Sometimes We Ran (Book 3): Rescue (2 page)

The four of us reached the road as the snow flurries increased in intensity The wind picked up, and the snow started falling sideways. The flakes stung my cold face. It was time to go inside for a bit, maybe get a little coffee or something. This was a day not fit for man or zombie to be out and about.

We were still laughing as we started down the road, joking around and making fun of each other, when a black shape appeared out of the snow and gloom and made us stop in our tracks. Lisa and Elizabeth dropped the zombie they were dragging and got their rifles ready.

It was the Red-Eye zombie Elizabeth and I had been tracking. It stood in front of us, hunched over, head bobbing up and down as it tried to decide what to do. The monster's red eyes glowed in the gray haze of the day. Its lips pulled back and it began to growl. Even with the stiff wind we could all hear it. The laughing and joking stopped.

T
he creature stood for a few seconds staring at us in the snow. It moved its head around, trying to determine our strength. It looked to be a young boy, about twelve to thirteen years old. Something was clutched in its pale gray hand. The four of us went into action. We formed a line with weapons ready and walked slowly forward as to not spook the zombie in front of us.

It growled in a low tone and began to back away. Self-preservation had kicked in, and it had decided to run and hide. Ben and I curved around the beast to cut off its escape route. As we got closer, it began to hiss. It hunched over, and it looked around wildly for a way out.

“It's going to run,” Ben called out. As he spoke, the boy-zombie broke into a lumbering trot. Lisa fired two shots from her rifle but missed. The Red-Eye turned and headed for the more populated areas of Cannon Fields. We pursued the monster up the street to keep it out of  the living areas.

“We have to turn it,” I said. “Get it away from the residents.” Ben, Lisa, and Elizabeth picked up speed to catch up to the escaping zombie. We were making good time in the blowing snow. Our plan was working. Ben pulled up, and fired a shot. He missed, but Zombie-Boy turned away and headed for an unoccupied house. It disappeared into the weeds and trees of the front yard as we caught up. We stopped and waited, but the Red-Eye didn't reappear. It was inside the house.

The bad house on the corner. The white, single-level ranch with the red shutters.

1201 Songbird Lane. Why did it have to be this house?
I thought. Looking at my partners, they were thinking the same thing. Elizabeth had gone a little pale.

We gathered at the front of the house, and I put my ear to the door. Nothing but silence. Lisa looked ready to bust in, but I held up my hand to stop her. No sense destroying any more property. She glared at me, frustrated. “So, what's the plan?” Lisa asked, her face all red from cold and our little jog.

“You and Ben stay out here. Make sure it doesn't slip outside. Liz and I will go inside and get it,” I  expected an argument. Lisa liked to argue more than she liked killing Red-Eyes.

“But you'll need help. What good am I if I stay out here?” Lisa said, her face getting even more red.

Ben stepped in, and played peacemaker. “It's okay, Lisa. We'll keep it from escaping if it gets outside.” Lisa walked away in a huff. When she was out of earshot, he leaned in and said, “So what is your plan?”

“Me and Elizabeth are going to get the zombie.”

Ben thought for a few seconds. “You know, Lisa might be right. She's got the skills.”

I turned to get Elizabeth. “I know. Lisa is good, but Elizabeth could use a little more experience.”

Ben smiled. “Making it a learning opportunity. Okay. You two be careful.”

“We will.” I waved Elizabeth towards me. “Liz...you're with me.”

Elizabeth fumbled with her rifle as she walked up on the porch. She was a brave girl, but still green. More experience is what she needed. If she wanted to protect Cannon Fields, she needed more exposure to Red-Eyes to toughen her up a little.

Trial by fire, I guess. It needed to be done. Just had to keep her safe.

Elizabeth came up to the door. She was trembling a little. I didn't know if it was the cold or the prospect of facing a monster in a darkened house. “You okay, Liz?” I asked.

She nodded and tried to look brave. “Let's do it.”

I turned the knob, and for a second I thought it might be locked. Turned out, the door was sticky. Not good news...pushing on the door might alert Zombie-Boy inside. As gently as I could, I pushed the stubborn door open. It squeaked from the hinges as it moved.

Elizabeth and I froze in place. A couple more noises like that, and we were going to have a face full of something dead. I held out my hand. “Do you have a flashlight?” I asked.

