Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead) (2 page)

Chapter 1

I pulled into the driveway in my little car, but didn't stop there. Instead, I made a sharp turn to the right, pulling right up in the grass in front of the door. Our residential neighborhood was a lot quieter than the main part of town, but I'd still passed zombies on my way here. I wasn't chancing a late-night stroll from the garage.

The headlights of my car was a dead giveaway to any zombies close by. Quickly, I shut them off and surveyed the area. So far it was quiet, no red eyes glaring at me in the darkness. Turning off the interior light before it could come on, I grabbed my purse and threw the door open.

As I ran up the steps, the front door opened. Someone had been watching and waiting for me to get home. As soon as my foot hit the top step, my mother grabbed me and pulled me in.

“
Thank God, you're alive,” she said, her voice thick with worry. She pulled me into her arms and hugged me tightly. “We were trying to call you, over and over again. When we didn't get an answer, well, we thought the worse. Your dad was about to go out and start searching.”

I thought of the last place I saw my phone. It was lying underneath the cash register at the store, and there it would remain. It wasn't like I'd be returning for it. Having a cell phone was the least of my worries now. I had no intentions on being separated from my parents again.

I watched my dad shut and lock the door before turning around to look at us. He was tall and stocky, with graying hair and a round face. He was pleasant looking, with a cheery, boisterous personality to match. So it made this night all the more horrific when I looked down and saw the rifle gripped tightly in his hands.

The nearly invisible age lines on his face were creased with stress. His face was pale, dreadfully so. I disentangled myself from my mom and walked over to him. “Dad,” I said, my voice sounding as terrified as I felt. I hadn't cried until now, but suddenly I couldn't stop the tears that flooded my eyes and face. “What is happening out there?”

He released a long sigh, the noise loud in the silence of our home. It was obvious my parents were on their way to bed when all hell broke lose. He was wearing his usual cotton pajamas, but had a robe on. My mom was wearing a long nightgown. It was what she called her granny gown, but she definitely wasn't a grandma. I was their only child, and I didn't have any children. After all, I was only eighteen.

We heard a loud crash from somewhere close by, and my mom jerked in reaction. It was followed by screams and the sound of gunshot. Dad went into the living room quickly and turned the lamp off, casting the room in shadows.

Silently, Mom and I followed him over to the large, picture window that looked out over our front yard. We didn't live in the elite part of town, but we didn't live in the worst part either. Houses here were anywhere from twenty to forty feet apart. I couldn't see anything moving in the darkness, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything out there. The zombies were just hidden, waiting to leap out at us when we were least expecting it.

More screams erupted from somewhere down the street, as someone called loudly for help. She didn't scream for long, though. It ended as abruptly as it started, and a chill raced down my spine. I knew what that meant. She was dead.

I was so horrified I almost didn't hear the soft sound of someone crying close by. I focused on it, pressing my ear to the window. It was definitely coming from the neighbor's house, and my eyes squeezed shut in renewed horror.
Please, God, don't let it be what I'm thinking.  

“Mom, Dad, do you hear that?” My voice was just a hiss in the darkness. They were quiet, attempting to hear what I heard. I knew whoever it was wouldn't have long. If I could hear them, the zombies could too. “It's coming from next door.”

The Hamptons were our next door neighbors, and they had two children. I wasn't close to either one of them, but it wasn't because I didn't like them. I just didn't know them well. Jayden, their oldest son, was somewhere around twenty. He went to the local college, but still lived at home.

Secretly, I had a crush on him. He was about six feet tall and slender, with long dark hair and dark brown eyes. He'd been two grade levels ahead of me in high school, but it hadn't stopped my friends and I from crushing on him hard. We'd spent a lot of time outside when they were over, just hoping Jayden would come out and talk. Unfortunately, he never had.

As far as I knew, Jayden hadn't dated anyone in high school. If he had, it must have been a girl from another school. Now that I thought of it I'd never heard of him having a girlfriend, but then again, he'd been out of high school for two years now. He probably had one now.

His little sister, Erin, was younger than both of us. She was twelve, but acted like she was my age. I really didn't know her that well either. I usually didn't hang out with kids younger than me anyhow. 

“I hear it,” my dad said, breaking the silence. He sighed, his face grim and resolved. “It must be the Hamptons. They have kids. I'm going to have to go check it out.”

“Oh, Dan,” my mom broke in. You could see how terrified she was by the expression on her face. It was obvious she wanted to ask him not to go, but like my dad said, they had kids. Her expression changed to one of determination. “I'm going with you.”

Dad nodded, realizing there was no time to argue. He looked at me with a resigned look on his face, but there was a sense of urgency in his voice. “Stay here, Tabs. We'll be back as soon as we can.”

Tabitha is my name, but my dad always called me Tabs. It was like his version of a pet name. “Okay,” I agreed, trying to sound brave. Inside I was terrified, though. What if a zombie got one or both of my parents?

I followed them to the front door. Quietly opening it, Dad took a look around. The coast must have been clear because he beckoned for my mom to follow him out into the inky darkness. He still held the rifle in his other hand. Once they were on the steps, he turned and gave me a meaningful look. I nodded and quietly closed and locked the door behind them.

Racing to another window, I peeked out. They were walking down the driveway to reach the sidewalk. It wasn't the safest way to go, but bushes separated our house from the neighbors. It was really the only way to make it over there.

