Respect for the Dead (Surviving the Dead Book 1) (20 page)

Beth woke as the sun hit her eyes.  For a second she was blinded, shading her eyes, she tried to make sense of her surroundings.  “Damn it.”  She mumbled, “It wasn’t a nightmare.”

“No, no it wasn’t” Martin grimaced from beside her.  He stretched and rubbed his back.  Soon the back of the truck was full of groans, pops, stretching and restless people trying to wake and move. 

Devin stirred in the driver’s seat.  He stretched, scratched the back of his head opened his eyes and jumped back in his seat.  “Holy mother of pearl!”  He shouted. 

Trevor woke with start, pressing himself as far back as possible in the passenger seat, “Holy SHIT!” He cried! 

Everyone was now fully awake and looking out the front of the truck.  Matt’s hand froze on the handle to the back door.  Zombies were everywhere.  The once deserted parking lot was now full of the undead.  The mass hadn’t reached the truck yet but they moved toward it so there could be no mistake it was their goal. 

“Aw man!  I really gotta pee.”  Matt whined.

“They must have wandered up the ramp all night.”  Beth postulated, ignoring Matt. 

“Why do you think that?”  Matt asked.  The others turned with quizzical looks. 

Moving up between the front seats, and pointing at the approaching zombies Beth began to explain.  “Well they don’t move that fast, and the exit ramp is really steep.  I doubt they’d take the harder route and…” 

“Let’s just get out of here!  We can theorize about how and why they are here later.”  Trevor cried as he turned to glare at Beth. “WHOA!  Let’s GO NOW go go go go go NOW!” He screamed while throwing himself away from the window.  A grey torn hand slammed into it.   

Devin turned the key.  The truck roared to life.  The advanced ghouls became more excited by the sound.  The moans urged the approaching shamblers to move faster toward the living.  Devin aimed their mobile fortress and plowed into the oncoming horde.  The undead slammed into the hood and bounced off the sides.

Cries of fear and pain mixed with the whine of the engine and the groans and thuds of the dead.  “There, There!” Martin pointed to an area where the horde was thinner.  The zombies clawed at the sides of the truck as it passed. Devin urged the vehicle forward as he made the turn down the spiral ramp and the exit. He glanced at the side view mirror, dead faces blurred above the words, “objects in mirror are closer than they appear”.

Beth gripped the dash and looked out the passenger window past a terrified Trevor to the other side view mirror.  A zombie’s hand had torn free from its owner becoming a grotesque addition to Beth’s view under the mirror.  It was only temporary as the mirror was torn off as it scrapped against the wall. 

Devin took the ramp as fast as he dared.  Those in the back were slammed to one side with the force of the turn.  The tired squealed and metal scrapped.  Round and Round down the circular ramp.  Beth had to grab Trevor’s seat to keep from being thrown across the cab.  Beth closed her eyes to keep from getting dizzy, instantly regretted it and decided to stare at the air conditioner controls.   

The centrifugal force eased up when Devin let out a grunt straightening the wheel at the end of the ramp.  The truck bottomed out, the crunch of metal met the thumps of bodies hitting the floor in the back.  Beth instinctively pulled her knees toward her chest and covered her face with her arms as Devin flew through the gate at the exit and out into the street.

Bright morning sun filled the cab when they broke free of the garage.  Devin pulled hard on the wheel turning the lumbering vehicle toward the hospital.  They weaved through empty ambulances, gurneys and walking corpses.  Swerving around the back of a crashed van, Devin swore while trying to alter course.  The attempt was too late and they clipped the front of a wheelchair bound zombie.  Beth turned to the small windows in the back to watch the chair spin, throwing its occupant out into the street.  It clawed at the road trying to follow them. 

Beth was so intent on watching the determination of the crippled ghoul that she had no time to brace herself as little red Miata burst out of an alley to their left, right into the path of the truck.

Wes was back outside Beth’s house, it was just starting to get dark.  He looked back at the battered car he had taken here.  He wasn’t positive she would be here, but he had to start looking somewhere. Cautiously he pushed open the door and silently slipped into the shadowy house. It looked like he always remembered it looking, nothing seemed out of place.  Closing the door with a soft click he proceeded deeper into the familiar surroundings.  

