Zombies! Rising from the Dead (12 page)

We were less than a mile from Rick's when we saw yet another “infected.” As we
rounded a sharp curve, off in the distance we could see what appeared to be a person stumbling
about aimlessly in an empty cattle field. The cattle had sensed danger and had long since fled.
When we saw it there was no mistaking what it was.

Shit man, there's another one....”
Rick yelled as he pointed to the thing.

Unlike the man we saw on our way back from Panatauk and
then
poor Mrs. Martinez, other
than
standing upright and having the
v
aguest impression of the human stature, you could
barely tell that this was a person at all . . . it was heavily decayed. By the way it walked one
could tell that the body was almost petrified from years in the grave. Most of its heavy black
suit was already disintegrated, having been eaten away by a host of various insects throughout
the long years of internment. What remnants remained looked like they were only
loosely
draped over the body as an afterthought, and seemed as if it could shed itself at any moment.
From the way it was shuffling about, it didn't seem possible that there would have been

enough to “come back”, there was no face to speak of, nothing
gr
otesque or gross about it
because anything that
would
have been nauseating or disgusting had long since rotted
away. There had to be sinew holding the bones together but as we looked at it we couldn't see
any evidence of it. It stumbled through the cattle field, its
fe
atureless, bleached white skull in
stark contrast to the black suit it had once worn respectfully to the grave. It was hard to believe
looking at this thing that once it had been a
real
living person. It had once been a living,
breathing soul with a head full of hopes, dreams and aspirations. Now the only
thing filling its head was
rotting
m
aggots. It shambled around aimlessly,
rotting in its own skin;
and

we
left it there.

We should have done something;
no telling what pro
blems it could cause later. There
simply
wasn’t
time to deal with it,
every moment was precious.

It didn't dawn on me where these things were coming from till I recalled an old cemetery
up the road apiece. In these parts there
w
ere little cemeteries scattered all about the green
country side, and who knows yet how many more might be about? Over the years there's no
telling how many are simply “forgotten” and left to fall into decay, only to be reclaimed by
nature and time till they eventually fade from any living persons memory till they are wholly

forgotten
to have existed at all.

“We have to get back, shit is really starting to hit the fan,”
I told Rick.

Moments
later I pulled up in his circular drive. Taking no
c
hances and pulled right
up to his front door, as close as I could get without making an impromptu drive-thru.
It was a good thing that he had already gotten the majority of his supplies
together;
there
was no time to spare now.

Amanda must have been riveted to the upstairs window as no
sooner
had we pulled up
to
the door she came running down the
s
tairs damn near falling and breaking
her neck in the process.
I was taken
aback
by her demeanor when I first saw her and felt quite sorry for her as she
came running out of the house. Her pale, light face contrasted by deep blotches of strawberry
red from where hours of tears had irritated her skin
;
her hair was matted back by sweat. It
reminded me of an inconsolable child watching as a parent leaves for work.
Rick hardly had the chance to exit the truck as she came running. He stepped out just
as she collapsed into him, catching her as she fell to the ground trembling and shaking
uncontrollably. There was nothing I could do as he tried fruitlessly to calm her. It was one of
those rare situations when you knew words would be of absolutely no use.

I knelt down and whispered to him just out of her earshot
.
“Take her in the house and take care of
her,
I will get your things...”

He nodded and took her inside.

As he disappeared into the walkway with Amanda I went around to the back of the truck
and lowered the tailgate. I was
r
unning on pure adrenaline, as I had been for hours now. This
was the first time I had gotten out of the truck since we had left Panatauk, I was exposed and
vulnerable
. I could hear every sound, and keenly listened to them all, every rustle of the
trees drew my gaze. E
ven the smells that filled my nose g
ave me notice.
I was functioning on a

level
that I had never known before; it was a surreal experience.

I watched my surroundings closely, constantly looking over my shoulder as I gathered
up Rick's supplies and packed them into his house. As I sat his items down in the hallway, I
could see him sitting on the sofa trying to comfort Amanda. I had no time to say anything time
was of the essence as things began to accelerate. I made several trips back and forth to the
truck, careful each time I stepped out of the doorway watching for signs of trouble. I fully

expected
some undead thing to be there, waiting to drag me down to the depths of hell.

As I unloaded the supplies I looked up at his house
; it
was as if I was looking at it for the
first time. I analyzed it in a perspective that I never had before, noticed things I hadn't noticed
prior. I realized just how exposed he really was and it greatly concerned me. His place did not
have the natural barrier mine did. Granted it was two stories, but it was on a flat parcel of land
with windows on each corner of the home and there was no basement or attic. The staircase le
a
d
directly upstairs to an open hallway and
there
was no way to
seal it off, if those things got in
and could manage their way upstairs, Rick and Amanda would be done for.

Finally with the last of his supplies unloaded, I stood in the corner of the hallway and
motioned Rick over. He left Amanda
lying
on the sofa with a cold rag on her face
and
it seemed
to be working; she was breathing deeply and seemed like she might drift off to sleep shortly. He
walked into the kitchen where we began to speak in hushed tones.

“Rick, you have to get this place boarded up. I would stay to help, but I have to get
started too
, I
don't think you’re going to be safe here...”
I told him

“
I'm going to start in as soon as you leave, we are going to be fine, beside, Amanda is
in no shape to leave right now anyway; she can't handle this,”
He whispered.

“I don't know if you’re thinking this thing through, listen, if they get in here what the
fuck are
you going to do? You’re going to be stuck here. What if the power goes out? You know
that's going to happen sooner or later, have you even thought about that?
Ev
erything you have
is electric! What the fuck are you going to do if this stretches on to winter? Think about this,
really...”
I tried to get through to him but I knew it wouldn't work. Once Rick makes up his
mind
nothing is going to change it;
he had the tenacity of an old mule when it came to such
matters.
“Listen, if you don't think you can handle it here get down to my place before it gets
out of
hand, now promise me you will okay...”
I asked.

“Okay, okay, I promise”
He replied.

“Okay, but....”
I was interrupted for as we stood there talking my attention was drawn
out the kitchen window
b
y movement off in the distance, it was the same creature we had seen
less than an hour ago
;
it limped slowly along but was on a direct path towards Rick's house.
Then the words of Dr. Bassett came ringing back in my ears,
“They are drawn to homes and
population centers.”

“SHITTTTT!!!!”
I cursed under my breath.

Rick looked over...
“
Fuckkkkk
!
I can't let Amanda see
this;
she will lose her fucking mind!”

I remained calm but realized that if I was going to go I had to
go now.
I tried to walk casually to the door as so not to wake
A
manda, who had finally drifted off
to sleep.

As I go
t to the door I turned to Rick,
“Please man, please!!!”
I pleaded,
“Just get the hell outta here
!
”

“WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!”
He
yelled.

“Alright, I GOTTA GO, I GOTTA GO
!
Just
keep your fucking radio ON, you
hear
me you
son of a bitch? Don't make me risk my ass to come down here to check on you...”
I screamed at
him as I rushed out the door.