Transformation (24 page)

29.

The crash was loud on the quiet morning.

Donna was up first, about to brew coffee, when she looked out over the parking lot. She dropped the empty carafe she was holding. As far as the eye could see the dead covered the ground, but they weren’t moving. She moved closer to the edge and looked down to get a closer look at the corpses. They were all laying in a massive tangle that stretched for miles, or so it seemed. As far as she could see across the runways, the entire parking lot, into the office parks, was all covered in a tangle of dead bodies.

She ran to the other side of the structure and looked out. The ground all the way to the highway was carpeted in the dead and the carpet was complete up to, and almost certainly under, the structure. She ran to the girls asleep on the sofas.

“Wake up and come see this.” Donna sounded alarmed enough that both girls jumped to their feet.

“What is it?” Ana and Lisa both asked.

“First put these on.” Donna handed them both the pro grade masks they used to filter the air when needed.

“Not sure this will help with disease,” Donna mumbled but the other two didn’t hear her.

They all looked over the edge of the structure together.

“What the heck?” Lisa said.

“Gross.” Ana turned away and removed her mask. She walked over and started sweeping up the broken glass.

“I guess she has the right idea.” Donna walked after Ana and Lisa followed. They both removed their masks.

“What do you think happened to them?” Lisa asked.

“Well, no matter what drove them, they are human bodies and are bound to fail at some point. I’m surprised they lasted this long.”

“Yeah.” Lisa said. “But it looks like they all died at once. Like something turned them off.”

Donna huffed. “I don’t know.” She fell silent for a bit as the two women walked back to the kitchen area to join Ana. “I haven’t had much of a chance to think about how or why all this happened. I guess it wasn’t a priority. I’m still not sure how it would serve us to know.”

The three ladies brewed coffee, took an occasional glance over the edge, and hoped the stiff breeze that kept the smell almost completely at bay would hold up. They relaxed as much as they possibly could.

Donna was worried about Ron. He was gone, and she didn’t know where. Now searching for him was almost an impossibility. She used the binoculars to look for him off and on. She looked down at the can she was about to open.
Peaches.
She smiled. Just like the last time she was worried about Ron. She smiled because it made her think of Jeff. He was odd but a real sweet kid.

§

“What the fuck?” Jeff hissed as he looked over the ocean of corpses. Between him and Wendy and the structure.

“Yay. More bodies,” Wendy said.

“No, not just more bodies. Look.” Jeff pointed.

Wendy hesitated, but leaned over and looked at what Jeff was pointing at just outside his window.

“What the fuck?” Wendy hissed.

“I know, exactly.” Jeff said.

“What do you think it is?”

Jeff and Wendy were several yards from something that looked humanoid, but was odd in several ways. It was hairless, smooth skinned, and looked like a burn victim might look. The flesh looked like melted wax poured over wounds and gashes. They were too far away to see, but the thing looked like a statue. It just stood still, slightly hunched forward.

Wendy shuddered. “Jesus, it’s disgusting.”

Jeff dropped the van into gear and drove slowly towards the structure.

“Maybe I’ve watched too many movies, but I am not going near that thing.”

“What if it attacks us? What do we do?”

“Well, after I shit myself I am sure I will think of something as I am running away from it.”

“I loves me a brave man,” Wendy said.

Minutes later the van crunched and squished up to and inside the structure. The elevator platform was lowering as they arrived. Nothing was moving so they both exited the driver’s side and onto the slanting surface. The platform was resting on a layer of bodies. Jeff grabbed his giant bag.

There was much hugging and happiness and many questions. Jeff told his story of how old Francis took off with Ron. Donna updated Jeff on her apparent death and how she came to be alive. Wendy told the events of her last few days and how Sal was still out there along with a handful of people pursuing them because of the apparent murder of one of their own.

Jeff got the binoculars and looked for the thing they saw and tried to point it out to the others, but it was too far away to see clearly. Jeff couldn’t ignore the thing. He was tempted to go have a look at it, but even his overpowering curiosity was subdued by caution. He went back and forth watching it for several hours not wanting to let it out of his sight.

Finally there came the time he went to look at the creature and it was gone. This made him even more nervous. He spent the rest of the evening looking high and low, but it was nowhere to be found. Jeff dreaded sundown and didn’t want to sleep alone, or be alone anywhere in the structure.

When night fell he went to sit on the sofas with everyone, he brought his giant bag and offered to share. The girls had on some horrible movie Wendy had taken from the big box store. While they all oohed and ahhed, he slipped on some earphones and turned up the volume. He was exhausted and fell sound asleep.