Easing his way down the hall he entered the living room.  He stopped abruptly as he spied a figure standing by the sliding glass door to the back yard.  Familiar loose curls fell onto the bare shoulders of Beth.  She was wearing a light yellow summer dress with little flowers on it.  “Beth, ok thank god I was so worried...”  Wes sighed as he reached for her. 

She slowly turned toward him.  He gasped and drew back, half her face was missing, her right eye was gone and so was most of her cheek and flesh of her lower jaw.  Her white teeth clicked at him through the angry red flesh.   She reached for him with an arm that gleamed with congealed blood the white bones of the forearm plainly visible.

“NO! NO! NO! He screamed backing away.   She advanced toward him.  Wes tripped over a body on the floor.  Beth’s father glared up at him, a seeping red hole stared at Wes between the man’s eyes.  Beth’s nails scrapped Wes’ arm.  He raised his gun, “No Beth Please!”  He pleaded.  Her mouth opened wide, the lower jaw barely attached. 

“BAM! BAM! BAM!”  Wes sat bolt upright on the pew.  He was sweating; tears began to cascade down his cheeks. 

Steve whispered, “You’re alright...and that wasn’t her.” 

Wes tried to cover his face, “not who?”  He questioned more scared than he wanted to let on.

Steve’s hand gripped Wes’s shoulder, “Beth.”  Steve stated simply.  “I had that dream too, where she is…”  Steve stopped.

Wes took a deep breath.  “No she is ok, I can feel it.  I know it.”  Wes rolled back over repeating to himself.  “She’s ok, she’s ok….”

BAM! BAM!  Wes sat back up and looked at Steve, “I thought I dreamt that.”

“Nah, they are adding some wood over a lower window and some other stuff to the barricade.”  Steve stretched.  “Remember that lady that called us murders?” 

Wes nodded grumpily. 

“Well she got pissed, didn’t want to stay here, so she tried to leave.  Well she met some zombies and changed her mind.  Problem is she led them back here.”

“Did she make it?”  Wes questioned but felt he didn’t care.  Then felt terrible that he didn’t.

“No, they got her.  But she at least let us know where our defenses were weak.”

“Well that is good I guess.”  Wes tried to make her death mean something to himself couldn’t and shrugged it off.  Daylight filled the room letting them see the others they shared the church with clearly.   “You’d think with the end of the world there would have been more people here.”  Wes yawned. 

Steve turned to him, shocked.

“What?  I’m just saying.”

Shaking his head Steve turned from his friend.  A familiar smell wafted to his nose, “Coffee….mmmm.”  Steve moaned. 

As if on cue, the older woman from the night before came bustling into the church pushing a large cart.  On the cart were two large coffee decanters and a stack of cups.  Next to the coffee was, “Sweet!  Danish.”  Wes pushed past Steve.

Steve also started forward toward the already crowded cart, only to pause.  He saw the movement at the front of the church and headed away from what he now knew was a diversion. 

“Can I be of some help, as it really is…um my mess?”  Steve asked the Priest.   As soon as the question had been made Steve realized how callous it sounded.  Looking down Steve watched as the other man swirled the mop over the blood stained marble in front of the altar. 

The mop entered the deep red water and slopped back to the floor.  “This was not your mess…I don’t know who is to blame.”  The words hung in the air between the two men. 

“Steve McDaniel.”  Steve held out his hand.

Taking it, “Michael Lewis, and if it helps…He was already gone, you just destroyed an empty shell.” 

Father Michael returned to his mopping.  Steve watched for a moment then asked the question without meaning to, “Are they evil?”

The mop stopped but Michael did not look up, “I don’t know.  I don’t know if this is the rapture or Judgment day and we were left behind or something else entirely.  I just don’t know.”  The silence that followed was only cut by the sloshing of water and the swirling of the mop.  Steve wandered off wondering if the Father had been asked this several times or if it was what he had been thinking since it all began. 

