Frozen Flesh Page 3

  “Exactly my thoughts,” she said. “What’s Leo doing?”

  “He’s online, looking for any information that might be useful.”

  Leo’s still on the bed when we walk into his room, but he has a small leather bound notebook open next to him and is writing something down.

  “What are you writing?” Diana asks.

  “Locations and tips that people have posted. The internet could cut out and even if it doesn’t, I don’t know the next time we’ll have access to a computer.”

  “Just keep in mind that they could be lying,” I say. “People could pretend a place is overrun if they want to keep other people away.”

  “I know,” Leo says. “But it’s still worth it. We don’t know what info might be useful.”

  “That’s true,” I say.

  Leo finishes scribbling and then looks at us. “I’ve been looking for anything that might tell us how this whole thing started.”

  “The apocalypse?”

  “It might be a bit premature to call it that, but yes.”

  “Did you find anything?” Diana asks.

  “No,” he says, frowning. “There are loads of theories, mostly posted by conspiracy theorists, but nothing official.”

  “Are we surprised?” I ask. “If anyone knows anything, it’s probably because they’re responsible for all of this. They’re not going to admit to it now.”

  Diana sighs. “You’re probably right.”

  I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Leo, do your dad keep any guns around here?” I’m not happy about taking my dad’s advice but it was a good point. If Reggie has guns in the house, they could be the difference between life and death.

  Leo doesn’t look away from the screen. “Yeah, in the garage, I think.”

  Diana stands up. “I’ll go, you guys see if you can find any more useful information online.”

  I stand up too. “No, I’ll go.”

  Diana starts to argue, but Leo interrupts. “Why don’t you both go? I’ll stay here.”

  I shrug and Diana and I go downstairs. She grabs one of Reggie’s golf clubs on the way outside.

  I open the back door slowly, peeking outside and listening intently. There doesn’t appear to be anything or anyone nearby, so I step outside. Nothing jumps out at me, so I wave for Diana to follow me and we hurry towards the garage.

  “Jake.” Diana stops walking. “There’s blood on the garage door. That wasn’t there when I came out here last night.”

  I frown. “I saw it earlier, I thought it was paint. Are you sure it’s not paint?”

  Diana gives me a look of disbelief. “You’re ridiculous. Of course it’s not paint.”

  “Ridiculously awesome,” I mutter, following behind her as she goes to open the garage door.

  The door opens with a piercing squeal, making me wince. It’s gotten worse, it didn’t used to be this loud.

  Diana peers inside, golf club held at the ready. She looks fierce, like she’d bash in the head of any zombie that came at her.

  And that’s exactly what happens.

  It lunges at us from the darkness and Diana screams, lashing out at the thing with her club. It collides with the corpse’s face, and his face comes off. There are only a few patches of skin still attached, bloody flesh and muscle that move as the corpse widens its jaws to moan loudly. I barely have time to process the unearthly sound before it lunges at us again. Diana doesn’t have time to do anything but shove the club at it, she hits it in the chest and it stumbles backwards.

  Diana jumps back to my side. “It’s really strong,” she says. She’s breathing heavily but the

  I take the club from her and shove her out of the way as the walking corpse rushes at us again. I imagine myself playing baseball with Kim in the backyard and swing at the thing’s head. It’s a direct hit and the head of the club smashes through the side of the skull and lodges in its brain.

  No one moves for a few seconds. My hands are frozen around the handle of the club but I force my fingers to open and the corpse falls, the club still stuck in its head.

  “Are you okay?” I ask. I want to look at Diana to make sure she’s alright but I can’t stop staring at the thing I killed.

  “I think so.” Diana’s voice is shaky but her hands are steady when she reaches down and rips the club out of his head. I grimace, but Diana just shakes her hair out of her face. “We need the weapon. There could be more of them. Thanks, Jake.”

  Despite everything, I grin. “Anytime.”

  She shakes her head, laughing. “I’ll never understand how you can joke at a time like this.”

  “I’m naturally hilarious, what can I say?”

  Diana laughs again and then raises the club. “Ready?”

  I nod and she leads the way into the dark garage.

  “Seems like he was alone,” I say. The interior of the garage is big but there aren’t many places to hide.

  Diana points towards a metal door that is partially hidden behind some shelves. “That must be where Reggie keeps his weapons.”

  I agree and we move towards it. The shelves are big and heavy, stretching from the floor almost to the ceiling. I take hold of the side of it and heave. I expect it to move a few inches, maybe it will tip over if I’m lucky. It actually moves several feet and knocks off another wall before crashing to the floor with a deafening crash.

  Diana stares at me and I shrug. Something is strange about my sudden bursts of strength, but I’ll have to wait until later to figure it out. It’s probably the stress of the situation. I’ve heard that stressful situations can unlock extra strength, like when adrenaline lets people lift cars off of babies.

  We both breathe a sigh of relief when the metal door opens. We didn’t think to ask Leo for a key and I think we’re both worried about running into more corpses if we make too many trips between the house and the garage.

  It opens into a small square room, barely eight square feet. But every wall is covered in guns of all shapes and sizes. The black metal makes the room feel even smaller than it actually is. From knee-height down there are drawers instead of places to hang weapons.

