The Week of the Dead (14 page)

One by one the civilians stood and began to disrobe. “All the way?” a woman asked. “Yes,” he said as he stepped closer to her. He grabbed a blanket and held around her. He looked her in the eyes. They started at the back of the helicopter. One by one the civilians stood and turned as the soldiers commanded. One of the soldiers moved a flashlight over their skin doing an assessment as they took temperatures. “Clean,” he said as he looked around the civilians still covering their privates. They moved to the next person. The group watched as they moved down the line. Phil looked at Paul. “It’s going to be OK, little buddy.”

“Stand!” the soldier said to a young woman with glasses in mismatched bra and panties. “Turn!” he said. The woman obliged and turned her backside to the soldier. “Clean,” he said as the woman kept her head low. She got dressed as fast as she could.

The man next to her stood to his feet slowly. The soldier watched as sweat rolled down his forehead. “Sir! Undress!” the soldier said. The man attempted to take his shirt off. Slowly he revealed a wound above his left nipple. The soldier racked his weapon. “Move to the door!” The man began to shake. He fell to the ground and foamed at the mouth. “Fuck! Open the door!” The soldier with the flashlight pulled a roll of duct tape from his front pouch and began rolling the duct tape around the foaming mouth. “Watch yourself!” the lead soldier said. “Get his hands too!” the duct tape was rolled around the shaking man’s wrists. “Everyone, hold on!” the lead soldier shouted as he pushed the hatch open.

“Help me!” the flashlight soldier said to a civilian. “Get his feet!” The two men carried the bound and shaking man to the door. Phil watched as he witnessed the whole thing.

The two men carried the man to the door and stood him from both sides. He saw the lead soldier mouth something inaudible. He stood behind the man and gave him a kick out the door into the night sky. The crowd all stood as they watched their saviors push a man from a helicopter. The soldiers all pointed their weapons at the crowd. “He was bitten!” the lead soldier shouted. “Sit back down, or you can join him!” The crowd weighed their options and took a seat, still in their underwear holding their clothes in their hands. The soldier pulled the door closed, and the noise ceased. “He was bitten! He would have killed all of us!” he said as he replaced his sidearm in his holster. The soldiers started back their skin assessments. One by one, they checked everyone, including Paul. “Do you understand what just happened, son?” the lead soldier said to Paul.

“You pushed him out,” Paul said.

“Yes, he was sick. He was going to kill us all. Would you have wanted that?” Phil placed a hand on Paul’s shoulder. The little boy looked up at his father. “I didn’t think so.” The lead soldier stood and allowed Paul to get dressed.

They moved to Mr. Harrison. They eyed his piece of rebar. “Looks useful,” the soldier said as he moved his flashlight over Mike.

“I used to have a golf club, but I broke it,” he said as he looked at Phil. “Clean.” The soldiers moved to Mia. She had disrobed to reveal a sports bra and boy shorts. “Kinky,” the soldier said as he moved his flashlight from one of her eyes to the other. Her teary mascara was purely visible in the light. There was blood in her hair. The soldier took special attention to her hair. “Here is a bottle of water. We need to get the blood out of your hair. Is it yours?

“I don’t think so,” she said sheepishly.

“I’d hate to throw you out of the chopper too,” he said as he looked in her big brown eyes. “Hold still,” he said as he uncapped the bottle of water and poured it over her head. The lukewarm solution rolled down her head. He handed her a towel to dry off and reinspected her scalp. “Clean. Sorry about that,” the soldier said as he handed her back her clothing. She caught his name badge.
Raven.
They moved back down the line. Mia exchanged a glance at Phil who nodded at her as she put her clothes back on.

After the assessments, the helicopter fell silent. The feeling of embarrassment flew over everyone, and they felt at peace finally. Everyone seemed to fall asleep. The first sleep they’ve had in what felt like a long time.

Mud Island

Chapter 30

Tuesday 1100 CST

Memphis

D
owntown Memphis looked like a warzone. “Hmm, it actually got worse,” Ethan said as he looked out the window. The truck had traveled as many back roads as it could. They finally had to make the turn on to 3rd street. Bodies lay on the ground as Josh drove as carefully as possible. What used to be homeless people and people in suits joined forces in their current state of form. The white security truck became their object of attention as it drove past them. “Riverside!” Jenna shouted as she saw the river.

