Wasting Away

Wasting
Away

Richard
M. Cochran

Chapter 1

There
was a distant crash and I turned in time to see them coming through the gates.
Violence dripped across their faces. Hundreds thick, the bodies toppled over
one another as the chain link split and bulged along the posts. I pulled the
weapon from my side and fired into the crowd.

A
ricochet sounded as a stray bullet cast from an overturned car along the front
gate. Another round hit with a dense slap and a body fell, becoming swallowed
by the horde that overtook it from behind.

They
surged through, twisted limbs groping for traction within the slick footing
beneath. They clawed their way over the fallen. I could hear the smears of
decayed flesh as it parted from bone and blood and tore from the weight of all
the others crashing down from above. There was the crackle of splintering bone
and I was off through the junkyard, winding my way through broken wrecks and
rusted parts heaped on the ground.

There
was a woman staring at me on the other side of a beige sedan. Her face was a
patch of raw meat and exposed gristle. She snarled at me and threw herself through
the open door of the wreck. She hit the window on the driver’s side with a dull
smack and began to claw along the slick surface, smearing it with rot. I
pointed the pistol at the window and sidestepped a grime covered battery that
was submerged in the dirt.

As
I came around the front of the car, the corpse slung itself over the dashboard
and became wedged within a bulging pleat of broken glass. As the body writhed,
waste smeared in circular patterns, leaving reds and browns along the crisscross
of spider webs inside. Through a small clearing of windshield, devoid of the
frosted lines of shattered glass, I saw a flash of the woman’s face. Dried to a
scab that leaked at the edges, only a hint of humanity remained; a pleading
look from a starving mouth as her eyes squinted at me through the obstructive
cracks.

I
turned in place as a half dozen corpses gathered behind me. My way was blocked
by a stack of rusted cars. Jagged metal twisted out of the mass of crushed
wreckage. Glass cracked beneath my feet. I lumbered up the first wrung of tainted
steel, careful of the shards that could cut me as sure as any creature’s teeth.

Their
hands grazed the cuff of my pants and I pulled my legs up and fired a stray
shot into the group. I heard a hiss and looked down as a set of crooked teeth
came within inches of my ankle. I held tightly to a jutting portion of car door
and fired again, landing a shot between the creature’s eyes.

Pulling
myself higher, I came to the top of the pile and threw my leg over onto the
concaved roof of the uppermost car. Bodies wound through the debris below.
Hands were held high as the creatures grasped for me. The sick white eyes of
the dead pleaded with me to fall.

Behind
me were rows of crushed cars piled on top of one another. At the far end of the
yard was a wall made up of stacked cargo containers. I pointed myself in that
direction and leapt to another pile of mangled steel.

My
pack thumped across my back as I landed. From the corner of my eye, I saw an
arm poke out of the wreckage. I stomped down on its wrist as a head poked up
through a bent truck frame. I carefully placed my shot and the corpse’s head
snapped back, an enlightened gaze suddenly came over its eyes like all of
life’s mysteries had suddenly become clear.

At
the next row I missed my step and my legs fell out underneath me. I hit the
ground hard, and the empty water bottles in my pack cracked in response. I had
the air knocked out of me and I struggled to catch my breath. All I could see
was stars as my vision went white.

A
howling scream sounded out to my left, followed by several more as I shook my
head, trying desperately not to lose consciousness.

A
corpse threw itself at me and I twisted under its weight, searching for the
pistol I had dropped when I fell. I tried to turn my head to get my bearings,
but it was inches from my face and I couldn’t move. My hand clasped something
cold and I withdrew it from the dry ground and swung. A dull crack and the
corpse’s head spun to the side before it howled and came at me again. I ripped
the monster across the face, battering it over and over again with the steel
pipe. Every blow released scraps of skin until only a stripped jawbone remained.
I tucked my leg under the creature’s waist and held back its gnashing teeth by
placing the bar under its chin. It took everything I had to flip the monster
over. I straddled the gore beneath me and brought the pipe down over my head.
The creature’s skull exploded from the impact, sending fragments of bone and
brain out along the dirt.

A
handful of cadavers neared from behind an old
Volkswagen
as I searched
for the pistol. I spotted the gleaming metal a few feet away and launched
myself from the body beneath me. I rolled in the dirt and came up with the
weapon and turned over on my back. I fired and hit the nearest corpse’s cheek.
A spray of rot slapped against the pile of crushed cars I had fell from. I
released my breath and aimed. The gun cracked and the creature’s scalp turned
to pink mist.

I
was on my feet before the others could get around the wreckage, twisting my way
through the maze of junk. A grizzly face met me at the next turn and reached
out, catching me by my collar. I tucked the pistol beneath its arm as it pulled
me closer and wedged the weapon under its chin. I fired as the cadaver opened
its maw. A scatter of teeth unfurled from its scalp and misted in the air.

I
wiped the fallout from my face. Bits of skin and bone clung to my beard as I
tried to shake off what I had seen.

I
took off again and made it a few hundred feet when an arm darted out from
beneath an old pickup truck. I whirled in place, trying to sidestep it, but it
caught the cuff of my pants and I fell, face first into the dirt. Head,
shoulders, and a single arm emerged from the undercarriage. A stray rib poked
out from where its abdomen should have been. Its tongue lapped out from between
a mess of teeth as it pulled itself closer to me. Sitting up, I spread my legs
and fired. The creature’s face caved in and an eye came loose and slapped the
side of the truck before falling to the ground. I lumbered in the dirt and
pulled myself up to my feet. I was panting hard, trying to catch my breath as
the group that had been following me emerged from the far side of the pickup.

 I
fired the pistol and caught one of the corpses in the shoulder, turning it in
place. The others howled as I dropped the clip and fished for another in my
jacket pocket. With a click, the clip slid into place and I pulled back the
slide, loading a round.

I
tensed my finger on the trigger and shot wildly as I ran. I took a curve to the
left and came to a tower of cargo containers. I slid the pistol into the small
of my back and ran at the side of the first container. It had been misplaced
when it was stacked and I was able to jump up and catch the top support. I
pulled myself up and edged my leg along the top. There was only a foot of room
before the next container gleaned off at an angle, giving me just enough room
to press my chest against the side and shuffle my heels over the edge. At the
end there was a small opening and I slid myself through as I heard the dead
moan a short distance away.

I
poked my head through the gap that looked out beyond the wall of containers. A
small field greeted me, extending to a set of railroad tracks and a sound
barrier wall that I knew promised a neighborhood just beyond.

I
threw my leg over the side and lowered myself down as the dead began to slap
the container behind me. There came a mournful howl as I set my feet to firm
ground once more. My chest heaved as I struggled to run again. Dust slowly rose
from my footfalls. Night tore away the last remnants of day as a bird took
flight behind me, its wings beating out a type of freedom only it could know.