Zombie Brother
hat was left of the world was a tattered wasteland where one survived on wits and
luck. Since the zombie uprising humanity had dwindled down in a frenzy of panic and
horror to a rag tag bunch that wondered around looking for a safe haven. None was to
be found.
In the suburbs that once bubbled with life and expectancy, the undead masses now polluted the streets and empty houses like sewerage waste into a sandy beach. Houses empty and crippled, falling down on themselves or houses guttered by fire. Intersections piled up with cars that heeded no laws in their desperate attempt to escape the place they once called home. The streets were silent, but that was what had always scared Billy the most. It was not natural silence - it was a mockery of silence. Silence meant for him that there was nothing around, nothing living, nothing moving. But there was. Under the surface. Day time you couldn�t see them as readily as at night when they roamed wide and far, but behind smashed windows, sitting in cars long ago crashed, walking uncoordinatedly in parks where children�s swings swayed to and fro in the gentle breeze they could be seen. And this was only when they had been dormant - away from any source of food (human). As soon as they saw Billy and his little brother Andrew there would be problems.
Billy sat behind the steering wheel driving as best as he could (going off road often) through this desolate area.
�I don�t like it Billy.� Andrew whined for the umpteenth time.
�We don�t exactly have a choice, do we?� Billy had had this conversation with his brother many times. He was only twelve, but then Billy was only sixteen and he could act mature. Hadn�t he gotten himself and Andrew safely away from the city after their parent turned.
He shuddered, he had tried to block that memory out. To forget it he decided to have the conversation again.
�We can�t just go out into the bush without any food can we? We�d just starve to death.�
�But, Billy, we can�t just come in here, they�ll get us.�
�Not if were careful, and we are careful.� He hated the way he said Billy - drawing it out in a whining voice.
�But Billy even if we are careful it still wont make a difference. There�s too many.�
�Look, shut up now ok? I now it�s dangerous and I don�t want to be going here, but we have to get some food!� Billy said getting angry. He realised he was only lashing out because of his own fear and lowered his voice again.
�Look, we�ll be ok, I promise.� He said.
There destination was within a few hundred meters when shit happened. The car stopped. Billy could hardly believe it. He had stolen the damn thing off the street. There were hundreds, thousands of deserted cars so he choose a good one, a BMW. And what happens. It breaks down. The engine just started to splutter and then cut off. Dead. Billy twisted the key in the ignition just to hear the feeble attempts of the starter motor, as if it were forklift trying to lift a ten story building. Andrew looked around nervously, he looked more than a little scared. Pale and decayed faces appeared in the windows of the nearest houses, and a sole zombie lumbered down the road towards then, still a fair way off, but the terror that came just seeing them. It nearly froze them immobile - would have except they had experience.
�Andrew grab the clubs from the back.� Billy said and Andrew eagerly grabbed the two steering wheel locks that they had acquired so long ago back in the city. On was in this car, not locked on the steering wheel - the driver was hardly worried about someone steeling his car when a zombie was about to rip him apart, the other from another car. At times back in the city Andrew and Billy had been caught in a situation where they had to fight to survive. They had found the heavy steel lock to be effective.
�Were gonna have to made a run for it.� Billy said in a deadpan voice.
�Can�t you fix the car?�
�No.�
�Maybe you can, if we open the bonnet and just have a quick look...� Andrew suggested, he really didn�t want to leave the relative safety of the car.
�No. We have to run now.� Billy said. The tone of his voice left no room for Andrew to object. The zombie activity grew and there were a few in the open now, five or six wandering down towards the car.
�We have to go right now. Follow me. I�ll try and find a place were we can barricade ourselves for a while till we can get a car.� Billy hoped this was the right strategy. What had he said to Andrew before about only choices? It seemed he was trapped in his. He could look for another car now, but out in the open now that they had been seen, no. Find a secure house, or a store. A food store, Billy has hungry, he and Andrew had eaten scantly in the past few days and had nothing left on them.
�Ready?�
�Yes.� Andrew replied quietly.