“Where are all the boats?” Ashley asked.

“Maybe everyone else had the same idea,” Josh said.

“Where are all the people?”

“They probably evacuated,” Ethan said. He saw Jenna’s head sink down. “Maybe they’re hiding? There are plenty of rooftops and high rises around here. That’s where I would go,” he said trying to inspire hope. Jenna and Ashley began to look up as Ethan kept an eye at street level. “Look!” Josh stated as he pointed out the windshield. In the middle of the street stood a solar-powered LED sign that had been dropped in haste: “Alive? Go to Mud Island.” It had an arrow pointing to the left. “Well, that’s a good sign,” Josh said as he looked around the cab of the truck looking to see if anyone caught his pun. “Let’s go then,” he said as he turned his blinker to the left. The river was on the left. Against the river was a fence. The fence was lined with reanimated people pushing against it. “Shit!” Josh said as he stomped on the gas pedal swerving around obstacles in the road. “It’s cool, dude. I don’t think they know we’re here.” Ethan said right as Josh bumped a parked car with the bumper of the truck, igniting its alarm system. Some of the corpses turned around displaying a look of interest.

“Never mind,” Ethan said as he hoisted himself out the window and began firing into the crowd of dead people. “Bring it on!” Ethan shouted as he pumped the shotgun after firing again. Josh pushed the car out of the way, and forward they went.

“Get your ass back inside!” Jenna shouted.

Josh turned the truck toward the sky lift. Mud Island was a man-made island. The only way to get there at the current time was a sky lift. People were locked against the fence waiting for the next tram car to return. Everyone wore a panicked face while they desperately waited. The security truck made its way to the entrance. The reanimated ones were pressing against the doors. The scared people were trying to keep the doors closed. “How do we get in?” Ashley asked.

“Ram them!” Ethan shouted as he reloaded the shotgun.

“What about the people inside?” Josh asked.

“Honk the horn!” Ethan answered as he stuck his head out the window. “Move! Get out of the way!” he was cut off by Josh holding down the horn. The horn caught the attention of the red-eyed corpses. They turned only to hear a blaring horn and a voice coming from the backseat. “Charge!” Ethan shouted as Josh forced the truck up the handicap ramp. The truck jolted as it made a forceful connection with the metal doors and surrounding concrete. The bodies were pinned between the two objects. “Hit ’em again!” Ethan shouted. He slammed the stick in reverse back down the ramp. Again he blared on the horn until he hit the doors. The truck’s engine sputtered to a quick death.

“Fuck!” Josh said as he tried to start the truck.

“We don’t need it! Get out!” Ethan said as he left the truck. He kept watch as the women and Josh escaped the truck and gathered their belongings.

Ethan slung a bag over his shoulder and walked up to the corpses. He pulled out his sidearm and put a round in each of their skulls as they were sandwiched between the door and the truck. Josh put the truck in neutral, and they pushed it away from the door. “Steel doors,” Josh said as he admired his ramming skills. He went to open the door, but it was jammed. “Shit!” He heard sounds from the other side of the door as it tried to budge from that side. “It won’t move!” he heard from the other side. “Climb!” Josh said as he saw movement behind them. Ethan took a few paces forward and aimed for the pale heads coming their way. He missed the first round but tunneled the second round in its head. “
Why is that guy naked?
” Jenna thought as she helped Ashley up the side of the building. “Climb over the railing!” Josh said as he threw his bags over the railing. People from the other side came to their aid as the girls made their way over. “Ethan, come!” Josh said as he watched his friend fire wildly at the corpses coming toward them. Ethan threw his shotgun in Josh’s direction. He sprinted and pulled himself up. He stood on the concrete, and he began to climb the cabled railing.

He made his way over the railing and fell to the ramp below. Jenna came to his aid. “Ooowww!” He let out a groan. He remembered the piece of glass stuck in his back. He made it to his feet and backed away from the railing. “Holy hell, that just happened.” He brushed himself off and stole a kiss from Jenna. She wrapped herself around him with a hug. She pulled back her hand to reveal blood. She backed away slowly. “It’s not what you think!” he said as she looked at the blood in her palm. Ethan removed his shirt to show her and everyone around her that his shoulder was still bleeding from the glass of the back window. “It’s fine, babe,” he said as the adrenaline left his body. The tram car made an appearance in the distance.