  Diana says nothing but she quickly starts taking weapons and ammunition from the drawers beneath. She knows what she’s doing. A while back, Leo took us to a shooting range. He could get us in for free because his dad knew the owners. We were happy to get a chance to try using guns for free, so we didn’t ask for details.

  It was a fun trip but we quickly realised that Leo hates guns. I think he blames them for his family’s problems and he associates them with everything illegal that his father is involved in. Diana enjoyed herself and she was very good at it. I like to say I was good, but she was leagues ahead of me.

  So our time consisted of Diana beating me at every competition while Leo sat in the background on his phone. And Diana loved being better than me at something. We ended up going there a lot.

  There is no feeling of fun today. We both know the importance of these weapons and we take what we need and leave. Diana closes the door and I pull the shelving unit back in front of it to keep it safe until we need it again.

  “We need to talk about your strength,” Diana says. “Something happened to you, when you got bitten.”

  “I’m fine,” I said quickly.

  “It’s not normal, Jake,” she says. “This infection that’s spreading, maybe it affected you differently. It could have-”

  She stops talking when a sharp beeping noise rings out around us.

  We both turn to look at the fallen corpse. In his pocket, we can see the light from his phone screen.

  Someone is calling him.

  ***

  Chapter 4 - Stay with Me

  Kim

  “There must have been a street festival or something,” Matt says. “There couldn’t be this many people otherwise.”

  We took shelter behind a porch about twenty minutes ago. Our only plan up to now has been praying for a miracle. I thought if we waited long enough t
hey might move away.

  “I guess,” I say. I don’t think it matters. “We need to find a way out of here. These things aren’t going anywhere.”

  “We should find a car. Go into the city and find Jake.”

  “He’s probably safe at Leo’s.” The uncertainty is killing me and I don’t think I do a good job of hiding it from Matt.

  “Let’s get there and see for ourselves.”

  I smile. Matt can always make me smile, no matter what happens. Even right after my mother died, he could cheer me up. I shouldn’t be surprised that he can still do it now, while the world falls to pieces around us.

  “I’m sure my brother is lying on Leo’s couch right now. He probably doesn’t even know what’s going on.”

  Matt chuckles. “Hopefully you’re right.”

  “A car will be loud,” I say. “We need to find something that can take a few hits. We need to be ready to drive straight through some of these creatures.”

  Matt nods. “Not that sedan, then.” The blue sedan is several feet away from any of the infected people. It wouldn’t be too difficult to get to it, if we were careful.

  “No way.”

  I spot an SUV and point it out to Matt.

  The door’s open and the engine is still running. The owner must be dead or has turned into one of the infected. We take a few steps towards it, keeping an eye out for anything that might stumble towards us from behind a car or one of the side streets. My heart is pounding in my chest. There are so many infected on the street, if we make a sound they will overwhelm us. I don’t think we can outrun this many.

  There is one of them standing between us and the SUV. The person is - or was - a man with a pot belly and an ugly little goatee beard. They work on some people, but this guy looks awful. I have to admit, his pale complexion and bloody face don’t help the look.

  His eyes are wild and his movements are jerky.He stumbles around aimlessly but he never goes more than a few feet from the car. I wonder if he’s in some kind of dormant state or if he is just attracted to the noise of the engine? Or maybe it’s his car. Does he remember?

  “We should distract him,” I whisper. “We need to give him something more interesting than the car to play with.”

  Matt frowns. “Like what?”

  I look around for a moment. The longer we stand here the higher the risk of being noticed. A piece of wood is lying next to a half-built fence and I creep over and grab it.

  “Like this.” I throw the board at the house across the road. It hits the wall with a crack and falls to the ground.

  The man with the beard jerks at the noise and almost falls over himself as he attempts to walk through his car to get to the source of the noise. Several other infected within hearing distance also start walking towards the plank of wood.

  “Wow, they’re really not too smart, are they?” Matt murmurs.

  I hold my breath until the man has almost reached the board, and then rush forward. Matt is right on my heels as we race to the car.

  “You drive.”

  I sprint around the car to the passenger side but before I can open the door I hear a moan from behind me. I whirl around. One of the infected is staring straight at me from an open window of a house. He moans again and moves towards me, walking straight into the wall between us.

  He’s not a danger but his moans catch the attention of the others and they slowly turn towards us.

  “Kim! Kim, come on! Get in!”

  I open the door and Matt pulls me inside. The one watching us from the window stares ravenously at the car as we drive away. I’m sweating bullets and my heart isn’t slowing down. I think I might be having a panic attack. Those things were unnatural and twisted and wrong. My breath starts coming in short pants. I’m clutching the baseball bat in my hands so tightly my knuckles are white.

  “Kim.” Matt’s hand is on my knee and he squeezes it gently. I look up at him, his eyes are on the road but he keeps glancing at me, to check if I’m alright.

  I have Matt. No matter what else happens, Matt is with me. We’ll be alright.

  The thought calms me down enough to take a deep breath, and I manage to unclench my fingers so I can put my hand over his.

  I have Matt.