�Ok, GO!� Billy said and open his door. He jumped out, force of habit made him slam the door shut behind him, why bother he realised, it�s gone now.
The street was just a normal street, except of course for the overturned cars, zombies, damaged property and general waste strewn around the road and footpath. The houses on either side were once nice, probably expensive. Large brick houses with long green lawns. Up the street Billy ran, his weapon gripped in both hands held high, poised to strike anything that got in his way. Andrew ran along beside him in a similar fashion. The sun was dipping down in the late afternoon, making shadows lengthen out of all normal proportion.
On the ground a shadow of a zombies head loomed up, looking up sharply Billy could see that it was still quite a few meters away. It made to intercept the pair as they ran along the street. Its arms groped out in an uncouth way. Saliva dripped from its open mouth. It made deep moaning sounds of want and need.
Billy flexed his arm muscles and lashed out hard with his weapon. It connected with the zombies head and made a sound like wood on wood. The blow was powerful, Billy believed he had smashed the skull. The zombie fell over, arm still out stretched, a shower of blood coming from its head as it fell. Andrew made a quiet noise beside him, he looked around. Andrews eyes were wide, he still could not get used to the sudden violence, and the blood.
�It�s ok Drew.� Billy said as he ran. His comment seemed to soothe Andrew and he clicked back, looking ahead with alertness.
Soon they made the end of the street and were rewarded. They stoped for a breath. A large number of the undead creatures had gathered together behind them. Looking down the street after about thirty meters there was a line of zombies, it made Billy think of a group of protesters for the old days when things like animal cruelty, racism and nuclear threat seemed important. But ahead their was an intersection. The street that turned to their left was obviously the main street of whatever place this was as it was lined with shops and even a train station.
�C�mon, this way.� Billy said and started off down the main street. There more zombies on this street, but still it seemed their best chance. Billy didn�t expect to find a shop that was free of zombies and could be easily barred, but he�d fight to clear a shop when he found one suitable. Just be careful, he told himself.
It was a seven eleven type of petrol station that Billy decided upon. It was close, on the intersection actually, and looked to have a sufficient food supply. It�s only temporary he told himself. He ran straight for it, thankful that it was not far, he was beginning to feel short of breath and Andrew was sweating profusely beside him.
The electric door was closed, and Billy tries to open it but it wouldn�t budge. Peering through the windows revealed little. The interior was dark, the electricity was one of the first things to go after the uprising, but there was no motion he could see within. That the door was closed and he was unable to open it was not a worry. It was glass, he�d just smash it. In fact it was divided into two panes, top and bottom, he needed only to break one and crawl through. It would make it harder for the slow and uncoordinated zombies to follow.
�Andrew, help me with the door.� Billy said. Andrew came over and pushed on it. Their combined strength was still not enough to open it. Andrew started to panic. The zombie hordes were not far off.
�Billy, what are we gonna do, let�s run, we�ve gotta run.� Andrew said even though he was obviously worn out and could not run much further.
�No, it�s ok, I�ll break the door.�
�But they�ll get in through it.�
�No, we�ll seal it up from the inside.�
�I dunno, there close Billy, hurry up, do something.� Andrew said. Indeed they were getting rather close, a few dozen meters to the closest ones. Billy took a firm grasp of his trusty steering wheel lock.
�Stand back.� He told Andrew. He averted his own face and brought the lock blindly down on the door. His aim was true and glass shattered around there feet.
�I�ll crawl in first and check it out, then you come in and start moving things towards the door.� Billy said.
�What?� Andrew said.
�I�ll go first, then you come in and start blocking the door, ok? Got it?�
�Yeah, ok.�
�Ok then.� Billy quickly knocked the few fragments of glass that stuck out of the frame away and crawled through on hands and knees. Small shards of glass penetrated through his jeans and into his knees, as well as embedding themselves in hid palms. It hurt a little, but was a small price to pay for somewhere safe. He stood up once inside and waled in cautiously. There were no lights, but the front of the building was glass and the late afternoon light spilt in, the sun was out on the side of the window making every thing in the place seem eerie and orange. There were a few aisles which contained packets of food that Billy didn�t take much notice of yet. There was a counter on which stood a cash register. Around the counter were chocolate bars, Billy absently took one and opened it. It tasted goon to his starved mouth. He savoured the chocolate, swirling it around in his mouth, mixing it with his saliva. Beside the counter was a door that presumable lead to storage and staff area.
