Zombies on the Rock (Book 2): The Viking Trail Page 26

  Nathaniel didn't know what to think, but he knew it wasn't going to be about making a move. He couldn't take his eyes off Frank's severed head; it was as if every last ounce of blood in Frank's body had found it's way onto the ground. Chester held Frank's head by his hair, letting the breeze blow it around. Frank eyes were still open, a shocked expression cemented on his face.

  "Doctor Winston, get inside now," Tucker barked at Nathaniel.

  Chester led the way, holding the door open for Nathaniel. Kyle had a flat piece of board and glue laid out on the kitchen table. Tucker pushed past him as he did so, Frank's head bumped Nathaniel's leg and left a bloody smudge on his jeans. Kyle began to pour out the whole bottle of crazy glue and Tucker slapped the severed head onto the glue.

  "This shouldn't take long." Kyle cackled, making Nathaniel's stomach churn with hatred and terror.

  Eric raced through the woods. He could hear Jason and Nick calling out behind him, but he wasn't about to wait for them to catch up. Eric cursed himself for letting Dana head into the forest alone. He hadn’t even given her a gun to protect herself, which meant she was basically defenceless.

  "Dana!" Eric called out.

  The woods seemed to be alive now with the hungry moans of zombies echoing from every direction. He hadn’t even noticed the wailing of the dead earlier, but now that he was in a frantic rush, he couldn't hear himself think. Fallen logs snapped as the undead wandered the forest, and tree branches rustled as the corpses pushed their way past the giant trees. The sun was fading behind the looming clouds, and tiny flakes of snow whirled around the forest, obstructing Eric's view.

  "Dana." Eric tried peering through the swirling snow and the thick canopy of branches. Shuffling bodies awkwardly shambled towards his voice. They tilted their ears towards the sound of his voice, their shadows awkwardly stumbling through the forest to find the source of the racket.

  Boom!

  Eric fired his gun up into the air, trying to draw the creatures’ attention to him. If Dana was still out there somewhere, maybe he could at least draw them away from her.

  "Eric." Jason had finally caught up to him, wheezing from the brisk pace Eric had kept. "What are you doing?" Jason managed to speak in-between laboured breaths.

  "Trying to lure those fuckers towards me." Eric raised his gun above his head.

  Boom

  The zombies shambled towards the thunderous echo, drawn to the noise like ants to a picnic. The mindless creatures had forgotten everything else and worked as a team to surround their victims. "Eric, how are we going to get out of their way?" Jason was bent over at the waist, still out of breath.

  "I'm not planning on getting out of the way." Eric holstered his Glock and gripped the heavy fire axe in both hands.

  "What the hell is going on?" Nick had joined the circle.

  "You're fucking nuts." Jason laughed, reaching behind his back and taking out the short sword he had taken from Craig’s house. "You ready to do this?" Giving Nick a pat on the shoulder, Jason pointed the metal bat in Nicks hand.

  "Shit." Nick looked around, and quickly realized what Eric had planned.

  A horde of zombies were closing in on them from every direction, Eric counted at least forty of the evil creatures salivating at the prospect of fresh flesh. The three men closed into a circle, back to back with each other, each man with their various weapon ready to strike. The foul smelling creatures staggered slowly towards them, and Eric made sure the safety was off on his revolver. The first zombie that entered striking range was a ragged looking, decrepit creature. Its white hair was thin and clung to its face, the skin was wrinkled and falling off in hunks, and sore patches covered its body. The frail limbs barely managed to carry the monster forward while its pants were soaked and so tight they restricted the cadaver’s movement. Eric rushed towards the zombie and swung the axe in a sideways motion -- the top half of the creature’s skull went flying through the air as the blade sliced through the brittle bone.

  Jason lunged forward with the ancient blade in his hand, cleaving a male zombie’s head clean off. The headless corpse shivered violently and miraculously took another step before crashing to the ground, the monster’s jaw continuing to snap relentlessly even though it had become detached from its body. "Slimy bastard." Jason stomped the skull with a crushing stomp, caving it in.