In the dark of the night, in the darkest and most silent part of the night, a breeze barely blew through the structure. Donna walked the dark fourth level and looked over the edge every so often. It was so dark that nothing much could be seen. To make things worse the layer of dead bodies made it hard to see if anything was out of place. When the lot was empty, the ground clear, they could see if anything or anyone moved for a long distance out. Now it was such a chaotic jumble she didn’t think her being on watch made a difference but felt like it was something she should do. She also couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even sit still. She tried, and failed to distract herself with a book than a movie.

She wondered where Ron was, prayed he was OK. Worse still, he thought she was dead. She didn’t know how she’d deal with it if she thought she’d lost him.

Donna came back around to the living room. Everyone was asleep on the sofas. She could hear Jeff’s music faintly when she drew close. She debated whether she should turn the music down. The kid had to be damaging his hearing. She found the kid’s iPod and unplugged it. He rolled over and she could feel him relax. He smiled in his sleep. But then his eyes opened.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No, it’s OK. I’ve been dying to get back and work on some stuff.”

Jeff got up, grabbed some junk food and soda and went towards his area to work.

She looked at Lisa, Ana, and Wendy with gratitude. She was blessed with such a wonderful group of people to survive such a horrible situation.

Donna tried once again to relax. She took another shower, tried to read, walked around the structure again and stopped on the far side on the roof. She looked out over blackness.

“Oh my Ron, where are you?” she whispered to herself, to God in case he was listening.

She walked back down the ramps to the second level. She figured one more walk around might take the edge off and allow her to sleep. As she passed the fourth level she looked in on the folks there.

The second level was near black. She was surprised the corpse smell was almost nonexistent. She padded along silently in her tennis shoes. The night was still and quiet, so quiet that Donna could hear the faint sounds of footfalls in the dark several yards in front of her. She froze.

Donna turned to run away, to warn the others, but wasn’t able. She felt hands grab her, a knife pressed to her throat, and more hands clutching at her arms and legs, a few copped hard feels of her more sensitive areas. A coarse cloth was wrapped around her face.

30.

Two groups of corpses moved slowly towards each other on the expressway. There was about a mile gap between them. Sal figured he had about fifteen minutes before the fastest of the dead arrived. In less than twenty minutes, the two groups would merge completely. But what could he do in fifteen minutes to get off the expressway? He, like the others, ran from side to side a few times looking for some way off; something to climb down or land on. Nothing.

The closer the dead got, the more panicked he felt. But these weird kids acted as if everything would be OK. Especially Dawn who stood in the center of the expressway making moon eyes at Sal.
Fucking creepy,
he thought as she smiled at him. Hope stood next to her digging in her nose and Egg was on the ground shaking his balled fists and rocking back and forth. His face was contorted, his eyes closed tight, his mouth in a frown, and he was crying. That was no doubt from the pain of his broken leg. Sal felt sorry for the simpleton. Gerald and Cullen were getting more panicked by the minute. Eddie was . . . gone. Sal looked around again and sure enough the kid was nowhere to be found.

Sal heard a hiss behind him and turned around. He saw Eddie’s head poking above the railing. He was on the outside of the railing. He held his finger to his lips, then motioned Sal over. He dropped below the railing.

Sal was conflicted as he walked quickly over to where he’d seen Eddie. He turned and sat on the rail. He watched Dawn watching him. He saw Cullen and Gerald looking over the opposite edge. He was about to leave these kids up here to fend for themselves. He was tired of the crazy shit and wanted nothing more than to be away from them all. He heard Eddie’s voice.

“There’s a pipe down here. I got on it using my pants, to your right.”

Pants?
Sal looked to his right. The kid’s pants were hanging over the rail by the crotch. He looked over the edge farther and saw Eddie standing on a pipe in his underwear. It looked to be a conduit for the electrical wiring that powered all the lights on this stretch of the expressway. Eddie must’ve held onto the cuffs and lowered himself down and then swung over to the pipe.

Crazy kid!
Sal thought. The height made his balls tingle, and he doubted he could climb over the edge like Eddie did.

The pipe was only horizontal for about three feet then went up and into the bottom of the overpass. It ran vertically up the side of the support the expressway sat on. It wasn’t a very big pipe, Sal could get his hands around it easy enough, but it was forty feet in the air. And there were a lot of the dead on the ground below.

“Hey, did you find something?” It was Cullen, coming over towards him.

Sal straightened up. “No. Thought I saw something, but I think we are stuck up here.”

Dawn came over. “Where’s Eddie?”