“Black with one sugar right?"  What were you and the Priest talking about?”  Wes asked passing Steve a cup of coffee. 

“Nothing really.”  Steve looked at Wes and saw the same face he had known for years, but noticed the look behind the eyes.  He wondered if he ever saw Beth again would she have the same look in her eyes.  The look of someone who has seen and done things that they never should have.  He wondered if Wes saw the same thing when he looked at Steve. 

“Dude! What?” 

Steve realized he had been staring, “nothing, so did you meet anyone we know?’ 

“No, just your old teacher and her husband.  A couple of the kids we ran into yesterday were pretty cool to me.  The said you were awesome.”  Steve choked a little on his coffee and laughed.  Wes continued, “A couple from Westmont, a family from Altoona that was visiting friends and a few people who just seemed too freaked to talk.  Mrs. Jones, the lady with the cart, was cool.  She called us heroes for what we did last night.”  Wes suddenly lost interest in the cherry Danish he was eating.

Steve glanced up at the altar where Father Michael was pushing the mop and bucket away.  Several people were looking in Steve and Wes’ direction.   “Come on.”  Steve grabbed Wes by the collar and pulled him to the door. 

“What’s up?”

“I dunno.  I just need to not be the center of attention right now.”  Pushing open the heavy front door Steve shielded his eyes to the bright morning sun.  The smell of the fires and the sickening odor of death accosted his nostrils. 

“Whoa is that them?”  Wes whispered.

“You get used to it after a while.  It is a good warning though as they get closer.  That and the moan.”  Said a balding man who was holding a rifle.  He barley glanced over at them as they emerged from the church.   

Wes’ attention was drawn from the man to the dark red stain on the ground near the small space between the buses.  A light wind blew his long hair across his face.  Wes pushed it away and turned to talk to Steve.  Steve held up a hand and Wes heard it.  It was the sound of metal scraping concrete.  The noise grew louder as if coming down from a height. 

“Where is the closest parking garage?”  Wes asked, excited.

“Over by the hospital.” The gunman replied pointing to a building hidden from view by other structures.    The scraping stopped, the men strained to listen.  All cringed at the sound of a collision.    

      Devin screamed, yanked the wheel and smashed the breaks as hard as he could.  Bodies flew forward, slamming hard into each other in the back of the truck.  Beth’s head slammed into the dash.   Even standing on the breaks Devin couldn’t stop in time and the little car was smashed.   Stars swam before Beth’s eyes and a warm trick of blood seeped over her forehead from just under her hair.   Several people groaned from the back.  “Is everyone ok?”  Devin asked rubbing his own forehead.  He reached over and inspected Beth’s injury. 

“I’m ok.  Better than them, I bet.”  Beth said pointed at the wreck of the little red convertible.  Devin looked stricken.  Beth knew he was thinking he had just killed a fellow survivor.  “We should check…”  Beth began, placing a hand on Devin’s arm.

“Look!”  Matt pointed from between them. 

To everyone’s amazement the hard top of the convertible was thrown off and three people clamored out.  A blonde middle age woman wearing a red fancy dress ran as fast as she could in high heels toward the truck.  A second woman with dark hair was helping a younger man out of the wreck.  They followed, although much slower, as the man appeared injured. 

The blonde was already pounding on Devin’s door.  The other two had barely made it half the distance to the truck.  The woman helping the injured man was also dressed in evening clothes.  She appeared to be of Asian descent.  The man was in his twenties; he was also dressed nicely but looked more like a waiter than a party attendee. 

The blonde never looked back at the other two as she continued to pound on the door.  Devin was trying frantically to get her to go around to the back door. 

“Are they alive?   They’re not zombies are they?”  Trevor asked, terrified from behind Beth. 

“No they appear to be ok.  Well hurt from the crash, but alive.”  Beth announced. 

Hector jumped up and opened the back door.  He quickly surveyed the street.  There were several zombies closing in.  He ran around the side of the truck yelling for the crash victims.  The blonde pushed past him throwing herself into the back of the truck.  She landed painfully on Matt’s legs.  Without any apology she sat up and pressed herself against the wall screaming, “Go, let’s get out of here.”

