The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (16 page)

“
All right. I’ll try, but I’ve heard how stubborn the man can be. Anyway, I gotta go. Lucas is downstairs waiting for me,” I said, slipping on my boots and coat.

“
Have a good time. Kill a few zombies for me, okay?”

“
We’re not hunting them this time. We’re just gonna question a few survivors about any possible animal attacks.”

“
Maybe the couple of animals we saw were just a fluke.”

“
Yeah, well, as far as flukes go, that’s what wiped out the dinosaurs, right?”

“
You have a point,” she said, petting Sparkles.

“
Anyway, I’ll see you later.”

* * *

Lucas and I went straight to work, talking to survivors in the city and investigating any strange occurrences they mentioned. Several people reported weird animal activity, and most of it seemed to have started within the last few days. Some of the local wildlife was going stark-raving mad—crazy cats, diabolical dogs, and rabid rabbits.

A short man wearing a cap and red coat answered his door, then went on to tell us, “My friend said he was chased by a squirrel. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. But then I saw it,” he said, his eyes suddenly widening. “I swear, the thing was a bushy-tailed nightmare, like something that crawled outta the depths of hell. We hunted it down and sent it back down there, this time for good.”

“
We’re getting lots of reports like this,” I said.

“
Well, I sure hope that lab can figure out what’s going on.”

“
Me too. We’ll give them all the data we’ve collected from you and your neighbors, and hopefully, it will help. They’re already running tests on some dead specimens.”

Lucas wrote everything down in a notebook Max had given him, making sure not to omit even the tiniest details. We weren’t scientists, and we knew that even things that seemed insignificant to us might be of help to the scientists trying to deal with the unsolved mystery.

“
Just be careful headin’ back, fellas. The streets might not look dangerous, but looks can be deceiving, as I’m sure you now. If you’d rather, you’re welcome to stay with us for a few days.”

“
Thanks for the kind offer,” Lucas said, “but we have to get back.”

Suddenly, an animal let out a primordial howl, and chills shot through me.

The man smiled. “Told ya!”

“
What was that?” I asked.

“
A pack of wolves have been running the streets,” he said. “Heard they feasted on a survivor last night. The people who were there said his screams were just horrific.”

My stomach clenched at the thought. “I can only imagine,” I said. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

“
Anytime.”

I glanced at Lucas. “I think we’ve got more than enough information for today.”

“
Agreed. Let’s head back to the homestead and get some lunch—before we become it.”

“
Val’s making her famous Spam sandwiches,” I said.

“
Where did she get bread?” he asked.

“
She didn’t. She’s using stale crackers.”

“
Mmm. Delicious.”

The man chuckled a bit. “Well, y’all enjoy your Spam,” he said, “and you’re welcome back here anytime.”

We thanked him again for his time and cooperation, then went on our way. It was far too dangerous to continue with the interviews, so we’d have to come back with an armed team. We cautiously hurried down the deserted, empty street.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard another primordial howl, and I spun to face Lucas. “Did you hear that?”

He stopped and glanced around. “Yeah, but I don’t see anything.”

“
That’s even worse. I don’t like it,” I said, pulling out my gun.

Lucas let out a long breath. “Let’s just hurry and get back to the truck.”

I heard the howl again and gripped my gun tighter, my senses on full alert. We ran as fast as our legs would carry us, knowing we couldn’t get back to that truck fast enough.

Out of nowhere, the single howl turned into a chorus of frightening, shrill death-cries, and I knew there was more than one nearby. My hands began to tremble, but I tried to hide my fear from Lucas and pretend like everything was fine. I’d fought plenty of reincarnated humans, but wild animals were a different story, and I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up against an army of wolves. “Maybe we should look for shelter,” I suggested, trying to sound brave.

“
No, it’s best to just keep going. C’mon!” Lucas insisted. “We’ll be fine once we’re in the truck.”

Howls echoed in the deserted alley again, making me shudder. The animals were faster than the slow zombies we were used to dealing with, and they were animals, after all.

“
Look!” Lucas shouted.

I saw animals coming down the alley, like something out of an old black and white horror film, a pack of wild wolves with mangy hair and saliva dripping from their fangs. Swallowing hard, I aimed and started to fire. When one was 100 feet away, its head snapped back, and its piercing howl morphed into a pained wail. The rest of the pack stopped, and I hoped the gunfire and the fall of their comrade had scared some sense into them. “There’s too many too shoot at the same time!” I said, stating the obvious.

Lucas hastily pulled down a fire escape ladder that was mounted on the side of a building, and we hustled up the creaky metal stairs in a flash. Once we were both off the ladder, he pulled it up and tied it in place with his belt.

Below us, the white-eyed, corpse-like canines circled, like sharks around a swimmer with a bloodied ankle. My heart raced as they snapped their jaws in the air, releasing loud, hungry, unforgiving snarls.

“
All right,” Lucas said, “fire at will. We can put a lot of ‘em down from here.”

I aimed my gun and started to fire, taking out one zombiefied wolf after the other. I did feel some remorse as I watched the wolves fall, but at the same time, I knew we were doing the citizens a favor, saving their lives.