Sal piped up. “I saw him over there a few minutes ago. Maybe he jumped or fell.”

Gerald lumbered over to where Sal pointed and looked over the railing.

Cullen smirked, “I think he found a way down and didn’t tell us.”

Sal thought that Cullen knew where Eddie was but then the smirking twenty something turned and ran over next to Gerald and looked over the edge. While everyone was distracted, he grabbed Eddie’s pants intending to go over the edge. He made the mistake of looking down.

The height made Sal’s head swim. The distance seemed far greater to him as he contemplated what he was about to do. He heard Cullen shouting and looked over. No one had yet turned to look at him. Mere seconds had passed but Sal felt he was letting eons go by, his chance at escape was slipping away. The dead were approaching and when they arrived he would be forced to jump. He took his best option before it was totally gone.

Sal went over and almost let go of Eddies’ pants out of sheer panic. He held tight, tried not to yell, puke, or piss himself. He swung for an agonizing second or two, holding on for dear life. He felt his hands slipping and opened his eyes. Eddie was reaching for him and looked as if he might slip from his precarious perch on the pipes. Eddie snatched Sal’s belt and pulled. The slight boy could only steady Sal. He couldn’t move him at all.

“You have to let go with one hand and reach down here.”

Sal was fighting to hold on using both hands. If he let go he was going to fall. But it was no longer his choice.

Cullen’s face appeared above the rail, “Going somewhere?”

Sal let go with one hand and swung in towards the pipe and grabbed it.

“Oh no you don’t.” Cullen reached down and grabbed Sal’s wrist. Sal was dangling by one hand. He had Eddie’s pants in the other.

Cullen smiled as he let go, hoping to see the big man fall, but Sal disappeared under the railing.

Cullen looked pissed for a second, and then turned away. “Well fuck him.”

Dawn stood, mouth agape trying to process what had just happened. Hope still dug in her nose in complete concentration, oblivious to all around her.

Cullen strut over to Dawn. “Looks like I’m still your Adam.”

“No. No, this isn’t right. He . . . “

“He dumped you,” Cullen smiled.

“No. He . . . “ Dawn stopped and thought. Had he dumped her? But it was all so perfect. Was this some sort of test? Was she possibly wrong about the future of the human race? Was she to be Eve?

Gerald screeched, “They’re getting closer.” He ran towards Dawn and Cullen as the dead closed in.

Cullen stopped him with a slap to the face.

“We still have a few minutes. Go strip Egg and tear his shirt and pants in strips.”

Gerald didn’t respond. He was watching the approaching dead in horror and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Hey! You listening to me?” Cullen slapped the side of Gerald’s head harder.

Gerald turned to face Cullen but wasn’t all there. He was almost unreachable as he cried and danced in place like he had to pee.

Cullen slapped him in the face as hard as he could and Gerald bellowed in pain.

“What are you going to do Gerald?”

“Strip Egg. Tear up his clothes.” He blabbered, blowing snot bubbles from his nose.

“In strips!” Cullen yelled and raised his hand again. “Tear his shirt in strips. And don’t look at those shit bags again. You hear me? I will kill you before they get here if I see you looking at them again.”

Gerald hurried over and started pulling Egg’s clothes off.

Dawn looked around and saw Hope still standing a few yards away working in her nostril. The dead were still a good distance away but Dawn panicked.

“Hope!” she yelled.

Hope pulled her finger from her nose. “Got it!” She smiled as she held up a huge booger. She put her finger in her mouth and sucked it clean.

Dawn ran to her sister and grabbed her arm and pulled. Hope followed but moved slowly, resisting each step.

“Hope look! The monsters are coming for you. We have to leave.”

The slowwitted girl looked up and screamed. She hadn’t noticed the dead approaching. Now she was wailing and begging Dawn to save her.

Seeing that everyone was in a panic and sensing an opportunity to be in charge, Cullen stepped up.

“Dawn take Hope there,” he pointed to a specific spot along the rail. “Egg! Egg! Get up.” But Egg didn’t’ move.

Egg lay on his back in his underwear and dirty sneakers. His body was saggy, white, and hairless. His leg was swollen and purple. He was clearly in pain as he clutched his fists in tight balls and vibrated. He just shook like he was having a seizure. Every once and a while he’d gasp and squeal.

“Egg! One more big jump and we are free. I will fix you. Make you OK.”

Egg stopped shaking and tried to stand. He screeched in pain as he rose. He hobbled towards Cullen.

Gerald arrived at Cullen’s side. He was carrying an armful of cloth strips.

