated road from
behind, beside and in front of the escaping trio. Not to mention
the ones still coming from the forest. No matter how fast they run,
it is a guarantee that they will be surrounded in a matter of
minutes.

Margaret:
Please, let them see us.

Billy:
They
will
see us.

Incoming from the sky,
Kerrick and Sharp look down on the largest group of 'goofs' they
have ever seen. Those that cover a decent portion of the highway
are advancing on to the field in droves. Even at their height, the
super soldiers can see them dropping like bodies out of a burning
building off of the highway on to the grass. So too are the ones
below them, appearing consistently from the forest like a
phenomenal army of ants.

Kerrick:
Well, would you look at that? That is something else. So this
is where they've all been hiding?

Sharp:
I
guess so. A little unusual, wouldn't you say?

Kerrick:
I
think this whole goddamned situation is unusual. More specifically,
I think we hit the jackpot, right here!! Let's blow these goofs
up!!

Kerrick reaches for the gun
rack, putting his rifle back in its place and picking up a grenade
launcher.

Kerrick:
Finally!
This is gonna be
fun.

He takes aim at the crowd
below.

Sharp:
Hold on! Look there!

Kerrick lowers the launcher
and looks to where Sharp's finger points.

Kerrick:
…the hell?

Below, Kerrick can see
three figures separate from the rest, in the center of the chaos,
like a core or seed, with every other form gravitating toward them.
From the helicopter's view, the core is surrounded completely from
the right, bottom and top, the swarm curving around to soon cover
the left side completely as well. The center would be totally
absorbed in five minutes, maybe less. At that point, it would
simply be one massive collection of zombies.

Billy:
(huffing)
I think they're
coming.

Margaret looks up and sees
the helicopter heading their way. A sound begins to ring out, one
that Margaret and Billy are not accustomed to hearing, the
clattering of gunshots raining from above. In front of them, they
both see many of the converging infected spouting blood and falling
to the ground.

Kerrick:
D, this is fun and all, but I think we're gonna need more
fire power.

Sharp:
No.
If we do that, we'll more than likely take the survivors out
too.

Kerrick:
So what do you propose?

Sharp:
We
have to lower the ladder, keep them covered and hope they make it
up.

Kerrick:
Aye, aye, buddy! Wooooooooo!

Kerrick continues going off
on the crowd below, firing on the inner most circle, trying his
best to keep them away from the three survivors. Sharp readies the
ladder.

From below, Billy and
Margaret can see the helicopter advancing ahead of them. They can
still hear the rata-tat and still see some of the undead bodies
tumbling over each other. Then, another lifeline appears in the
form of a helicopter ladder, unfurling downward and dangling from
the flyer like a limp noodle. Instantly, Margaret can feel Billy's
speed pick up, but she feels him slow back down just as quickly
when they enter the windstorm created by the rotary wings. Enduring
the thrust, they eventually make it directly under the flying
machine.

Billy eases Margaret off
his back gently, and they both look up to see two men firing on the
incoming infected. One of the men stops momentarily and hollers at
them to start climbing up.

Billy:
Go!
Go up!

Margaret:
Where's Abe?!

They look back and see Abe
struggling to make it through the strong winds of the helicopter.
His zombie trot has been reduced to a stumbling walk, but he tries
the best he can to follow the ones he has become so attached
to.

Billy:
Go
on!! I'll make sure he makes it!!

Margaret:
No! You go up!

Billy:
Margaret…

Margaret:
BILLY, JUST GO!!!

Billy:
(sighs)
Give me your
bag!

There's no arguing with
her, so Billy starts up the ladder. Margaret looks back and calls
out to Abe. He is close but so are the rest of his kind. From all
sides, they are just entering the circumference of the rotary wind,
and Abe is about a quarter of the way from the center. When Billy
makes it to the top, he looks down before he enters. Margaret
hasn't even begun the climb. He tries to call out to her, but
barely gets the chance to breathe before Sharp pulls him in the
rest of the way.

Sharp:
What is your friend waiting for?

Billy:
Our
other friend!

Sharp goes back to firing
and watches their other, slower friend finally make it to the
ladder. It is at this point that Margaret finally starts making her
way up the lifesaver. It's hard for her due to her broken leg, but
she manages to climb up enough so that Abe can get on
comfortably.

Margaret:
Abe, step on! Like me! Come on, you can do
it!

Abe looks up at her, trying
to understand what Margaret wants him to do. She looks up at the
horde approaching from all angles. They don't have much time and
Abe doesn't seem to understand.

Margaret:
Hold on to the ladder, Abe!!! Hold on!!

Abe understands enough,
grabbing hold of the ladder with one hand, but Margaret knows that
won't be enough. If the helicopter takes off, Abe would not be
taking off with it, and so she has no choice.

Sharp:
What the hell is she doing?!