When they quit twitching and we knew they were dead, Lucas unstrapped his belt and let the fire escape down. We climbed down the rickety ladder, and then he walked over to a dead wolf and cut off its leg and tail for the lab to analyze. He tied it securely in a sack he’d brought along, as if it was nothing to field-dress a wolf in an alley.

As we walked down the road, my senses were on full alert. “The animals are turning,” I said, “and they’re dangerous. They’ve already killed people. We need to round up a posse and hunt them down before they hunt us.”

Lucas nodded. “I agree. We’ve gotta know if it’s just happening here or everywhere.”

“
Right, but even if it is only here, how can we possibly contain it?” I said.

“
We can’t, especially if it hits the rat population—or worse, the cockroaches. What if it gets in the Pacific? Can you imagine zombified great whites?”

I bit my lip hard, unable to laugh at what he was trying to pawn off as a joke. “This might be even worse than the human zombie problem.”

“
Yeah. It’ll be like that old movie,
The Birds
, with crows dive-bombing to peck our eyes out.”

I shuddered at the thought. “Max is right. We have to destroy any and all infected animals we see. I know it’s horrible, but it’s the only way.”

When I peered ahead, I noticed that there was a building in our way up ahead. We were in an unfamiliar location, so on those streets, we were like mice caught in a labyrinth. “Shoot. Dead end,” I said, pointing.

Lucas gripped his rifle tight. “We’ll just go back the way we came. Take the next street up.”

A growl echoed from behind me, and again a chill shot up my spine.

Great,” Lucas said. “I’m in no mood to do anymore dances with infected wolves.”

When I turned around to take the wolf down, I got the shock of my life.

“
Bear!” Lucas shouted, then began firing away.

Chapter 17

It was larger than a black bear and had thick, brown fur and a concave face, with high, humpy shoulders, long, sharp teeth, and curved claws. I swallowed hard when I realized we were face to face with a grizzly, right there in town. Not only that, but the bear was infected, and that only made it ten times fiercer.

The dangerous predator loomed over me, emitting deep, guttural huffing sounds. Its eyes were white and clouded over, and a river of sticky drool dripped from its mouth. I couldn’t stop staring at its fangs and huge claws, all equally sharp and menacing. It definitely wasn’t the kind of bear I’d snuggled up with as a small boy. This one was a monster, a killing machine with flaring nostrils, ready to rip me to shreds in milliseconds. I almost blacked out in terror as I imagined it ripping off my lips and scalp, then tearing apart my face. The bear stood at least twelve feet tall and easily qualified as one of the most terrifying things I’d ever been through; that was saying a lot, all things considered. Nevertheless, in spite of my fear, my survival instincts kicked in, and I aimed and squeezed the trigger.

The bear swatted me to the ground with a single swipe, a lucky break for me, since I knew bears could decapitate a moose in one fell swoop of the paw. My rifle was thrown aside and hit the ground with a
clang
. The beast, now even more agitated, growled at me and came closer, but Lucas suddenly distracted it.

It swiped at him, but he was quick as lightning and dodged the blow, then skillfully aimed and fired off a round. Lucas may as well have been using a fly swatter, because the gun was ineffective at bringing the creature down.

Meanwhile, I crawled behind a metal trashcan and started firing off shots with my handgun. The bear was blocking the alleyway. As my eyes were darting around in search of an exit, the bear’s teeth suddenly crunched the trashcan I hid behind. Just as it went in for another bite with those snarling jaws, I grabbed the other metal trashcan to use a shield. The bear’s teeth sank into the aluminum, ripping it like tissue paper.

Crap!

Lucas grabbed my arm and pointed to a gap in a wooden door.

Adrenaline flooded through me, fueling my legs to run toward the gap, with the terrifying teddy right behind us. My heart thundered as I squeezed through, with Lucas in tow.

Inside, the building was completely dark, other than the small sliver of light coming through the crack that had saved our lives.

We aren’t alone
, I realized when undead moans sliced through the darkness, causing the hairs on the back of my next to rise. Part of me just wanted to start shooting, but I knew I needed to conserve ammo. The bear hadn’t left and continued to snarl and growl, pawing at the gap we’d sneaked through. “Lucas, we can’t stay in here!” I said.

“
If it’s only a couple of those slime-balls, I’d rather take my chances with them than the bear. Just gimme a second to find my flashlight, and we’ll see what we’re up against.”

“
Hurry! I can hear more than one.” Heavy breathing and raspy whispers echoed all around me, and for a moment, I considered that we might have been better off staying in the alley with the furry freak. I was suddenly seized with fear as something gripped my boot and squeezed.

“
Something’s got my foot!” Lucas yelled.

“
Mine too!”

He shone his light downward, and I gasped. The floor was littered with hundreds of zombies, crawling on their stomach like snails because someone had cut off their legs.

“
What the…?” Lucas screamed.

“
I-I don’t know,” I stuttered, aghast. It didn’t seem to make sense, but I had no time to reason why because they were sliding and squirming toward me, snapping their jaws. I aimed my boot at the closest one, which was trying to gnaw on my leg like a drumstick, and I kicked it hard. Its head slumped to the side, and its bony fingers released its grip just in time for me to step back from another one that was reaching for me. I aimed and fired, killing anything that tried to sink its teeth into me.