  * * *

  Some time later, we stop the car in the mouth of an alley. The street in front of us is in chaos. The only reason we’re being ignored right now is because we’re slightly out of the way, and the biters have more than enough food sources to keep them occupied.

  We watch silently as a woman rushes past our car, struggling to run in her high heels as a chubby teenager with crazy eyes runs after her, baring his teeth like some kind of animal. I don’t say anything, and neither does Matt. It’s frightening how quickly we’ve become ready to ignore to the absolute chaos happening around us. It’s safer if we keep to ourselves.

  “We lived in the same house for our whole lives. He’s my brother, and I might never see him again,” I whisper, more to myself than to Matt. “What would Mom say?”

  Matt reaches over and puts an arm around me. “She’d probably remind you that if it was you and Jake in your house today, instead of you and me, the two of you would’ve spent so long fighting over who got to hold the bat that you would have been eaten alive.”

  Despite how morbid that is, I find myself laughing. He’s right. Mom would tell me to keep my chin and fists up and never stop fighting.

  “Thanks, Matt.”

  He grins. “What would you do without me?”

  “What about your family?”

  He frowns. “I’ve been thinking about them. I tried to call a few times. No service.

  But they should be safe. A small town like that wouldn’t have enough people to create too many of these monsters. Besides, it might not have spread that far. I’m sure they’re fine.” He’s trying to convince himself more than me.

  We keep calling this outbreak things other than the word itself. It’s a plague, an epidemic. The worst outbreak of a disease that we’ve ever seen, if the reports are to be believed. I have a feeling today is only the very beginning of what’s to come.

  “Okay, we-”

  Matt breaks off when a teenager stops in front of our car. He’s skinny, with dark hair and an eyebrow piercing, but his terrified eyes betray him for what he is. A child.

  “Help!” he yells at us. He rushes to my side of the car and I crack open the window. “Can I get in? Please, it’s not safe out here.”

  Matt starts to say yes but I cut him off. “You’re alone?”

  The kid’s expression darkens. “I am now.”

  Examining his eyes closely, I nod and unlock the doors. He seems fairly normal. No crazy eyes, anyway. If he’s infected, he’s not showing any signs. I know the smart thing would be to lock the doors and drive away but he’s just a kid. Leaving him here is the same as leaving him to die.

  He throws himself into the backseat and slams the door behind him. The noise attracts some dangerous attention and Matt floors it. The car swerves in and around the people and obstacles in the street and I breathe a sigh of relief when the only things he hits are the infected. He also ignores the pleas we hear from many people we drive past. We can’t take everyone, he knows that.

  While he drives, I turn around in my seat and inspect the kid in the back. He could be hiding a knife or a gun in his jacket and I wouldn’t know until it’s too late. I don’t see any visible bulges in the jacket or his pockets so I relax slightly. That doesn’t mean I let go of the baseball bat, and I adjust the position of one of the handguns in the bag on the floor. It’s a last resort, the sound of a gunshot would attract every infected in the city.

  He’s pale. He doesn’t look sick, I would guess it’s from stress and fear. On the other hand, he doesn’t look like a guy who goes outside much either. I doubt his skin gets much sun. My eyes focus on a thin line of blood on his cheek and my thoughts start to spiral. Is that his blood?

  I smile pleasantly at him while I thin
k about what to do. If he’s going to go crazy, the last thing I want to do is panic him with a confrontation. I turn to face forwards again, and Matt glances at me.

  “So, kid,” I say. “We’ve got somewhere to be, so we’re gonna drop you off somewhere a bit safer and be on our way, okay?”

  He straightens up in his seat, alert again for the first time since he sat down. “What? No! You can’t leave me! Just give me an hour or two, or time to find some other people, please. I can’t be alone.”

  Matt looks at me with his sympathy filled eyes, and I sigh. I suppose the kid doesn’t look sick, not yet anyway.

  “We’ll see,” I say.

  We continue driving and I realise the kid’s been quiet for a while. I don’t like it. This part of the city seems to have less of the infected on the streets. If we leave him now, he might still make it and I don’t have to have his death on my conscience. On top of that, if we keep him with us for much longer, he could turn into a monster and attack us.

  “So, Jeremy, what classes are you taking?” Matt asks, trying to make conversation. “You mentioned high school a few minutes ago.”

  Jake’s in high school. They must be around the same age.

  “Uh, just the regular stuff, nothing interesting,” Jeremy mutters, his voice slightly more hoarse than it was a few minutes ago.

  I hope he doesn’t notice how tightly I’m holding the bat, if he looks then he’ll notice how my knuckles have turned white. From my rudimentary understanding of biology, there’s no way the infection can take over his body in a shorter time frame than a few hours, so we should be safe for another short while. My mind knows that, so why is my body screaming at me to run?

  “Matt,” I say. “There’s a parking complex up there. I’ve shopped in this area before.” This should be safe enough to park in while we get the kid out of the car.

  Matt nods and turns up the street I pointed out.

  ***

  Jeremy’s getting quieter and paler by the second, and I need to get Matt out of this car without alarming Jeremy. I don’t know if something could set him off early.