At the door Andrew was looking around frantically for something to block the entrance. He panicked when he realised he couldn�t find anything.
�Billy, Billy, help there�s nothing to block the door with.� Billy took a large bit out of the bar and put it down. Andrew was standing around with his hands wavering in front of his gesturing that he had nothing. Billy looked around. At first sight yes, there was nothing. But that was because he wasn�t thinking clearly.
�Here, help me move this aisle over to the door.� Billy said. The aisle was big. It would be heavy to move, but would provide an excellent barrier.
�Oh, yeah. God Billy if you weren�t here I�d never survive on my own.� He said.
�It�s cool, you just panicked and didn�t think.�
�But I always do.�
�You wont, look we�ve made it this far together haven�t we? We can both make it out.�
�Yeah, I guess.�
�Good, so help me lift this thing.� The aisle was no more than a squat double sided book shelf, and the two of them together could lift it. First they quickly pushed everything from its shelfs, the lifted it and placed it in front of the broken door. The zombies were only a dozen or so meters from the door, and both agreed that they should hurry back and put all the aisles there. After they had placed the second one behind the first the zombies had reached the door. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and their rotting hands beat slowly, but steadily upon the door and windows. After they had moved all the aisles to the door they went to the wall furthest away from the front. The floor was wide and open now, but all manner of food products lay spread across it like casualties on a battlefield.
�Are you hungry?� Billy asked in a whisper. If they could stay out of sight and make no sound or movement then perhaps the zombies would leave.
�Yes.� Andrew replies even quieter. Billy reached out slowly as to make as little noise as possible and went to pick up a packet of potato chips, he hesitated imagining the amount of noise it would make and went for a packet of biscuits lying next to it. He slowly opened it and they sat against the back wall huddled together eating biscuits while the steady beat of hand on glass set their nerves dancing.
At some time they had drifted of into an uneasy sleep. But in the middle of the night Billy woke up. It was not the zombies at the window, they had been going non stop all night. They seemed no less active then they had in the afternoon. A cold feeling came into Billies gut. The thought that the zombies would stand there banging endlessly on the window until they eventually broke it now seemed a possibility. He had been hoping, relying actually on them forgetting or going away after they realised how useless their chance of getting in were. But do zombies realise anything? Do they have brains that still function? The more Billy thought about it the less likely he thought it was. Then he remembered the other door, the one next to the counter. In his haste to barricade the front door he had forgotten all about it. Then before he drifted off to sleep, he deliberately forgot it, figuring that it was closed, and probably locked. The zombies had no brains, why would they think of coming in the back? Still now that he was awake he felt uneasy about that door. It was the only way to get in or out now unless the whole barricade was slowly pulled apart. He decided to check the door out, make sure it was secure. Andrew was snuggled up against his side. He was warm there and comfortable, but slowly he pushed Andrew back up against the wall so he wouldn�t fall and got up slowly so as not to wake his kid brother.
It was very dark, he could not see much out of the windows just dark shadows that slowly beat a steady tattoo and a clear star lit sky above. The moon must have been hiding higher in the sky or on the other side of it. Billy crept along the wall, feeling it cool beneath his fingers. He reached the door and put his hand to the handle. He held it there on the cold metal before pulling the handle down. There was no lock on the door else it was lift unlocked. Probably left unlocked by staff workers leaving for home at the first signs of the uprising. Probably saw it on the small TV that sat behind the counter and could not believe it, but it was proved all to soon.