  Nick used an uppercut swing to demolish the next zombie’s jaw, the creature’s teeth flew through the air in a mixture of blood and spit. The cadaver fell backwards and Nick finished off the ghoul with a bone-shattering blow.

  The three men fell back and reformed their defensive circle, making sure nothing got inside their huddle. Zombies moaned hoarsely for their fallen comrades; the horde was growing larger and more dangerous. Seven zombies had lurched into striking distance. A butcher’s knife was sticking out of the stomach of a female zombie, the blade was covered in gore and the handle jiggled with every step. It was probably the efforts of some poor soul who didn't posses the knowledge to destroy the foul creature’s brain.

  Two more female zombies wearing white tank tops covered in muck and gore approached, their outreached arms covered in black soot. Their skin was badly burned, covered in bloody blisters and charred flesh. A male wearing pyjama bottoms had been asleep when he turned. His stomach cavity was void of any internal organs, and his spine could be seen through the imbrued mess.

  Nick darted forward towards the zombie on the left and sent it tumbling backwards over an old stump. Then Nick squared his body and swung wildly into the face of the female on the right -- a loud pop echoed through the woods as the metal bat crushed the skull bones. Jason joined the fray and wielded his short sword, thrusting towards the topless corpse and driving the pointed end into the foul being’s eye socket.

  Three younger souls faced Eric as he drove the axe downwards at their outreached hands, slicing off several fingers and amputating one of the creature’s hands. Blood flowed out of the open wounds, a red mist staining Eric's pants. Swinging the axe sideways again, the blade deftly cleaved through the zombie’s skull and dug into the next undead brain. Unfortunately, the edge lodged into the brain and got snagged in the wound. The momentum of the falling body yanked the axe out of Eric's grip and a bloody stump clutched his shoulder, but Eric easily freed himself from the weak clutch. Kicking at the creature’s leg, Eric felt the leg bone splinter against the blow, sending the zombie tumbling to the grass. Driving his knee into the monster’s head, Eric could feel the head cave in underneath his body weight. Looking over towards the remaining zombie, Eric watched as Nick and Jason worked in unison to kill the dead man. Jason severed the leg with a powerful swing, and when the creature dropped to its knee, Nick teed off on the zombie’s head and used a home-run swing to demolish the skull. An explosion of brain matter and blood followed a loud pop immediately.

  Nick and Jason ran over to Eric, reforming their defensive formation. They started to move back to the centre of the circle. "Eric, I don't know if this is going to work." Jason was winded.

  "I can't leave Dana out there with all of these freaks." Eric was worried; they were surrounded by a horde of the vile creatures. Eric pulled the axe out of the creature’s skull with a loud, wet sucking sound as the blade freed from the gaping wound.

  Nick scanned the area, trying to find a way out. "You won't be much use to Dana if you turn into one of those monsters." Nick pulled an old handgun out of the back of his cargo pants.

  "He's right Eric, we can't kill these things without guns." Jason loaded two shells into his shotgun and slammed it shut.

  "We can't waste the bullets yet." Eric was afraid they might need them soon. "There're only two zombies approaching from up the bank; if we can break through there, we can lead these things away from the woods."

  "Then what?" Nick questioned Eric's plan.

  "Lead them back to Howley, they have supplies and weapons. They will have to help us." Eric was surprised by the look on Nick's face; he seemed disgusted by the plan.

/>   "What about Dana?" Jason asked.

  "You two will lead them back, I'll find Dana." Eric didn't wait for a response. He broke the circle and ran up the bank towards the two lurchers.

  Two male zombies wearing filthy blue coveralls lumbered down the slope. Eric met the first zombie with an overhead strike, and the axe sank through the skull and spilt the zombie’s head in half. The diabolical creature crashed into Eric and toppled him into the ground, landing on top of him. The monster’s eyeball fell out of the socket and landed on Eric's cheek; the slimy organ rolled down his face and dropped on the ground leaving a trail of gore behind.

