Tyran's Thirst (Blood Lust) (2 page)

I dropped below my window sill, wide-eyed. My breath
coming in short gasps, I could hear the screaming coming from
outside. Frozen, I debated on running, but I didn’t want those
cannibals to see me. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, willing
the death and pain to go away. It wasn’t.

On my hands and knees, I crawled to the kitchen and found
my new knives. The carving one would do. I reached over the
counter and found my purse. With a glance outside, I hurried to my
car, sliding along the way, and started the engine. In no time I was
racing forward.

Passing by houses, I saw throats being ripped out, blood
gushing from the victims, and the remains of bodies spread across
the road. I swerved my car to avoid some that were dead, a few
living, but all couldn’t be helped. As I reached an intersection, I
didn’t see the blue sedan that t-boned me. My Olds crunched under
the pressure before flipping over multiple times.

The world turned into a blur. I lay, head sore, watching as
the other driver ran from his car. Why wouldn’t he help me? My
hand found my scalp and when it pulled away, I discovered I was
bleeding and lying on the glass and the roof of my auto. It was
hazy. The world was spinning and my head hurt like a bitch. I
muttered a curse before falling into the darkness.

CHAPTER 2
Voices. Calm, soothing voices.

My eyes began to flutter open. All was blurry, but my
pupils adjusted. Above me was a white ceiling with oak beams.
Turning my head, I saw stained-glass pictures of Jesus, Mary and
Joseph.
Am I dead?

“Ma’am?”

 

I tried to move my head some more, but a massive migraine
splintered through my scalp.

 

“Ma’am?”

 

I asked, “God?”

 

I heard a chuckled. “No, miss. My name is Pastor Pierce. A
group of us found you.”

“What?”
“You were in a car accident just down the street from our
church. We heard the crash and ran out to see if everyone was all
right. We found you lying, unconscious, and bleeding. Alex and
Drew carried you here.”

“Where’s here?” I began to sit up.

Pastor Pierce laid his hands on my shoulders, forcing me
down. “You’re at Saint Anthony’s Parish. Shh, lie down. Your
head is a mess.”

I moved my palm up to the pain on the left side of my
scalp. It had been bandaged. There was a wetness on the outside I
guessed was from the blood seeping through.

“Don’t touch it. We’ve managed to stop the bleeding by
applying pressure. It was a nasty cut.”

 

I closed my eyes. “Thank you.”

 

“My pleasure. Now, what is your name?”

 

“Kathryn Meloncamp.”

 

“Pleased to meet you, Kathryn. There are not many of us
here, yet.”

I opened my eyes and examined Pastor. He looked to be in
his sixties. His grey hair was combed to the side, covering a bald
spot. He was wearing the typical Catholic priest black suit and
white collar. He had enough wrinkles to shame an iron. Peering
around, I was surrounded by two men and a woman.

Pierce said, “I’d like you to meet Alex…”

He was young, probably in his teens, with spiky brown hair
and an athletic jersey and mesh shorts. His boyish features were
enhanced by dimples in his cheeks. He was a cutie.

“And Drew…”

Drew must have been Alex’s father. He was in his forties
with the same brown hair, only he had a touch of grey at his
temples. Small crow’s feet were marked around his eyes. Drew
was sporting a Brown’s t-shirt and jeans. He waved.

Pastor gestured to an older woman in the corner. “And this
is possibly one of our oldest parishioners, Mildred.”

I agreed with Pierce on the oldest part. Her back was
hunched over almost like the Hunchback of Norte Dam. She had
more wrinkles than a bulldog puppy and black wire-rimmed
glasses framing her face. Her milky white hair had been teased into
a bouffant.
I was still groggy. “What day is it? How long was I out?”

Pastor’s hand caressed my cheek. “It’s still December 21,
2012. You were knocked out for an hour, give or take.”

 

Stretching my legs, I asked, “Do you know what
happened?”

 

Pastor spoke up, “Like I said, you were in an acci“

 

“No, I mean with the earthquake, the fire in the sky and the
cannibals.”

 

Alex said, “Zombies.”

 

My brows creased. “What?”

 

“Zombies. I think Hell opened up and unleashed the
burning souls.” Alex crossed his arms to hide his shivering.