“Good.” Cullen started taking strips and tying them end to end. He knew the cloth rope wouldn’t reach the ground but his plan was to drop to the roof of the bus below. He would let a few of the tards go first to cushion his fall.

Dawn looked over the edge. She winced at the height, but not for herself.

“Cullen. I don’t think Hope is going to be able to do this.”

“Then she’s dead.”

“Fuck you. I’m asking for your help.”

“Help? You stupid bitch. You fucking bust my teeth out . . .”

Cullen tied the cloth strips off to the rail. He tied the other around Hope’s waist and gave Dawn a dirty look.

“Hope. Close your eyes,” he said sweetly. She complied.

“What are you doing?” Dawn demanded.

“Helping you, not that you deserve it.” Cullen pushed Hope forward and she went over the rail screaming bloody murder.

“Surprise.” Cullen was laughing as Hope spun in midair, screaming like a banshee.

Dawn rushed to the edge to look at Hope. Dawn was pissed, but Cullen was lowering her sister down and to safety.

“You need to go down and cut her loose. Let’s just hope this thing holds both of you.” Cullen Sneered.

Dawn grabbed the cloth rope and went over the edge. She heard the faint sound of tearing as her weight was added to Hope’s. She looked at Cullen torn between cursing him and thanking him but said nothing. She eased her grip and slid down to Hope.

Dawn managed to get Hope to open her eyes and stop screaming, but she was still yelping and whining. The two girls were spinning in space on the end of the thin cord when suddenly Hope dropped to the roof of the bus with a loud boom. Dawn dropped right next to her.

“OK. Go. Go.” Cullen made Egg go next.

Egg grabbed the rope and went over the edge without hesitation. He slid down the cloth so quickly it was almost as if he was just falling. When he hit the end, he just kept going. He landed on Hope. He rolled off and she was bawling, her nose was bloodied. The giant, underwear clad boy had messed himself on the way down and Hope had a brown smudge on her forehead.

Gerald ran for the cloth rope. Cullen put a hand up. He never cared for Gerald much.

“After me. You need to keep them back.” He motioned to the first few of the dead to arrive.

Gerald, eyes wide with fear, ran screaming at the first corpse in a desperate attempt to kill it. He pushed it down and tried to kick it in the head but it rolled away as it tried to stand.

Gerald looked back and Cullen was gone. He wanted to run to the rope and go down, but there was another dead shit bag almost on him. He jumped away from it, it grabbed air. He ran from the next one too, but it got a handful of shaggy hair. Gerald yelped as the zombie yanked, but the dead grasp slipped away. Gerald was starting to hyperventilate. He was panicked and running in a zigzag that probably saved him from certain death.

He finally turned to run for the rope and lost track of where it was on the railing. He charged in desperation and knocked two of the dead over the edge with his bulk. He ran a few yards until he found it and he grabbed it and went belly on the rail over the edge. The fact that he could hold his own weight with his own hands was a miracle. He clutched the fraying cloth strips and kicked with his feet, not knowing what to do with them.

A dead hand grabbed hold of Gerald’s wrist and the snapping corpse bent forward, its cracked teeth scraped his knuckles. He let go and slid down the rope so fast he burned the skin off his palms. He reached the end and dropped on his ass. Before he could stand, the corpse that had his wrist landed on him and knocked the breath out of him. He was buried under rotten flesh and screaming for help as another corpse landed, then another. He was getting crushed under the weight but one hand grabbed him and held on tight. It jerked him from under the pile and dragged him across the top of the bus. It was Egg.

Egg was panting, moaning, and whimpering all the while he was dragging Gerald to safety. He had a few bloody gashes in his arms that looked like they could be bites. He dragged Gerald to the front of the bus where the others were already jumping down to the roof of a van. Bodies were raining off the overpass and falling with loud booms on the bus roofs or splatting on the ground and vehicles around them. The noise was horrendous, loud and jarring.

The kids ran on, dodging the grasping clawing hands of the first wave of the dead as they crashed into the vehicles. The kids had to scramble over a fence, the bodies following them crashed into it and bent it down, threatening to flatten it. The kids ran on, disappearing down rapidly darkening streets. Moments later the fence gave way and a tsunami of corpses poured in after them, filling the city behind them.

§

Eddie and Sal were still perched on the pipe uncomfortably wedged between it and the concrete overpass. They could hear the dead moaning above them. Every once in a while a body or two would go over the edge. They watched as the other group slid down the makeshift cloth rope and escaped, followed by a dark wave of death.

“I’m exhausted,” Sal whispered. “I think I’ve lost too much blood. I have to rest.”