Respect for the Dead (Surviving the Dead Book 1) (3 page)

Corey’s little red sports car screeched to a halt causing several of the people standing around the parking lot to jump out of the way.  Lance slapped Wayne on the back and nodded toward Corey’s car, the outline of a lone occupant silhouetted by the security light of the nearby building.   

“Guess she
could
resist him.”  Lance laughed while grabbing a couple of beers from inside his own car. 

“So, how was she, studly?”  Wayne laughed as Corey slammed his door harder than was necessary.  Corey only responded by giving Wayne the finger as Lance pressed a beer into his other hand. 

“So, the date ended early?  She didn’t even want to come to Linda’s party, huh?”  Lance asked while downing his drink. 

Corey opened the beer and took a long drink, “Don’t know.  I left her ass out at Troll Bridge.” 

“Dude!  That is cold.”  Wayne laughed. 

Corey just gave him a disgusted look and continued to drink his beer.  Lance cocked his head to one side.   “Dude that was uncool, you need to go get her.”  He finished his drink and reached for another. 

“She made it clear she did not want to be in the car with me.”  Corey drained his own beer flicking away the empty can.  Wayne continued to laugh but passed him another.

“Come on, man.  Let’s go get her.  If she doesn’t want to ride with you, I’ll drive her home.”  Lance said with a slight slur then burped loudly.

“Or maybe she’ll come to Linda’s and we can change her mind.”  Wayne pondered an evil grin spreading across his face.    

“Dude, you think she will ride with you?  You’re already half drunk.”  Corey frowned.  “You know how she is about that stuff.”

“Yeah, but only half.  So we should do it before too much longer.” 

“You guys have fun.  I’m heading over to Linda’s.” Wayne gave a wave and got in his car.  Soon his thumping music faded away.   Corey frowned at the place where Wayne’s car had been.

Several other people left.  The crowd thinned while Lance and Corey opened a bottle of bourbon.  After several shots and a couple more beers, the two decided to have one more drink and go back to pick up Beth.  Corey figured she would have calmed down and been grateful for a ride. Getting shakily into his car, Corey took the lead and watched Lance weaving slightly in his rearview mirror.  He could tell that Lance hadn’t stopped drinking while they were on the way out to the old bridge.  Corey was having a little trouble keeping his own car between the lines, a task made harder by changing songs on his Ipod and drinking another beer. 

The drive back to where he left Beth only caused Corey’s annoyance to resurface.  He had tried to be patient, he thought, but they had been dating long enough.  The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.  He had been more than patient.  He had taken her out, bought her things.  He deserved it.  The more he thought, the more he blamed her friend Wesley. 

“That little geek was always hanging around her.”  He yelled at a passing car.  “Then there’s her stupid brother.  The hell with her!” 

He was considering turning around when the thought of Beth’s brother came back to him.  The former captain and quarterback of the Football team would not be pleased if anything happened to his baby sister.  Corey threw his empty beer can out the window and concentrated on the road.   

About a mile from the bridge, Corey swore and swerved across the road.  His tires screamed and he nearly lost control.  Looking quickly in the mirror, he watched as Lance also barely kept control while narrowly missing the woman who had stumbled out from the woods.  Corey was sure it wasn’t Beth but this only annoyed him more.  He swore loudly again, punching his steering wheel.  “What the hell?  Is everything against me tonight?”  By the time they reached the bridge, Corey was in a towering temper.

Beth was nowhere to be found.  The boys called out for her.  They had tramped around near the creek and across the bridge.  Corey was inspecting some skid marks when Lance spoke up.

“That wasn’t her that I almost hit?  Was it?”  He slurred trying to focus on Corey’s face. 

“No, that was some crazy old bitch.”  Corey pulled out his phone.  He called Beth, she did not answer.  “I bet she got that little emo puke to come get her.”  He snarled.  “This was a total waste of time.”  Corey advanced on his friend, “You thought she might go for you didn’t you?” 

“Wha?  Dude thas just shtupid, you better hope it wash Wesh and not her brother.” Lance defended while backing away.  “I’m just lookin out for ya Bro.”  He weaved over to his car and grabbed the bottle of bourbon.