  Eric tried to push the dead weight off, but the other creature lurched down trying to grasp at Eric. Looking back at Nick and Jason told Eric that they were tangled up with three more zombies that had quickly closed the gap. Pinned to the ground, the creature clawed his way over the dead body and Eric felt drool from the snapping mouth landing on his neck. Its cold dead eyes locked onto Eric's throat and the zombie strained to crane its neck down to take a bite out of the soft flesh. The vile cadaver’s foul smelling, warm breath was inches away from Eric's neck. Closing his eyes, Eric pushed with all of his might to move the pile of bodies trapping him below, but all he managed to do was shift the zombies’ weight further on top of himself. The dead cadaver’s body momentarily shielded Eric from the snapping jaw, buying Eric precious seconds to reach his revolver.

  BANG

  The bullet missed its target and sailed into the tree branches above. Eric grasped the handle of the revolver firmly, but the dead body that shielded him from the undead corpse also protected the creature trying to eat him. With every last ounce of strength Eric had left, he tried to get a better shot, but suddenly the weight become too much to bear and Eric's arms could no longer hold the cadaver off his body. The creature’s face stopped barely an inch from his own as a blade popped the eye out of the creature’s skull.

  "Eric." Dana rolled the zombies off him and Jason pulled Eric to his feet.

  "We need to get out of here." Nick ran past them, leading them towards his parents’ cabin and away from Howley.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:

  A BRAND NEW WORLD

  Hank awoke to find the fire had died out in the hearth, and there was a damp chill in the grass hut. Sasha was lying in her bed, her curly blonde hair sticking out from the blanket, but she was facing away from him so Hank couldn't tell if she was awake. Hank's back was sore: he had to sleep on the dirt floor with nothing more than a sleeping bag to cushion him from the rigid bedding. All he wanted was to crawl into bed with Sasha, but the only door to the hut was nothing more than a large flap of fur.

  A commotion could be heard outside the hut, horses’ hooves could be heard galloping down the paths towards the coast. Hank wanted to see what had the Viking community in such upheaval so early in the morning. Sasha's soft breathing could be heard from across the room, and he figured she must have been asleep. He didn't want to wake her up but he was worried if she woke up alone in the hut that she would panic.

  Hank walked over to the bed and gently shook Sasha, but she didn't budge. She was in a very deep sleep and never blinked an eye; she looked beautiful and innocent lying there. Hank headed outside to leave her to some well-deserved rest. She had probably been worked like a dog at the military base.

  Looking up at the clouds, the sun was doing its best to make an appearance but couldn't penetrate the snow filled gloom. The Vikings had gathered near the shoreline -- they stood in one giant circle while the one they called Ragnor paced back and forth in the middle.

  Hank jogged down the wet dirt path noticing how the horses had made the ground mucky and large puddles had formed in their prints. Most of the way down no one took notice of Hank; they were all focused on something across the water on the southern shore of Labrador. When Hank neared the circle, Ragnor took note of him and pointed towards the source of the commotion.

  Three large diesel trucks were backing trailers into the water, with each one containing a boat. One of the boats was a speedboat and the other two were sailboats. What were these people planning to do once they got them in the water? Did they intend to come over here? What on earth would posses them to get to this desolate island at the beginning of the winter?

  "Ready your weapons, men. We need to be prepared to defend this land if they plan to invade us." The men roared loudly, thrashing their fists against their wooden shields.

  Ragnor rode his stead over to Hank. "You have anything to fight with?"

  "I have my pickaroon." Hank had left it behind in the grass hut.

  "If you think that will be enough, but you should go see the blacksmith for body armour." Ragnor pointed towards a grass hut across the field where black smoke billowed out of the chimney.

  "You think they're going to attack us?" Hank didn't see the reasoning behind the plan forming across the water. "What if they're running from a horde of zombies?"

  "Run away like a coward if you wish, but my men will be ready to fight. I suggest you do the same, unless you want these men hunting you down." Ragnor didn't look impressed with Hank.

  Turning his back to Ragnor, Hank headed back to his hut to grab his pickaroon.