Elizabeth went to an inside pocket of her jacket, and produced a fancy pink model with chrome stripes. I clicked it on, and the strong, white light pierced the darkness. The foyer and living room were empty.

“Let's go.” I looked down and saw Elizabeth clutching her rifle with white knuckles. She was breathing pretty hard, and not blinking. “Easy, Liz. Finger off the trigger until we see something.”

Elizabeth relaxed a bit. “I'm okay.” She let her rifle hang, and shook out her hands for a few seconds. “I'm okay,” she repeated.

We walked into the dark house and began to search. The single-level, L-shaped ranch-style house was still decorated with the former occupants' possessions all covered in plastic tarps. Everything was stacked against the walls, and the carpet was removed. The hallway to the bedrooms was barricaded by some extra furniture. A strong breeze flowed through the living room, which set the tarps  dancing around. Sound echoed off the walls of the small space. Liz and I paused at the entrance to the back porch. It was open with no door, and covered with another tarp that moved in the wind. The door itself was leaning on a nearby wall, broken and useless after a previous incident. The tarp covering the opening was covered in greasy handprints.

I nodded towards the empty door frame. “That's how he got inside.” 

A clattering sound came from inside the house. Very close by.

“Kitchen,” I whispered to Elizabeth.

She nodded. “Should we split up? You take the dining room, and I take the hallway and get behind him?”

I thought about it for a second. “No. Let's stick together. Less chance of us shooting each other in the dark.”

We walked as slow as possible, trying not to make any noise. Noise, smell, sight...it didn't matter. The zombies could spot you all three ways. It was hard to sneak up on the Red-Eyes. With any luck, it was occupied by something in the kitchen and wouldn't notice our approach. Luck was something else you needed in a zombie apocalypse.

Elizabeth and I crossed the dining room, still full of beautiful furnishings. With the exception of the dust, it looked like dinner could be served here at a moments notice. I marveled at how quickly things could change. One minute, this house was a thriving family home. The next, it's a dark, empty house of horrors with a zombie locked inside. Many of the houses of Cannon Fields were still empty and dark. We still planned to fill them up one day with more survivors.

We stood in the kitchen doorway, and got our first up-close look at Zombie-Boy. He stood before the stainless-steel refrigerator and slammed himself into the large appliance over and over, trying to attack his reflection. Sometimes he used his teeth and hands, leaving smeary handprints on the steel. His frostbitten feet made squeaking noises on the marble floor.

I put away the flashlight and drew my gun.
Nothing fancy. Just kill the bastard.
As if Elizabeth could read my mind, she took cover behind the door frame and readied her weapon. She looked back at me, and I nodded. The kill was hers.

Before Elizabeth could pull the trigger and extinguish the zombie's spark, it lifted its head and took a deep, snarling sniff of the air. The zombie had caught our scent. After taking in few more gulps of air, it pinpointed our location and turned around. Zombie-Boy hunched over into attack position, and a low growl that made the hair stand up on my arm escaped his rotting lips.

The Red-Eye pounced on us from the kitchen. It knocked me to the ground, and my gun came out of my hand. It disappeared under the dining room table. I watched from the ground as Elizabeth retreated from the doorway, fumbling with her rifle. She hesitated as the zombie got near her, and she never raised her rifle or fired a shot. The zombie grabbed onto her jacket, and they both tumbled into through the dining room..

Elizabeth waited too long. It may have killed us both.

I watched as Elizabeth, with Zombie-Boy attached, struggled and fell into the living room. It was a miracle, but Elizabeth managed to not get bitten. She crawled under a glass table to fend off the zombie's attack. Zombie-Boy hopped on the table and continued the battle. He slammed his head into the cheap glass to get to Elizabeth, who was now calling for help. It was only a matter of time before the young Red-Eye figured out how to get to her. As quick as I could, I got to my feet and drew my secondary weapon: a knife I kept on my belt. I hurried into the living room, and tried to lure the walking corpse off the table.