Billy knows. She's going
back down for Abe. He doesn't say anything to Sharp. It would be
pointless. He knows now that she's going to do what she wants, just
like he would if he was in her position. All he can do is wait to
see if she makes it. Below them, Margaret stands on the bottom rung
and pulls Abe in close. He naturally steps up on to the same rung,
but Margaret has to manually wrap his fingers around the rung above
her head. With seconds to spare, she closes her eyes and hugs him
and the ladder as tightly as possible.

Billy:
Take off! Take off!!!

Sharp:
Pilot!

The pilot complies, and
the helicopter begins to lift Margaret and Abe out of the reach of
the converging mob. If only they had ascended seconds earlier. One
undead spook is able to reach up and grab hold of Margaret's good
ankle, the one keeping her steady on the ladder. She opens her eyes
and sees the roaring savage, wriggling and biting at her from
below, all
three
of them now being lifted with the ladder. She tries kicking
it off with her possibly fractured ankle, but the pain is too much,
and the longer she feels the weight of the full grown zombie, the
harder it is for her to keep holding on. She can feel her grip
beginning to slip from around Abe's mid section, but luck strikes
and before her grip fails, the zombie hanging from her good ankle
let's go and falls ungracefully back down on to the infuriated
crowd, which is now fully mixing, mingling and bubbling below
her.

Billy lets out a huge sigh
of relief when he sees the clinging zombie fall away from his
friends. He looks across the field at the thousands of walking
demons, who's sole purpose seemed to be to destroy them. They had
escaped for now and that is all that matters, but what a troubling
sight it is, watching the ground squirm as they fly away over the
forest. Billy shouts down at Margaret to hold on. He isn't too
sure, because of the helicopter's engine and the booming wind, but
he swears he can hear the shrill scream.

For five minutes they fly,
looking for a safe place to touch down. As they fly, Margaret holds
on as best she can, which isn't as easy as it may seem. The wind at
this height and speed is treacherous and deafening. At one point,
she opens her eyes, but they instantly become filled with tears due
to the wind. She closes them, and tucks her head into Abe's chest,
daring not to open them again, just trying enjoying the fact that
they've been given a second chance. The turbulence has not much of
any effect on Abe. As a zombie, his grip cannot be undone, and
there is no way he will be letting go or slipping. He rides it out
with ease.

After their five-minute
flight, they finally clear the forest and find a safe place to
land. The pilot let's everyone in the cabin know that he's bringing
them down. Slowly, they descend toward the dusty desert floor, and
finally, Billy can allow that "all's well that ends well" feeling
to wash over him. He does this just a little too soon, hearing a
high-pitched yelp come from outside. But being buckled in near the
center of the cabin, Billy is not able to look outside.

Sharp:
There's something wrong going on down
there!

Billy:
What's the matter?!

Kerrick:
The girl… She let out a scream!

Under them, where their
eyes cannot see, Margaret is having some troubles of her own. His
hands may possess Kung-Fu gripping capabilities, but during the
ride, Abe's feet had slipped off of the rung that was supporting
them, and is now holding on with his hands alone. Margaret tries
her best to keep him up with one arm, holding the rung close to her
head with her other, but soon the weight becomes too much for even
him, and one of Abe's unbreakable hands slip. It becomes next to
impossible for Margaret to hold him up.

Margaret:
Just hold on, you idiot! We're almost
there!

But her essence knows that
it's all on him now. She grunts with passion trying to hold him up
one-handed, but it's literally like a toddler helping a grown man
move a sofa; all for show. Abe is the only one doing any of the
work, and it doesn't take long for his last hand to come loose
under the pressure. Margaret has no choice but to let him go, and
Abe plummets serenely to the desert floor.

Kerrick:
Holy shit! He fell!

Billy:
Who
fell?!

Kerrick:
The guy! He fell like a bag of bricks! Hit the ground like on
too!

Billy:
Oh,
thank God… From how high!?

Kerrick:
Not sure! Looks like from about thirty or forty
feet!

Billy:
(sighs of relief)
All
right.

The super soldiers notice
the way Billy responds to his friend's traumatic experience and
think it weird, but neither decides to inquire about it. Maybe he
isn't thinking straight. In times like these, people's emotions,
what they feel and how they feel them, can change drastically. Why
else would a man falling forty feet without a safety net be "all
right"?

Margaret's foot touches
down softly, and she immediately hops off of the ladder, bouncing
clumsily toward Abe, who has landed less than ten feet away. He
touched down on his back, his eyes open wide, motionless and
unresponsive. As soon as Margaret reaches him, she falls down on
all fours and begins slapping and shaking his head in an attempt to
wake him up.

Margaret:
Abe? Come on buddy. Wake up.

The helicopter comes to a
landing a half a basketball court's length away, and Sharp and
Kerrick step out before the engine is cut. Billy jumps out as well
and darts straight for Margaret and Abe, right past Kerrick and
Sharp, who walk down the same path nonchalantly.