“You know it was Wesley.  He is the only person who wouldn’t have anything else to do tonight.  How else would he get out here so fast?”  Corey snarled grabbing the bottle.  Lance merely hiccupped and shrugged taking back the bourbon.  He shook the bottle frowning at the little that was left.

“Like he has a chance with her.”  Corey grabbed the bottle back from Lance and drained it.  Throwing the empty into the woods, he gave a frustrated yell.  “What the hell is wrong with her?”

“Yeah, how coulds shom one reshist your charm?”  Lance laughed. 

Corey opened his mouth but stopped, spinning on the spot at the sound of an animal crashing through the brush just out of their headlight glare.  He strained his eyes to see what it was.  Only darkness stared back.   

“Well, you didn’t get anywhere, maybe she prefers…”  Lance started but was silenced by the look he received from Corey.  Smirking, Lance decided to get a fresh bottle and not finish his thought.  Instead he asked, “So what do you want to do about it?” An evil grin spread across his face.

“Oh, we’ll get him.  I doubt the tires on that hunk of shit he drives are long for this world.”  Corey spat. 

“We’ll do it tomorrow night.  I want to hit the party tonight.”  Lance said as he stumbled over to the edge of the road.

              Corey nodded, “Come on man let’s go!  I need to get wasted after this crap.” 

Lance waved over his shoulder, “I’ll catch up.  I gotta take a piss.” 

“All right, I’ll meet you over at Linda’s” Corey put his car in gear and sped off. 

Lance listened as the car rumbled down the road.  Swaying slightly, he began to relieve himself.  The snapping of a fallen branch reached his ears.  He looked up as something large was moving around in the brush.  Straining to see through the darkness and his alcohol impaired vision, he staggered slightly and lost his balance for a second.  Shaking his head, he decided it was nothing.  He began to stagger back to his car.  He slipped on the grass and tripped over a log. 

“Shit!” he laughed.  “Guess I’m pretty messed up.”

“UUUUNNNGGHHHH” came out of the darkness.  He flipped over, staring around for the cause of the sound.  Even in his stupor, fear gripped his heart.  

“Who’s there?”  He shouted.  Another groan and the heavy rustling of leaves and brush answered him.  A figured appeared in the pool of light from his car’s headlights.  His head snapped around to the shadow cast across his vision. 

He looked up and saw a woman, the woman he almost hit, shuffling toward him.  She was dragging a leg that was covered in blood.  The front of her shirt was also stained deep, dark red.  She held out one arm toward him and she was moaning as she continued closer and closer. 

Lance pushed himself up to his feet and stared at the woman.  “You OK, lady?”  He asked in a whisper as he began to back away. 

A crashing sound to his left alerted him to the presence of a man.  His face was bruised and bloody.  His teeth were bared as he moved toward Lance.  Lance began to edge toward his car when an arm grabbed him by the throat and pain shot through his shoulder. 

He wrenched himself free and spun in shock to look into the gaunt face of another woman.  Fresh blood, his blood, dribbled down her chin.  The man grabbed him as he backed away from the shriveled woman.   Fresh pain burst forth from his arm as the man bit into his flesh.  Lance screamed to the trees and empty bridge as the pale woman from the road joined the other two.

A couple of hours later, Corey mumbled something about Lance never making it to the party then passed out.  Linda and Wayne didn’t notice.   

Lying in bed, Wes relived the events of the night over and over in his mind before falling into a fitful sleep.  His dreams began with Beth but ended with the man that had been banging on his hood.  The man was coughing, pounding and, scraping on his door trying to get him.  Wes woke up terrified; it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.  He stared around the room for a moment before he realized it was morning and he was safe at home.     

Wes hurried down the stairs feeling happier than he had in months.  The morning couldn’t move fast enough knowing he had a date with Beth that day.  Reaching the bottom of the stairs, his good mood met its first trial.

His mother got quickly up from her chair in the living room and hushed him.  His stepfather was sleeping on the couch. “He couldn’t sleep in the bed last night.  He kept coughing,” she whispered leading Wes into the kitchen. 