The zombie saw me enter the room and turned his laser red eyes on me. Elizabeth was forgotten as he leaped off the table. When he got near enough, I blocked his outstretched hands, and jammed the knife in his throat. Zombie-Boy went to his knees as blood spilled out of the gaping wound. He gathered himself and made one last attempt to make a meal out of me. As he closed in, I plunged the knife into one of his eye sockets, turning it quickly to scramble his brains. After emitting a few low moans, it fell to the floor, dead. I watched for a minute as it twitched at my feet. Soon, the eyes turned pink, and Zombie-Boy went silent. His hand opened, and a small, blue object fell out. The zombie had been clutching it the whole time. Zombies sometimes held on to objects from their past life for a while after being turned.

In this case, it was a die-cast model car. This zombie had been holding on to a favorite toy.

Elizabeth had already crawled out from under the table. She took a seat in a nearby chair. Even in the murky light of the house, I saw that Elizabeth couldn't stop shaking.

I walked over and placed my hand on her head. “Are you okay? Did it bite you?” I asked, checking her neck for the telltale marks of a zombie bite.

Elizabeth didn't answer at first. She placed her head between her knees. “No bites. Just feel like I'm going to pass out or throw up.” She paused to take a few breaths. “Maybe both.”

“You're bleeding,” I said. A few drops of dark, red blood were coming from a slight gash in Elizabeth's scalp. It dripped onto her jacket and stained her long blonde hair. I took a decorative napkin from the dining room and held it to her head. Elizabeth winced a bit, and began to cry.

“I'm sorry, John. I almost got us both killed,” she said between sobs. She was trying not to cry, which made her sob even harder.

Patting her shoulder, I said, “It's okay. We'll talk about it later. You want to help me get our deadhead trespasser out of here? Then, we can go find a warm place to rest up a bit.”

Elizabeth nodded, and took my hand so I could help her up. “Okay.”

I found a sheet and wrapped the zombie up. We dragged it to the front door, and then went back to cleaning up the scene so as not to attract any of the zombie's dead friends. Elizabeth took care of the blood, while I picked up the floor a little. After wiping off the gore, the Red-Eye's toy car went into my pocket. I also retrieved my gun from under the dining room table.

Elizabeth and I stepped to the front door and prepared to leave. Elizabeth's wound was still seeping a little blood. “Better let Doctor Connelly take a look at your head.”

“Right,” she replied. Elizabeth took one last look around. “Can't wait to get outside. Stinks in here.”

I hadn't noticed the smell until Elizabeth mentioned it. It was a heavy dead animal smell mixed with the mustiness of an empty house. “Yeah...you got that right.”

I opened the door, and light flooded my face. The sun had made a rare appearance. A stiff, cold wind assaulted our faces. It was refreshing, and chased the bad smells from my nose. We stepped onto the porch, dragging Zombie-Boy behind us.

I held up my hand to stop Elizabeth for a second. I had forgotten something. “Lisa! Ben...but especially Lisa! It's John and Liz,” I called out, into the yard. “We got the zombie, and we're coming out. Don't shoot us.” I waited until I saw our friends approach the porch, then we exited the house with our kill in tow. We were back out into the cold again.

“W
e didn't hear any shots. How did you get him?” Lisa said, as she ran up to greet us in the yard. Elizabeth and I dropped the covered corpse on the lawn to take a little break. It fell to the ground with a sickening thump.

“John got him with his knife. I screwed up, and it almost killed us,” Elizabeth answered. She turned to walk away to the infirmary.

Lisa grabbed Elizabeth's arm. “Screwed up? How?”

Elizabeth pulled her arm away, and started walking up the street. “Ask John,” she said, as she disappeared into the fog.

Lisa turned to talk to me. “What happened?

I didn't want to go into it. Lisa could be a little harsh to her little sister. “Nothing. The bad guy was a little more livelier than anticipated. With the close quarters in there, we couldn't get a shot off.”

Ben was taking a look under the sheet. “Ugly sucker. What do you think, John? Twelve, thirteen years old or so?”

I looked at our recent kill. Ben was right. Zombie-Boy sure was ugly. The knife wounds were still weeping black blood, and green fluid had begun to run out of the eyes and nose. The Red-Eye's mouth was set in a permanent grimace of pain. “No...younger. Also a lot fresher. Probably recently turned.”

“How can you tell?” Lisa asked.

I pointed to the creature's jaw. “The teeth are still kind of white. This zombie hasn't eaten too much raw meat yet. The older ones have a lot more remains stuck to their teeth.” I pulled the cover over the dead boy. The smell was making me sick.