Night of the Living Dead (21 page)

" ‘Mass hysteria’," Harry scoffed. "What, do they think we’re
imagining
all this?!"

"Shut up!" Ben shouted, and Helen grew keenly aware of the rifle in the man’s hands; not that she could blame him for his frustration with Harry — she wanted to tape his big mouth shut, too!

Ben pulled a chair around to the front side of the television, and then everyone in the room settled in and fell silent.

"
The wave of murder which is sweeping the eastern third of the nation,
" the anchorman told them, "
is being committed by creatures who feast upon the flesh of their victims. First eyewitness accounts of this grisly development came from people who were understandably frightened and almost incoherent.
Officials, and newsmen, at first discounted those eyewitness description as being beyond belief. However, reports persisted. Medical examinations of some of the victims bore out the fact that they had been partially devoured.
"

Helen looked at Harry. She thought of that
bitch
taking a bite out of their little girl’s arm. If they hadn’t gotten away ... she shuddered to think about it.

But none of them said anything; they huddled closer to the television.

"
I think we have some late word, now just arriving, and ...
" the anchorman leaned back to take some sheets of paper from one of his colleagues, "
... I interrupt to bring this to you.
" The anchorman read the top sheet, pausing before he continued, "
This is the latest disclosure in a report from National Civil Defense headquarters in Washington. It has been established that persons who have recently
died
... have been returning to
life
, and committing acts of murder.
Wide-spread investigation of reports from funeral homes, morgues, and hospitals, has concluded that the unburied dead are coming
back to life
, and seeking human victims.
"

A deep chill ran through them all. Each of them, even Barbra in her inhibited way, thought about what they had experienced this night — Barbra, the man in the cemetery; Ben, Beekman’s Diner; Tom, the lake; the Coopers, their assault on the road — and it finally made sense.

Except that it
didn’t
make "sense" at all, not in any way! They were under siege by the
living dead
? Their collective perception of reality was being blown to bits by silent, staggering bombs, the fallout leaving them speechless.

And yet ... hadn’t each of them, especially Ben, already considered this possibility, however
im
possible, far back in the depths of their minds? The way these things moved, the way they looked, the way they smelled, that empty, inhuman hunger in their eyes — and don’t forget how difficult it was to stop them, how one of them kept coming even after being
shot through the
heart
!

None of them had voiced these suspicions before, not even to themselves, and they said nothing to each other now, did not even exchange looks of disbelief. They just ... listened.

The anchorman had paused again, looking uncomfortable — almost embarrassed. "
It’s hard for us here to ...
believe
what we’re reporting to you, but it does seem to be a fact.
" He fell silent once more, then took a deep, steadying breath and continued, "
When this emergency first began, radio and television were advising people to stay inside, behind locked doors, for safety. That situation has now changed — we’re able to report a definite course of action. Civil defense machinery has been organized to provide rescue stations with food, shelter, medical treatment, and protection by armed National Guardsmen.
"

At this, text appeared at the bottom of the screen:
Youngstown
— Township Municipal Hospital

"
Stay tuned to the broadcasting stations in your local area for this list of rescue stations. This list will be repeated throughout our news coverage.
"

More text:
Sharon
— Central Fire Department

"
Look for the name of the rescue station nearest you, and make your way to that location as soon as possible...
"

Ben, having finally regained his speech, turned to the group. "So we have that truck; if we can get some gas, we can get out of here."

Tom said, "There’s a pump out by the shed!"

"I know," Ben said in frustration, "that’s why I pulled in here. But it’s
locked
."

The text at the bottom of the screen now read:
Mercer
— Municipal Building
And it continued to change as the news marched on.

The anchorman continued, "
... called this afternoon by the President. Since convening, this conference of the Presidential Cabinet, the FBI, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the CIA, has not produced any public information.

"
Why are space experts being consulted about an Earthbound emergency?
"

Now the group did exchange glances. Space experts? Ben vaguely recalled that NASA had been mentioned on the radio earlier, but he had been so focused on boarding up the house, he had tuned most of it out by that point.