  Eric kept looking over his shoulder to make sure they had put enough distance between them and the swarm of shuffling corpses. Dana was directly in front of him, and he wasn't about to let her out of his sight anytime soon. They all followed Nick towards his parents’ cabin -- he must have wanted to discover their fate. Jason managed to keep up with Nick's pace, but Eric found it impossibly slow. The more distance they put between themselves and the zombies, the more likely it was that they would lose their scent and give up chasing after them.

  Nick entered the clearing before anyone else and, after a brief shock-filled pause, dropped to his knees at the sight of his parents’ cabin burnt to the ground. Jason hauled him to his feet and ushered him towards the charred remains, waving his hand for Eric and Dana to join them inside.

  "Jason, we can't stop here, they are too close." Eric wanted to keep going. He wasn't about to waste precious ammo when he didn't need too.

  "I have a better plan." Jason looked at Nick. "Doesn't this cabin have a hidden cellar underneath the kitchen?"

  Nick looked down at the blackened kitchen floorboards, then brushed the remains of the table out of the way to reveal a large iron latch. "You think this is a good idea?"

  "The smell of soot should mask our scent. We can head down in the cellar until they pass over us." Jason threw open the latch and ran down into the basement. Everyone quickly followed with Nick the last to enter. He slammed the latch shut once he made his way inside.

  "This is the community centre." Father Willis had brought Tina into the old school gymnasium. Tables and chairs lined the left hand wall, the floor was open in the middle, and a hockey net was set up against the back wall with hockey sticks scattered over the floor. Tina wanted to run, but members of the Highway Hangmen were around every corner. She was afraid that she couldn't escape them without being hunted down and slaughtered, especially since they didn't seem to have very much patience. Tina still didn't understand what Father Willis was trying to do. Why wouldn't they just let her leave this place? She wanted to leave with the military, but Father Willis made it abundantly clear she wasn't going anywhere, Tina didn't understand why.

  "Since you're new, you'll have to lend a hand in the kitchen, it's the rules." The elderly gentleman kept going over the rules.

  "Why are you making me stay here?" Tina heard her own voice and barely recognized it. She sounded broken and lost.

  He didn't even acknowledge her. "You'll start with the dishes and once you prove yourself, you'll move on to serving. Don't worry though, you get paid for all of your work you do inside these walls. We wouldn't have your working for free, we're not slave owners." Father Willis let out a hearty chuckle at his own words.

  A strange looking man sat behind the cafeteria opening. He was wearing chief's
aprons and he had his eyes glued to the counter, studying a pile of papers. "Stanley, what's on the menu today?"

  "Spaghetti and meatballs." Stanley responded like a robot; there was no emotion in his voice and he didn't even look up.

  "This is Tina, she will be washing the dishes for the next few weeks." Father Willis introduced Tina like she was Stanley's newest employee.

  "It's shit pay and even worse work. Do your best and maybe you'll get out of the kitchen." Stanley looked up from the sheets, a giant burn mark on the right side of his face. It looked like somebody had scorched his face with an iron.

  "It's still better than being outside our protection. The Highway Hangmen have kept us safe since day one and they continue to keep those freaks out of sight." Father Willis shot Stanley a mean glare. "You don't want to end up back in laundry now, do you, Stanley?"

  "You're lucky you're not working in the laundry, Tina." Stanley was being forced to agree. "Your shift starts at four o'clock, don't be late or I'll be forced to dock your pay."

  "What pay?" Tina didn’t understand the threat of losing a day's pay.

  "Tina, we are keeping society running smoothly. After a long day's work you'll get to enjoy certain privileges." Father Willis tapped his knuckles against the counter.

  "Privileges?" Tina needed to know what he meant.

  "Your meals, room and board, television, books, sporting events, movie nights." Father Willis listed the benefits of living in Grand Falls.

  "What if you don't work?" Tina was afraid to know the answer.

  "Then you lose those privileges. The harder you work, the easier your job becomes and the more you become entitled to." Father Willis pointed to the bulletin board. "I'll give you a minute to read the rules."

  Tina walked over to the corkboard where a giant white sheet of paper listed the rules. There were dozens of rules, and most of them seemed absurd to her. They were obviously derived from the original Ten Commandments, but each rule took on a sinister twist to benefit the biker gang and the elders of the city.