“Your friends aren’t in yet.”  Devin shouted from the front.

“Come on!”  Hector encouraged glancing back at the approaching undead. 

When the two had reached the side of the truck Hector ran and grabbed the injured man.  The woman hurried around the corner.  She was helped in by Martin.  Gillian jumped out to help Hector.  The man groaned as they piled him into the back.  The doors slammed, “Alright Devin get us the hell out of here!”  Hector yelled.

Throwing the truck into reverse Devin floored it.  Three loud thumps echoed through the back as the truck slammed into the advanced group of zombies.  Clearing the wreck, Devin put the truck into drive and sped from the scene.  The woman in red was taking deep angry breaths, her hair covering her face.  The other woman was thanking Hector and Devin. 

“Oh shut up Linda!  If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have needed their help.  Did you forget they hit US!”  The blonde glared from her companion to the others in the truck.  Beth was shocked at her hostility. 

“Settle down Stancy.  We are safer in this than in your little sports car.”  Linda explained exasperated. 

“You got that right!  Nice driving by the way.”  Stancy spat out.

“Hey!  Enough with the yelling!  Who the hell are you people?”  Hector demanded.  Stancy spared him a sneer before ignoring him to stare out the front window. 

“Sorry about her, my name is Linda Vu.  This is Seth Carpenter, and that lovely even tempered woman is Stancy Greene.” 

“Were any of you bitten, or scratched by any of them?”  Hector asked.  His hand on the hilt of his sidearm. 

“No, no one was bitten or anything.  Seth was hurt in the crash.”  Linda spoke uneasily, her eyes on Hector’s hand.  Seth moaned from the floor of the truck as it hit a bump. 

“Oh suck it up.”  Stancy grumbled. 

Gillian gave her a look of loathing as she tried to determine the extent of Seth’s injuries.  “He’s banged up pretty good.”  She explained to Hector.  “This bumpy ride isn’t going to do him any good.  I can feel several broken ribs.” 

“Devin, we’re gonna need a place to hold up.”  Hector leaned over Beth to explain.  He looked over at Beth’s bloody face.  “You ok kid?” 

She gave him a weak reassuring smile.  “Yeah just a knock on the head.  Glad we picked up such charming company for it.” 

Stancy snorted, “We were doing fine until you smashed into us.”

“We were smashed in there like sardines!  Seth was crammed on top of me, we were not fine.”  Linda shouted. 

“No one asked him to come along!” 

“He would have been killed if we didn’t bring him.” 

Stancy raised herself slightly and pointed at Linda.  She looked as if she were a gathering storm about to release a tirade to fill the entire truck. 

“That is enough!  I will stop this truck and take you right back to your car and leave you there!”  Devin shouted from the front.  He looked over to see Beth desperately trying to stifle a laugh. 

“Damn!  Sounded just like my dad on Vacation.”  Matt said from the back, a note of aw in his voice. 

That was all Beth needed.  The giggle fit broke over her.  Her laughter was joined by Matt and Gillian.  Hector shook his head smiling.  Devin wore an amused look as he slowed the truck, trying to ease the bumpy ride for the injured man.  Stancy glared murderously around at her new companions. Seth groaned, Gillian returned to his aid.  Beth got herself under control but kept looking over at Devin amused. 

Martin watched both women, who were staring daggers at each other.  “So what is your story?”  He asked waving his hands to note the evening dresses the two women were wearing. 

“We were at a dinner party…” Linda began but Stancy cut her off.

My brilliant husband,” she started sarcastically, “decided to raise everyone’s spirits by throwing an
, everything is going to be alright
, party.  The idiot, like he had a clue.”  She wore an ugly expression.   “So we set up this expensive ass party and invite all of his clients and golf club friends, oh what fun.”

“You seem to enjoy yourself just fine.”  Linda cut in, giving a significant nod to Seth.

“Huh!  He didn’t last long enough for me to enjoy myself.”  Stancy sneered. 

“What?...Ohhhhhh.  Hey you said your husband had the party. You mean you were..”  Matt began quickly catching on.