"
So far, all the betting on the answer to
that question centers on the recent explorer satellite shot to Venus
.
That satellite, you’ll recall, started back to Earth but never got here — as the space vehicle which orbited Venus and then was purposely destroyed by NASA, when scientists discovered it was carrying a mysterious, high-level radiation with it.

"
Could that radiation be somehow responsible for the wholesale murders we’re now suffering?
"

I doubt that
, Ben mused. He was no expert, but he knew enough from teaching the odd science class that, whatever the source, hard radiation would
destroy
 flesh before doing anything so bizarre as to
reanimate
 it. It was a ludicrous theory.

Have you got a better one, smartass?

No. He didn’t.

Ben suddenly realized that Cooper had risen from the sofa and was now hovering just over his shoulder. He latched onto his irritation, as it was something familiar and known, and had nothing to do with the dead attacking the living. He said, "It’s obvious our best move is to try to get out of here."

Cooper returned, "How are you gonna get over to that pump?"

Before Ben could answer, Tom blurted, "Look!"

On the television, the image had cut from the newsroom to the field, where a group of reporters were hustling after some high-ranking military officer, accompanied by two men in suits, as he strode down the sidewalk. Both the radio and television had reiterated "Washington" more than once, but this footage appeared to be taking place in daylight, so Ben assumed that it was being shot somewhere on the west coast — perhaps Washington State?

One reporter got in closer than the others. He asked, "
You’re coming from a meeting regarding the explosion of the Venus probe, is that right?
"

The officer gave the grudging answer, "
Uh, yes ... yes, that was the, uh, subject of the meeting.
"

"
Do you feel there is a connection between this and the—
"

The officer started to answer in the negative, but one of the suits with him, a balding, bearded man, answered, "
There’s a definite connection. A
definite
connection.
" This earned him a hostile look from the military man.

The reporter pushed, "
In other words, you feel that the radiation on the Venus probe is enough to cause these
mutations?
"

"
There was a very high degree of radiation—
"

The officer broke back in, though he sounded no more confident than before. "
Just a minute. Uh, I’m not sure that that’s certain at all. I don’t think that has been, uh...
"

Now the other suit, a shorter man in an overcoat, spoke. The reporter had to redirect his microphone, so all that really came through was, "
... explanation that we have at this time.
"

The officer now gave
that
man an exasperated look — regardless of his rank, he did not appear to be in command here, and it clearly frustrated him.

From the reporter, "
In other words, it is the military’s viewpoint that the radiation is
not
the cause of the mutation?
"

Trapped, the officer stopped walking and replied, "
I can’t speak for the entire military at this time, gentlemen.
"

"
It seems to be—
"

"
I must disagree with these gentlemen,
" the officer clarified, "
presently, until we, uh, until this is
irrefutably
proved.
"

The shorter suit, looking very tired, spoke up again. "
Everything is being done that can be done.
"

The officer pointed across the intersection. "
We’ll have to hurry for our next meeting.
"

The report from the field continued for a while longer, but it all boiled down to more of the same: The reporters followed and hounded the three men with the same questions; the officer and his two companions agreed and disagreed and agreed to disagree; and as they reached their car, they signed off with more promises that they were doing "everything possible to solve the problem."

Cooper stood and turned away, visibly disgusted.

Ben didn’t blame him. "We’ve heard all
these. No, we have to try to get out of here."

Helen spoke up. "He said the rescue stations had doctors and medical supplies." She looked to her husband. "If we could get Karen there, we could get
help
for her."

On the screen, as the anchorman rattled on, the latest text rolled over to:
Willard
— Willard Medical Center

"Willard," Ben said. The name nagged at him for a brief moment, then he got it. "I saw a sign that said ‘Willard’."

Tom nodded. "It’s only about seventeen miles from here."

Ben stood and turned to him. "You know this area? You from around here?"