Ethan didn’t remember how he made it onto Mud Island, but he awoke in a tent. He was on a table, lying on his stomach. He turned his head looking around. He saw Josh and Ashley holding hands leaning against a wall asleep. “Where are we?” he asked. A new voice rang out.

“Mud Island. We made a camp here.” He heard as he felt the familiar pain in his shoulder. “You took a chunk of glass.” A gloved hand pulled a metal bowl to his eye level showing a half inch of tinted glass with blood on it.

“Awesome,” he said as he placed his head back down.

“You must have been tired. They said they had to carry you here. You talk in your sleep by the way. That was the only way we knew you weren’t infected.”

“Well
hooray
for that,” he said sarcastically. “What’s happening around here?” Ethan asked the woman with the gloved hands.

“There is an infection happening. People are getting bitten and turning into monsters. Martial law has been enforced. Anyone showing signs of sickness are being executed.”

“No quarantine?”

“We tried that at the hospitals, but it only made things worse. The infected individually are menacing, but in groups, they are indestructible killing squads.”

“A bullet to the head does the trick,” Ethan said as he felt a tugging at his wounded shoulder. “What are you doing back there?”

“I’m stitching you up. You lost some blood after we took out that chunk of glass. This knot will make eight stitches.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Where’s Jenna?”

“The girl? She’s over there.” He looked to find her with a needle in her arm.

“What’s she doing?”

“She’s donating blood. She said she was Type O, and you needed some.”

“Oh,” he said as he placed his head back down. “I’ve only known her for a few hours.”

“Doctor, do you approve?” the white-gloved woman said. The doctor came over and looked at the stitches.

“Very good, Nurse,” the doctor said.

“I know that voice. I saw him on TV,” Ethan said.

“We were in the hospital. When things got back, he hitched a ride on a news helicopter and came here. The news crew was trying to get a story. Their helicopter came to pick them up. The infected broke the barriers. The police panicked and started firing into the crowd, friend or foe. The doctor and I followed the news team to the roof, and here we are,” The nurse said as she removed her gloves and tapped Ethan on his good shoulder. “All done,” she said as she gave him a cheap scrub top. “Don’t overdo anything; we’ll take those out in a couple of days,” she said.

Ethan extended his good arm. “Ethan.”

She looked at him as she extended her newly sanitized hand.

“I’m Nurse Amy.” Ethan found his balance as he stood. “Go get something to eat. You’re still weak. Take your friend with you too. She donated a lot of blood for us.”

Ethan walked over to Jenna. He looked at her in her eyes. “Why would you do that for me?” he asked.

“I’m sorry about what happened before. I should have believed you,” she said as she lowered her head to look at the needle in her arm. He took her face in his good hand. He looked back at her eyes.

“Thanks,” he said as he kissed her lightly. He removed his lips from hers and held her head to his chest. He looked over her shoulder as he saw Mud Island.

Every year, there is a festival on this ground. Memphis in May was a month’s time of weekend parties of concerts, liquor, hooliganism, and barbeque. This wasn’t a party. The once fertile ground became a safe ground. Cars, tents, and people formed a camp. There were some military personal walking around, but many were gathered at the tram ramp sifting through people. “I need food,” he said as he released her from the hug. She looked at him. “Where are my guns?” he asked.

“You threw the shotgun at Josh, but someone else caught it. And the military took the pistol.”

“Damn it all. What else did I miss?” He felt the pain surge in his shoulder.

“This is just temporary. They’re flying people out in helicopters.”

“To where?”

“We don’t know.”

“You’re done,” Amy said to her as she started operating the equipment disconnecting the butterfly needle from Jenna’s forearm.

Amy held a bandage to Jenna’s site and placed a piece of tape over the bandage. “Good to go,” Amy said. “Junior, will you show these people to the food line?” Junior walked up in a pair of calf-high leather boots that were matched with a pair of black jeans and a black tank top with a cowboy hat placed crooked on his head. Ethan and Jenna were both struck by this man. “The name’s Junior,” he said as he extended a bandaged hand. Jenna made it aware that she was looking at his bandaged hand. Ethan extended his good arm. “Ethan. This is Jenna.” Junior shook his hand lightly.