“Oh please like he ever noticed or cared.” 

  “Well it was lucky you were in the back yard screwing Seth when the zombies came in the front door.  He probably saved you life!” Linda angrily threw at Stancy.

   Seth moaned a little and held his stomach. “Devin we really need to find a place.  This guy is in really bad shape.”  Gillian called. 

“So you were having a party when the zombies broke in?”  Matt asked.

“Yeah, but they didn’t really break in.”  Linda began.  She took a deep steadying breath.  “We were in the living room, by the front door when we heard a knocking.  Ray just opened the door and they were on him.  Biting and there were so many of them.”

“Well that was just like the idiot, I’m sure he was thinking the more the merrier.  Just let the bastards in.  If he had been more intelligent he would have known better.  So there we were with zombies killing everyone at the party.  Serious downer.” Stancy said with a harsh laugh.  Seth gave another moan as Devin took a sharp turn to avoid another wrecked car.

“Well I ran out of the house into the back yard as these two are finishing up,” Linda motioned between Seth and Stancy, “I tell them what is going on and we ran for my car.  Trouble was it was only a two-seater.  Stancy took my keys and Seth jumped in on top of me.” 

Seth coughed, blood appeared on his lips.  “Damn it, this guy definitely has internal injuries.”  Gillian called out.  “Devin if you see an ambulance or maybe go by my office…”  She started, Seth grabbed her hand and gave a groan then slumped onto the floor. 

  “Oh Shit.”  Matt breathed and began pushing himself as far from Seth as he could.  Gillian began checking for a pulse.   Beth pulled her gun and nodded at Hector who was also getting ready. 

“Oh what the hell?"  He just pissed all over the floor.”  Stancy cried trying to get away from the liquid. 

“He’s gone.”  Gillian stated in a fear laden voice edging away from the corpse.  Linda stared down at Seth’s lifeless body.

“He’s gotta go.  He’s gotta go, gotta go now.”  Matt began panicking.

“What?  We can’t…” But what they couldn’t do never was spoken as Linda’s argument was silenced by Seth sitting up and ripping into her arm.  Stancy’s screams filled the truck.  She pushed Matt toward Seth as she tried to crawl over him to get as far away as possible.  Linda was screaming in pain a terror, Seth was happily chewing, her arm still clutched in his hands.  Hector tried to pull him from her.  Martin was punching Seth repeatedly in the face, Trevor was cowering in fear against the passenger door, curling up as tight as he could.   

“Max! Open the door!”  Beth shouted pulling her gun aiming it at Seth.  Max turned to see the door handle and grabbed it.  He threw the back doors open and Devin hit the accelerator.  Hector wrenched Seth away from Linda and Beth fired.  The corpse jaw exploded sending broken teeth and jaw clattering against the metal shell of the truck. 

Linda screams increased, a tooth sticking out of her face.  Seth’s hand grabbed her hair and pulled her toward his useless shattered mouth.  She fought to get away but Seth grip was too tight.  Beth fired again, the sound reverberated around the truck.  Devin was dazed and swerved trying to clear his vision.  Beth blinked the pain away her ears ringing.  Seth’s corpse swayed and fell backward out of the truck.  Martin grabbed at Linda’s hand but she was pulled out with the corpse. Her screams ended as she hit the pavement with a sickening crunch.  She rolled for several feet.  Hector joined Max and together they pulled the doors shut. 

With the doors finally closed Max flung himself against the wall breathing as if he had run a mile.  Beth sat on her knees in the front facing toward the back of the truck.  Her gun still at eye level, she shuddered turned around and let the gun fall to her lap.  She opened and closed her mouth several times trying to clear her ears.  Hector handed her a bottle of water and gave her shoulder a squeeze.  Beth took a drink and closed her eyes.  

“Great now the floor is piss and blood covered.”  Stancy whined. 

“Then why don’t you clean it up?”  Beth yelled from the front.  She threw the water bottle into Stancy’s lap.

Stancy began to say something but quailed under Hector’s glare.  She settled for mumbling something about “think your something cause you have a gun little girl.”