Kyle walked to the back of the truck and took the decapitated head of the zombie out of the bucket. He walked back to the man and shoved it into his face. The eyes of the Existing Dead began to move. The man stared back at the head and its moving eyes. Kyle could see the fear and terror in his eyes as he looked at the head. The teeth were fully exposed. The lower half of its head was completely missing. Its gums were black and its skin was burned.
“Is this what you want to be?” Kyle asked. “This is it, right? You want to be one of these things so you can go around fucking biting and eating anyone you see?”
The man tried to speak, but he was too afraid. Kyle shoved the head into his face again. He squirmed back as the eyes looked at him.
“Please,” the man said.
“Kyle, they’re coming out of the houses. Hurry up,” Victor said.
Kyle glared at the man again. He took the head away and placed it back into the truck. He walked back to the man, who was now crying. He wiped tears and blood with his hand. Kyle didn’t know why he was so angry with this man. He felt betrayed that someone would actually want to be one of these things and fight against him.
“If you want to be one of those things, then I’ll make it easy for you.” Kyle raised the shotgun over the man’s legs. The man pleaded for mercy as Kyle pulled the trigger. The slug caught the man on both knees, completely shattering the bone. Blood squirted out of the wound like a fountain. The man yelled as loud as he could in pain, calling more of the Existing Dead to their location. “Get in the truck,” Kyle ordered Victor.
He didn’t think twice. Victor got into the truck and closed the door. Existing Dead began pouring out of their hiding spots and walked in their direction. The man continued screaming as he tried to crawl to safety, leaving a smear of blood as his trail.
Kyle got back into the truck and put it in drive. He drove around the man, then looked at his rearview mirror. He saw the dead fully surround him. They began to tear into him like a hungry family on a great Christmas Day feast.
Victor stayed silent. Kyle finally began to calm down. “Sorry,” he said breaking the tension.
“Yeah, let’s just get to the gas station.”
They continued driving toward the Mobile.
“What would cause someone to act like that?” Victor finally said.
“I don’t know,” Kyle responded. “Fear, maybe. Or they lost all hope of living so they decided to join the things they dread.”
“I’m glad you did what you did. I would have done the same,” Victor said.
That last comment startled Kyle. He was sure that Victor would have rather they let the man go. But if they had, he might have hurt someone else.
“There’s the gas station. I’m going to park next to the restroom in case we need to get out of here quick.”
They pulled into the self-service gas station. There weren’t many cars there; only one parked at a pump and two others parked on the other side of the building. The gas station had eight pumps no more than fifty feet away from the little market.
Kyle shut up the truck’s engine. “Get out and keep a look out.”
Victor nodded and got out of the truck.
Kyle pumped the shotgun until no more shells popped out. He grabbed eight rounds from the robot backpack and loaded them. He felt much better carrying a fully loaded weapon. Victor glanced in every direction looking for any sign of movement. There was none. A cool breeze began to blow from the west. Victor looked up and saw a few dark clouds moving in. Where did they come from? he thought.
Kyle brought the shotgun up to his shoulder and held it at the ready. He walked toward the door and turned the handle. It didn’t turn. The door was locked.
“I’m going to need a key. You worked at a gas station, where do you guys usually keep the key?” Kyle asked.
“Check under the counter. It’s usually attached to something big, like a hub cap.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Kyle slowly walked to the front of the store. He pulled on the door handle toward him and poked his head in. “Hello?” he called out. He slowly walked into the store and turned right toward the counter. A smell of death hit his nose. He quickly turned and began to search in every direction. He continued walking toward the counter and spotted the keys attached to a plastic squeegee. They dangled on the side wall. Kyle reached for them and yanked them down. When he turned there were two Existing Dead slowly creeping up on him.
Kyle quickly fired, one shot after the other. The dead didn’t even have time to blink before their heads exploded in a shower of bloodshed. Kyle looked around the store, but couldn’t see any more of them. He was surprised that they were able to hide in such an enclosed area. He knew he might never fully understand how the dead could disappear, but he was hoping that someone out there would figure it out. Soon.
He walked back outside and headed for the restroom. Victor was standing by the door. “I heard gunshots,” he said.
“Yeah, two of them snuck up behind me. I brought them down. Okay, stand guard while I go number two.” Kyle opened the door and walked inside.
Fifteen minutes passed. Victor had not seen any other movement in the area, other than a couple of rustling leaves. He banged on the door impatiently. “Come on, dude.”
“I’m almost done,” Kyle replied, still perched on the seat.
Victor heard a flush and a few seconds later the door swung open. He began to cough as the smell of Kyle’s processed food gassed the oxygen around him. “Ahh,” he said pinching his nose. “It smells worse in there than in Angel’s room.” Victor looked into the dark restroom, but then pulled his head back. “I have to go too, but I’d much rather hold it.”
“You should go now, ’cause who knows what the future holds? Next time, we might have to dig a hole.”
“Like cavemen?” The boy laughed at his horrible joke.
Kyle laughed along with Victor as he stepped out. “And the funny thing is, I couldn’t wash my hands,” he said as he put his hand on Victor’s face.
The boy jumped back in disgust. He began rubbing his face with his filthy shirt. Kyle’s laughter grew wild. There was something about moments like these that made both of them feel better. Yes, they where in the middle of the apocalypse, but they still enjoyed laughter. Maybe Kyle would have thought differently if he hadn't met Victor. He didn’t want to think about not having the boy around anymore.
“We need to find some new clothes,” Victor said. “I can smell the crap from my shirt all over my face.”
“Yeah, I know. I have a change of clothes, but even they aren’t fresh. Come on, let’s go siphon some gas, and then we’ll see what we can find in the market,” Kyle said.
They searched the back of the truck for Kyle’s hose. They couldn’t find it anywhere. Victor climbed into the back and began rustling things around, carefully avoiding the bucket with the head. Thinking back, Kyle wasn’t sure if he’d put the hose back into the truck the last time he used it. It was probably burned to ashes now, but somehow the five-gallon jug had made it into the truck’s bed. Kyle and Victor searched behind the building for a water valve. Victor said that his gas station had kept one in case of a fire. They were in luck. A green hose was connected to the back of the building. Kyle disconnected it and walked it back to his truck, where he used a pocket blade to cut it to size. Victor carried the gas can to the green Sonata parked at the pump.
The car had a safety lock to prevent people from opening the gas lid. There was a button inside the car where it could be opened. Victor tried the door handle, but it was locked. Kyle noticed the problem and grabbed a stick of rebar from his truck.
“Step back,” Kyle said before swinging the rebar at the tinted driver’s side window. It shattered and Kyle reached in to unlock the door when the hand of an Existing Dead hurled toward him from inside. Kyle jumped back, raising the rebar into the air. He brought it crashing down on the creature, causing a sickening thud. He raised his arm up again and used the sharp point of the bar to pierce the back of the creature’s neck. He forced its head down. The creature struggled to get free and fell out of the car in the process. Kyle raised his boot up and brought it crashing down on the creature’s head. He continued until there was nothing more than a stump and a puddle of goo.