“I was going to go over to Beth’s later.” Wes looked back into the living room at the back of the couch.  “Do you want me to stay home to help take care of him?” 

His mother gave him an appraising look and smiled.  “No, no.  I’ll call if I need you.  He seems to be sleeping finally.  It might be better if I got you out of the house for a while actually.  You are always such a troublemaker.” 

“You know me, Mom.  Loud and distruptive.”  He gave his mother a hug then sat on the counter as she made herself a cup of coffee. He grabbed an apple from a basket on the counter.  Hopping down he pulled his mother into another hug,   “Seriously Mom,” he looked her straight in the eye, “call me if you need me, OK?”

“You’re such a good boy.”  She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Making a gagging noise, he smiled at his mother and slipped out of the house.   His good mood disintegrated almost immediately.   In the driveway sat his car with four flat tires.  Something Corey had decided on when he left Wayne by the side of the road. 

Wes swore then snuck back into the house.  His mother was still in the kitchen, she looked at him questioningly.  He whispered his explanation.   Then retreated to his room, anger making him shake from head to foot.  Pacing his room a few times to calm himself, Wes dialed Beth’s number. 

“Hey when are you coming over?”  She asked happily. 

“Not for a while, seems that someone flattened my tires.  Mom wants me to call the police.”  Wes explained. 

“Oh Wes, I’m so sorry.  Do you think it was Corey?” 

“I would bet anything.  Tell you what, let me call the call cops and get this sorted out.  Shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.” 

“Do what you need to.  I’m not going anywhere.  Oh and just so you know I told Steve about what Corey did.  He is pissed.  I’ll let him know about your tires.  He may have an old set in the garage.” 

“Thanks, Beth.  I’ll call you in a bit.”  Wes hung up and dialed the police.  There was no answer.  He didn’t think this warranted a 911 call but he had tried all the extensions the automated service would allow.  He tried again.  He had been at it for twenty minutes when his mother knocked on his door. 

“Reg is worse.  We are out of cold medicine.  I am running out to the store, please stay home and keep an eye on him until I get back.”   Wes could see how scared his mother was.  He hadn’t seen her look like this since before they left his real father.  

Wes stepped into the living room to see his stepfather looking pale and sweating.  He was asleep so Wes crept back up to his room.  Closing the door he called Beth. 

“What did the police say?”  Beth asked.

“I never got through.  Reg is really sick so Mom went out to get some meds.  I’m going to hang out til she gets back then head over, if that is cool?” 

“That seems to be going around.  Dad said several guys didn’t make it in to work.  That’s why he had to go in today.”  Beth explained.  “Not enough people to handle the work.”

“Yeah apparently Reg is coughing and feverish.  Mom is really worried.”  Wes felt better talking to Beth.  He always felt better talking to her.  The McDaniels had always been there for him and his mom.  Beth’s dad had actually introduced Reggie to Wes’ mother.     

“Apparently it is some kind of an epidemic.”  Beth explained.  “Steve is out talking to another school about a playing and Dad is at work so I’ve been watching TV.  It is on all he channels.” 

Wes turned on his own TV and began to flip.  As he changed the channel all the news channels were reporting on the illness.  There had been several reports of violence; people attacking each other, sometimes for medicine but most others seem random.  There were even unconfirmed reports of people being killed in horribly violent ways.  Speculation that fever from the illness was leading to a kind of insanity or maybe a new form of airborne rabies was at the center of the attacks.  The more they saw the tighter the knot in Wes’ stomach grew.   

Wes’ fear for his stepfather got worse with every report.  When they saw a live report out of New York get cut off as people ran screaming from the subway Wes was near panic.  Beth began trying to calm him when Wes’ mother called for him to come help her. 

“The news says all the hospitals and emergency clinics are overwhelmed with sick people.”  Wes told his mother. 

“I know.  The stores have been picked over I almost got mugged trying to get this out the door.”  She held up a tattered box of daytime cold medicine. 

“Take the gun next time.  That will show em.”  Wes joked.  His mother was not amused.  Reg began to cough and moan.