The door opened silently and Billy stood on the threshold loathe to enter. It was even darker in there, but seeing as he could not lock the door he had best check what was behind it. He suddenly thought of his steering wheel lock that was sitting where he had left it next to Andrew. No use going back for it he thought. Slowly he stepped into the darkness beyond. He let go of the door and it started to swing back, he caught it just in time to stop it from slamming and gently closed it. He stood still a minute hoping his eyes would adjust. If they did the difference was so little that his taut nerves prevented him from noticing.
Holding a hand out he felt for the wall, then he held his other hand out in front of him like a blind man. Slowly he moved along and suddenly felt a door on his left Turning that way he felt around. He found the door handle and turned it excruciatingly slow. He felt ready to jump out of his skin. The door opened and he stepped in.
First thing he noticed was the floor felt different under his feet. Tile, he decided. Then the smell of urine and shit. The toilet. He took a deep breath of fetid air and slowly exhaled. Striding forward he came to the stalls. It was then that he heard the scraping noise. Something had definitely moved. He froze. He told himself to calm down that it was just a rat or a cockroach. He wouldn�t be surprised if he could hear a cockroach crawling a hundred feet away the way the adrenalin was flowing through his system. He took another breath, and headed forward.
The door to the stall was closed. Habit nearly made him ask softly if there was anyone in there, but he quickly realised how ridiculous it was. In fact he began to realise how ridiculous the whole thing was. The back of the petrol station was obviously closed, no one could get in or out, he was just wondering around in the dark scaring himself. He felt like there should be a hidden camera somewhere and people laughing at his cliched fear of the dark, and any second someone would jump out and say �your on candid camera!�.
With this in mind he reached down and opened the stall and took a step inside. As soon as he stepped in he realised his error. His knee collided with the knee of someone. Someone sitting on the toilet Billy guessed. The thing moved and groaned, low and hungry. Billy was so scared his heart actually caused him so much physical pain that he couldn�t move. The creature moved however and before Billy knew it their were fingers cold as death around his throat. Billy came to at that moment, even as he felt the zombies face near his. He kicked and struggles like a man having an epileptic fit and managed to break free, but even as he did he stepped out of the stall but realised he left his feet behind him. He lost balance and toppled over. Fingers groped at his legs, then a hard wet set of teeth sank into his tender flesh.
At that moment Billy screamed. It was loud and shattered the nights sounds unnaturally. He kicked ferociously at the thing and pulled his leg free even thought it meant tearing a piece of flesh off his leg. He got up and stumbles thought the room. He could imagine the amount of blood that was on the floor, and thanked god it was night so he couldn�t see it. He limped and felt light headed from the blood loss. Even as he reached the door that led to the room where Andrew was waiting it was flung open. Andrew jumped back in fright when he saw the figure in the doorway, and retreated into the room. Billy went through the door and closed it behind him. He stood there with his back to it.
�Billy, oh god what happened.� Andrew asked in a dread filled voice. Billy didn�t want to answer, so he didn�t. He just remained quiet while he answered the question for himself. What had happened? He had met a zombie in the toilet, probably been sitting there since it died and I stumbled upon it. It bit me, now I�ll become a zombie.
�Billy, what happened?� Andrew asked again. Still he couldn�t bring himself to tell his brother. What would happen to him now. He had just told him before, promised him that he�d see them through this, and now... now he was worse than dead and Andrew was alone. He had no chance, despite what Billy had said earlier, he knew that Andrew just could not survive on his own.
�Billy!�
�I have to leave.�
�What?�
�There was one in there it bit me.�
�What?... no it... there... couldn�t have been...� Andrew stuttered.
�Yes, there was a zombie in there and it bit me.� Tears were pouring down Billies eyes now. He had been so close. After there parents died they thought they were finished, then they made it out of the city. It was hard, very hard, so many times Billy had thought they were done for, but they always pulled through.
�I�m sorry Drew, you�re gonna have to make it on your own.�
�But Billy, I can�t I can�t even drive, I can�t make it without you.�
�Sorry, I am, I really am, but you�ll have to.� Andrew wanted to say maybe it wouldn�t happen to him, maybe he could survive, but he knew better, he had seen the process before. If mum and dad couldn�t beat it then not even Billy who could do anything could beat it. Andrew began to cry too.