They disappeared from sight, as I stood there waiting. It was the longest wait I ever experienced. One minute could have went by, or five. To me, it seemed like a lifetime. I couldn't wait anymore.

I ripped off my gaudy work apron that said “Jim's Grocer” across the front, and quietly followed their footsteps. The sound of crying was a bit louder outside, and it sounded like a girl. I couldn't fault her for crying, and honestly I understood why she would. If she didn't quiet down though, she was going to bring every zombie in the area down on us.

Sticking to the shadows, I darted down the line of bushes and rounded the corner. The house itself looked quiet and dark, but I could hear muttering coming from the backyard. I forced myself to keep walking in that direction. My gut was churning a warning regarding what I would find, one that I just hoped was wrong.

I came around the side of the house and gasped as I slid to a stop and took in the scene. Mom and Dad were standing next to Jayden. His face was pale, eyes red-rimmed and sad. He had his arms wrapped across his body, almost as if he was trying to hold something in. Erin, his sister, was on the ground next to their parents, crying. She was the one I'd heard from our window.

I forced myself to walk closer, when all I wanted to do was turn and run. Run from the horror of the sight of two people lying on the ground dead. Run from the horror in the faces of their children. Run from the threat of death that could come at any moment. My mind screamed in agony, but on the outside I was calm and collected. I wouldn't be doing anyone in favors by falling apart.

Dad was holding the rifle with both hands, constantly alert to his surroundings. I noticed his hands were trembling as I moved past him. My parents owned a restaurant in town, and Dad was generally the cook. The role of survivor had to be a shocking turn for him.

I squatted down, next to Erin. She was lying across her dad's body, with her cheek pressed to his chest. I spoke softly. “I know you're hurting right now, Erin, but we've got to get somewhere safe. There are zombies everywhere.”

“I won't leave them,” she stated loudly, lifting her tear-stained face up and glaring at me. As angry and upset as she was, she looked young and vulnerable. I felt my eyes watering up as I stared into the very face of grief and agony. Would I have responded any differently, had I been in her shoes?

I held my finger up to my lips to remind her to not speak so loud. “Please, Erin,” I begged, not sure what else to say. What do you say to a kid that just lost both of her parents? There weren't any words to make it better, at least none that I knew.

She didn't respond. Instead, she just looked back at her parents and started to sob louder. I stared at her helplessly, about to stand back up when I noticed movement from her dad. I watched him closely, completely puzzled as his hand twitched again. Maybe I'd gotten it wrong. Was he still alive after all?

I shook my head in confusion. “How is he moving?” My voice was so low I was pretty much speaking to myself.

Then it dawned on my sluggish mind. Zombies came from the dead, and her parents were dead. Even now, they were regenerating, likely to rise soon. “Omigod,” I said in horror, as I realized the danger we were in. I stood up quickly. “We've got to get out of here, now.”

Erin glared at me again, her little face set in stubborn lines. She sat up on her heels and crossed her arms, refusing to leave. This time I saw both of his hands move, and I knew it wouldn't be long before he was up again. She was not going to make this easy.

“They are coming back to life, Dad,” I hissed over my shoulder, not waiting for a response. Without giving Erin the option, I reached around her and started pulling her away.

My dad aimed his rifle as she began to scream in rage or grief, I couldn't say which. She was fighting and struggling so hard, I could barely hold onto her. “Help me, Jayden,” I panted out to the grief-stricken man beside me.

My words seemed to animate him, and he pulled Erin to him in a hug. He was able to subdue her small body easily. Dimly I heard him reassuring her, but my attention was focused on the bodies lying on the ground. Their dad was visibly twitching all over, as something caused his body to come back to life.

When it did, it happened fast. Before any of us could move, he jumped up from the ground. His eyes matched the crazed man's eyes from the store. They were red, glowing from within. It was obvious there was only one thing on his mind, and it was flesh and blood.

All of us jerked away, terrified at being caught only feet away from a zombie. I couldn't imagine the thoughts that had to be running through his children's minds, nor did I want to. “You kids start moving toward the house, NOW,” my dad ordered, his hands trembling violently on the rifle. “You too, Beth,” he told my mom, raising the butt to his shoulder as he took aim.

Jayden pulled Erin away, but she screamed and fought with an unholy strength. “I won't leave my dad,” she yelled, her voice hysterical. “He's alive, can't you see that? Daddy,” she screamed, refusing to be calmed.

None of us could have stopped what happened next, but that didn't make it any easier to bear. Her fists were flailing wildly, hitting anywhere and everywhere on Jayden's body in a desperate attempt to break free. Finally she got it, when she bit him with everything her little body had in it.

“Erin, no,” Jayden screamed, his voice breaking. She ignored him. Running toward the man she knew as Dad, she leaped into his arms. Her lips were creased into a smile, she was happy to be reunited.

It was a false hope. She stood there happily in anticipation, believing he was to hug her as he pulled her close. Instead, her smile quickly turned to pain as he bit into her shoulder, ripping the flesh free.

I wanted to die myself at the sight. Never had I seen anything worse than the site of her dying before my very eyes. She was screaming, only this time in pain, as the tears flowed down my face. I couldn't bear to watch this child loose her life, and it took everything I had in me just to remain on my own feet. Why, oh why, couldn't she have listened to us?