 

Pierce began to laugh. “Alex has such an imagination. He
reads too much. If only he put that effort into the Bible…”

 

I sat up and pain rushed to my head. My palms covered the
sharp tingling. “Zombies.”

Alex frowned. “Yep.”
The world began spinning again. The church whirled
around me. Faces turned to blurs. The last thing I remembered
before passing out was Pastor calling my name.

**

 

I woke up to singing. Very loud singing.

Jolted from my chair, I looked around to find more people
had showed up. Men, women, and children all were standing at the
front of the church. What was left of the sun was shining in on
them. Sunset.

Their voices echoed. Pastor Pierce was standing in front of
them, instructing their songs. Someone was playing the organ,
making the music larger than life.

I flew from my chair in the back of church to the front.
Upon arrival, I grabbed Pastor’s arm and began shaking him. “Shh.
They’ll hear us!”

He continued to wave his arms. The singing grew louder.

 

“I said shut the fuck up! The zombies will“

A massive banging sounded from the church doors.
Kicking and clawing interrupted the music. Pierce was waivered
for a moment, turning back to see the wood being ripped apart.
After a deep breath, he continued with the songs. The parishioners
were equally as frightened. The songs died down a bit as the
people grabbed onto each other, their bodies shivering.

I screamed at Pierce, “See what you’ve done?”
“We present God’s word. He will take care of us. If he
wills us to Heaven, we’ll go happily.”

 

“You’re crazy!”

 

The doors shook. The hinges rattled. They were coming. I
gazed over the singers. Their eyes were wide with fear.

I searched the area, looking for somewhere to hide. There
was a door,I imagined leading to the priest’s dressing room,
behind the altar. Trying to pull Pastor with me, he didn’t budge. I
decided to forget him. If he wanted to be stupid, that was his
choice.

I ran into the room and slammed the door behind me. There
was a bench, so I pulled it across to block the entrance.

 

There was a loud crash in the church. I knew the monsters
had made it in.

Searching for a weapon, I found robes, coat racks, incense
and the pots that held them. Nothing of use. I heard the sound of
wood splintering. The doors had given way. Cries erupted from the
cathedral. The screams were begging the creatures to stop. I knew
it was too late for them. Blood began running under the door.
Within moments, silence consumed the church. Well, almost
silence. I could hear the snarling and biting that signified the
church people had become lunch.

Looking around, my only escape was a small stained-glass
window in the corner, hidden by boxes. I began throwing them to
the side, trying desperately get out. Tears rolled down my cheeks
as I made headway.

There was a scratching at the door. I knew the zombies, if
that was what I wanted to call them, heard me and wanted to make
a meal out of me. I found a vase and threw it through the window,
shattering the glass.

The door rattled. I was running out of time. Using the
bench, I moved it to the window and hopped out, landing on a
bush.

Snarling began. Turning around, I found a man hanging
from the window. My eyes widened. His skin was peeling in
chunks from his cheeks. He had a massive bite in his neck with
blood, chunky blood, oozing from it and dripping on the ground.
His eyes were green. His teeth were razor sharp. He was making a
sound which was a mixture of scream and a growl. They truly were
zombies.

I picked myself up and started to run. As I turned the
church corner, I almost slammed in to a zombie. It grabbed my
wrist and tried to bite. Kicking it in the stomach, I freed myself.
Once again I ran. I found the stained-glass from the window I
busted and picked up a piece. As the undead followed me, I
plunged the shard into its eye.

It fell to the grass, grabbing its cornea. It was still alive. I
stomped on the glass, pushing it into its scalp. The zombie lay still.

Life was becoming something out of
Night of the Living
Dead.
Once again, the world seemed to whirl around me. I picked
up another shard, just in case, and started for a safe haven.

**

I found my way to the nicest neighborhood in town, or
what used to be. Now it looked like a graveyard. I stepped over a
corpse lying on the ground. Covering my mouth, I had to fight
back the vomit building in the pit of my stomach. A tree was
nearby and I was overwhelmed. My hand fell on it as the puke
expelled from my body. I dropped to my knees as a weakness
washed over me.

What was going on? Alex was right; they were zombies.
Cold, hungry zombies. Physically I was in no shape to survive. But
I had to. There was so much madness and I knew if I dug deep I
could do it. I survived years in the hell of a grocery store. I
survived high school and the torment of bullies. Not saying
zombies were the same thing, but it wasn’t like I was going in it
without any skills.