�You�ll have to lock this door if it�s got one. I�ll have to go soon. When I do I�ll distract the ones outside, and you can sneak around the back.�
�Your leaving then?� Andrew asked, he already knew the answer but he couldn�t help the question.
�You know I must, but I�ll help you escape.�
�But I can�t make it on my own.�
�Maybe you�ll meet up with some other survivors.� Billy said, thought he doubted it. They had not met any so far. Billy went and searched for something to bandage his wound hoping it would slow the process. he thought about suicide to prevent himself becoming a zombie, but it had to be done right. He have to cut off his head, or smash it in and he couldn�t do those things by himself. He could not ask Andrew to do them. Besides, this way he might be able to help Andrew, distract the zombies, give him a fighting chance at least, who knows maybe he could get out alive?
After the wound had been bandaged they sat in silence. Neither knew exactly what to say, so they said nothing in the hope of making the final parting easier. Billy guessed at the time, it must be getting near towards dawn, and still the zombies were banging on the windows. Billy sat watching the window. Slowly the shadowy came clear as the dawn broke. Light spread slowly from the sun rising on the other side of the building illuminating faces sporting horrible gashes and slashes, holes and deformities. All grey and white, decomposing and falling away. All wearing blank expressions of the mindless. In his own system he could feel that existence drawing nearer. Even now the sight of the zombies did not fill him so much with fear and loathing. He felt strangely drawn to them, like fire to fire or water to water, one to its likeness.
�It�s time Andrew.� He said to his brother who was sitting some distance away.
�Ok.� Was all he said in reply. Billy stood up, his joints felt hard and slow. Andrew stood up, picking his steel lock up with him.
�Let�s do it.� Billy said and walked straight to the door. Andrew silently followed.
�There�s still that one zombie lurking around back there, do you want me to take care of it?� Billy asked.
�No, I�ve got it.� Andrew replied beating the lock in his hand in a gesture of violence. Billy opened the door. The way was clear, thought on the ground was a copious amount of dried, congealed blood. It reeked like iron. They waled down towards the toilets, cautiously stepping through. The zombie from last night was stuck in the toilet stall pinned under the gap between its walls and the floor. It squirmed around feebly. Without a word Andrew walked up to it and smashed its head open in one vicious blow. He walked back and they headed out to where they hoped to find a back door.
They found the back door easily enough. It was locked from the inside and Billy turned the key and opened the door without a pause. It lead out into the sunlight and a back alley. There weren�t may zombies here.
�Go now brother.� Billy said.
�Goodbye.� Andrew said awkwardly and walked out into the world. Billy watched him go wondering if he would make it to safety.
Andrew swung the old steering wheel lock savagely like a barbarian fighting off superior numbers. But there were too many. He turned and ran with what little strength he had back to the parking lot, hoping that one of the cars sitting there would have the door unlocked, the keys in the ignition...
Ahead zombies started filing out of a side street. It looked black. He had only left Billy a day ago and had not even got out of this damn street. Now he was trapped, behind and in front on a small alley that lead to the car park. He felt the adrenalin in his veins, there�s still a chance he told himself. Billy could have gotten us out of this. I can do it by myself. With this thought he went berserk and ran at the crown of zombies even thought he was hopelessly out numbered.
Blood covered his hands, not warm, but cold. His arms ached, the weapon was heavy in his hands he knew he could only manage a few more swings. The piles of dead lay all around him, but still more came. They had scratched him in places and bruised him, but he had not been bitten yet, there was still a chance. He took a weak swing at the creature in front of him, but even as he did he felt the teeth sink into his shoulder. He whipped around to face the zombie who had finally undid him. A familiar face met him.
�Billy?� Andrew asked and dropped his weapon, exhausted. The creature made an agonising moan, and then Andrew felt teeth sink into him all over, and cold hands strangle the life out of him.
