He opened the door and got in. Victor looked at him, breathing uncontrollably.
“Are you all right?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, I am. I’m just glad I don’t have to clean up this mess again.”
Kyle laughed as they stared out of the window onto the front of the store. Bodies littered the ground, motionless. And beyond that the store was completely engulfed in flames. They could still see the moving bodies through the doors striking the glass, methodically and purposefully.
Chapter Four
“What are you waiting for?” Victor asked.
Kyle stayed stationary inside the truck. He stared, in a trance, at the picture of him and Eddie, then looked at the picture of Jasmine.
“Is that your wife and kid?” Victor asked.
“No and yes,” Kyle answered. “That’s my boy Eddie and this is, Jasmine, the girl who should have been my wife.”
“Are they …?” Victor couldn’t finish the question. He just nodded with a concerned look on his face.
“Eddie is dead, killed by his own mother. I don’t know about Jasmine, she lives in California. I’m on my way there now to see if she’s alive,” Kyle said, completely void of emotion.
“That’s fucking wicked man. When did it happen?”
“A few hours ago.”
They both fell silent.
“Oh,” Victor said finally. “And you’re …” he continued, but thought against it.
“I’m fine, I’ll grieve later. Right now I have to keep going.”
“Okay,” Victor said softly.
“Do you have any more rounds for that pussy .38 Snubby you pointed at me?”
“I don’t have any more in the gun; I fired all five shots when that dead person came in. I grabbed the box of bullets from under the counter before we ran for the ladder.”
“Good boy,” Kyle said, “give me the Snubby.” Victor looked at him for a second and handed the weapon he had in his pocket. “Listen to me very carefully,” Kyle started. “A gun is not a toy, this thing can really do some damage to yourself or the person you’re pointing it at. Did the store teach you how to use the gun?”
“No, but I’ve seen a lot of movies. It’s not hard, you just need to make sure that the safety is off, yank the hammer thing back and pull the trigger.”
Kyle sighed. “Okay well, I’m going to give you a crash course on this gun. First, don’t call them bullets; a bullet is what’s fired out of the cartridge. Call them rounds. This gun is pretty weak compared to what I have, but for you, it’ll work fine. Grab the box of rounds. This is how you reload. Push the cylinder release valve and the cylinder will pop out. Toss the used casings and load in fresh ones.” Victor handed him five rounds. “When they’re all loaded, push the cylinder back in.” The gun clicked. “When you hear that click you’re ready to rock and roll. Here.” Kyle handed the gun back to Victor and looked up at the boy. For a split second Kyle imagined that Eddie was sitting next to him.
“Thanks, Dad,” he heard him say.
Kyle quickly shook his head and looked at Victor again. “What did you say?” he asked.
“I said, thanks, dude.”
They heard glass shatter near the burning building. Kyle glanced outside the window and saw that the Existing Dead had finally broken the glass doors. Their flaming bodies began to push through the broken glass. They ignored any shards that might be in the way and pushed through. The few in front were squished up against the metal door handles. Some began to crawl on the ground and pushed themselves through a tiny opening. A foul and disgusting odor flew in the air.
“Ugh, that fucking reeks,” Victor said, covering his nose. “Let’s go, what are we still doing here?”
“That’s the smell of burning bodies, boy,” Kyle said, “let’s go before one of them ignites a gas pump.”
Kyle turned the ignition. The truck roared to life. He looked at the gas gauge needle, which stopped at half tank. Kyle put the car in reverse and said, “Put your seat belt on, Victor.”
Victor quickly buckled up. When Kyle heard the click he pushed down on the accelerator. The tires peeled out in reverse. He maneuvered the vehicle and ran down the zombie that was struggling to get up. Victor jumped forward when he felt the impact.
“What was that?” he said looking behind him.
“A flaming speed bump,” Kyle said, laughing.
He put the truck in drive and drove away. He turned left without stopping onto the road. Almost instantly, the truck came to a screeching halt as they stared out onto the street.
“Holy shit,” Kyle cursed.
The road was completely filled with Existing Dead. Kyle guessed about a thousand bodies were on the road. All of them stared at the truck. There was no way to continue going in that direction. One by one, the dead began walking toward the truck. Kyle didn’t move.
“Do something, dude!” Victor yelled.
Kyle popped the truck in reverse and did a one-eighty. Victor stared back through the rearview mirror as they drove back up the hill. He turned back just in time to see the Burger King Kyle and Eddie used to eat at.
“Hey, I used to eat lunch there all the time with my dad.”
Kyle’s stomach felt hollow. “Shut up,” he said.
Victor stayed quiet. Kyle passed the hill and continued on the road.
“How do we get to your place?” Kyle asked.
“Umm, we go through those zombies.”
“Is there another way out of here besides using that road?”
“I don’t know.”
Kyle continued driving at an alarming speed. He knew another way out of town, but that would add a few hours to the drive. It also meant that he had to pass his house, where Mary had killed Eddie. He tried not to think about it and continued driving.
The road was pretty clear. It seemed like all the Existing Dead gathered on that one point for some reason. Up ahead they noticed a figure lying on the ground with a metal spike through its heart. Its body was fried beyond recognition. Victor wasn’t able to tell if it was human or an Existing Dead as Kyle approached.
“What the hell happened here?” Victor questioned.
“That was me,” Kyle said.
“You did that?” Victor asked with a tint of fear in his voice.
“Yeah, I took out my anger on it,” Kyle said, stopping the car. “I had to leave because its friends showed up. Now I have a friend of my own.” Kyle got out of the car and looked at Victor. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to come out here with your gun and stand guard. If anything gets close shoot it in the head, understood?”
Victor nodded and got out of the truck. Kyle searched the bed for the saw. He found it and walked it over to the body. He stood over it for a moment. Its eyes slowly opened and it began to thrash, snapping its jaw at him.
“It’s still alive,” Victor said, stunned.
“Yeah, the only way to kill it is by destroying the brain.”
“How do you know so much about them?”
“Before I made it to the gas station, I was listening to something on the radio that was talking about them. Some Doctor Greenly was doing an interview.”
“So you just heard about them now? Where have you been?”
“I was in the basement of my house with my ex-wife and son. I replaced the wooden doors with steel ones and welded them shut. There was no way anything was going to get down there. We didn’t have a TV or a radio. The only thing we knew was that the dead were returning to life and eating the living. We didn’t know why and we didn’t care. We just went into hiding. So, like I said earlier, something like being under a rock.”