Picking myself up, I searched the backyards of the housing
development for a better weapon than the glass I held. There was a
shed. Peeling the door open, I found a lawnmower. It would work,
but not exactly subtle or realistic. As quiet as possible, I moved
inside and found a hammer, which I pocketed, and some nails. I
tossed those aside.

In the back I could see a
gleam. Stepping over some kids’
pool toys and bikes, I found a pick ax. It would work perfectly.
Voices outside. Hope surged through me and I wobbled to the
door. Fear stopped me. Two people, a man and a woman, stood
outside of the house, digging at the lock. When they turned I could
see red eyes, and long fangs. My stomach twisted. It didn’t take a
genius to figure out they were vampires.

A woman ran up to them, I imagined thinking they were
survivors. The vampires turned on her and she screamed. They
grabbed her by the throat and bit into her neck and wrist. The
woman’s body convulsed and her skin became white. A moment
later her body was released and she fell with a thump. The
monsters high-fived each other and ran off. Shivering, I fell on my
heels and covered my arms. How could I deal with vampires when
I wasn’t used to the idea of zombies?

My world was ending. Sure I was armed, but I had never
used an ax before, much less attempt to cut off a monster’s head.
There was a time when I could have taken self-defense lessons, but
I was dumb enough to turn them down. At that second I wished I
would have done something other than watch Sex and the City reruns.
Damn it, Kathryn. Why did you have to be so lazy? You have
officially screwed yourself on this one.

It took almost an hour, but I stumbled out of the shed and
continued on my journey. Somewhere I would find help, or a
hideout. The government would be on top of this and descend on
my town of Norwalk and save the civilians. Or so I prayed.

Another shiver ran through my body. It had been a long
time since I saw anyone alive. The woman was the last, but that
was two hours ago. There was an older gentleman. I tried to stick
with him, hanging onto the hope that it wasn’t the end. But he had
a gun and threatened to shoot me if I didn’t leave him alone. Not
even five minutes later I heard screams and gunfire. Either the
zombies or the vampires got him.

Walking into a yard behind a gorgeous brick mansion, I
saw a tree house. I tucked the ax and hammer into the waist line of
my stretch pants and climbed the ladder.

Inside I found pictures of Sports Illustrated models in sexy
bikinis hanging over the walls. Dozens of them. There was a futon
on one side and a radio. Hope surged through me and I clicked on
the machine. A man’s voice erupted in the silence.

“
It is complete madness here in Cleveland. The dead are
walking the Earth. As I watch now, a woman is ripping the throat
out of a child. It is incredible.”

Why was he standing by and watching it happen? Fucking
dumbass.

“
Oh, this is not good. The woman has spotted me. Miss?
Miss, can you speak? Why are you doing this? What are your-Ahh!
Help!”

His screams became gargled and I knew he was a goner. I
clicked off the radio and sat back on my heels. Tears streamed
down my cheeks as I began to rub my temples. The pain in my
head seemed to subside with the chaos and action I was going
through. Thank God for that. The migraine was the last thing I
needed right now. But the bigger problem was how was I going to
survive this?

The futon looked worn but appealing. My watch read
11:12pm. In the distance I could hear cars honking and screams.
Madness. Drifting again, I pinned all of my hopes on this day
being one fucked up dream.

But in the pit of my stomach I knew it wasn’t.
CHAPTER 3
June 12, 2015

Growling pierced through the darkness. I jumped off my
futon and fell on the floor. My gun was almost ripped from my
holster. Then I realized it was my stomach. It had been two days
since I had eaten. Probably best that I find a can of beans or corn to
tide me over. Food was harder to come by. Only canned goods
were left and those were beginning to spoil. The heat and darkness
from the fire sky didn’t allow for many, if any, trees to grow.

I placed my axe into the holster I had made for it next to
my semi-automatic pistol. In my pocket was a box of bullets.
Standing in front of the mirror, I found my contact lens box and
put a new set in. My eyes watered like they usually did. I hated
putting the damn things in, but it wasn’t long after the stiffs
showed up that I realized glasses could easily be knocked from me
and I’d be defenseless. In times like these it was smart to be
practical. Survival was the most important thing.