Authors: Samantha Leal
Within
minutes the bulldozer had reduced the zombie horde to the rough consistency of pasta. Now Cass was just sweeping up a few stragglers to a chorus of cheers from the survivors. Cass was feeling pretty good, until she felt a clammy hand grip her windpipe, choking her. She tried to pry the hand loose as she realized with mounting horror that there was a zombie attached to it this time. It was already climbing over the seat onto her back, its gnashing teeth inches from her face.
Then, suddenly the zombie was knocked clear of her by a solid kick to the torso. Before she had time to even register her relief a fire axe split the zombie's face in half as well. Jack Godwin had jumped onto the rolling bulldozer and attacked. The axe struck again, severing the creature’s arm. The zombie lost its purchase and Jack kicked it over the side where it got caught in the steel treads and quickly pulled under the dozer. In the tussle the bulldozer had been running blind. Cass now went to shut it down as it was dangerously close to the pool. Unfortunately the zombie’s arm was lodged in the throttle. At any other moment it would have taken a second to clear, but in this instance they had needed that second.
The bulldozer crashed straight through the low cinder block wall and into the salt-water pool, unending itself so that the nose and blade went straight to the bottom and the entire dozer flipped over into the deep end. Cass desperately tried to release her seatbelt, but in her disoriented, upside-down state could not get it to budge at all. In her panic she tried to take a breath and choked on the water that threatened to fill her lungs. She was close to blacking out. Being the consummate man of action that he was, Jack had dove in almost as soon as the bulldozer had gone in. He swam down and managed to miraculously undo the clasp and pull her free. They broke the surface gasping for air and earned a round of cheering from the survivors, which only escalated as Jack pulled Cass toward the edge of the pool.
"Oh God, Talin, he's still down there!" She yelled, quickly recovering from her ordeal. Before she could dive to the rescue though, the wicker basket bobbed to the surface. She swam over and towed it back to the deck.
"I'm okay," Talin said, as he spit out half a mouthful of salt water. Disconcertingly, the other half seemed to sort of just leak out his neck
Cass hugged the basket to her chest in relief.
Jack looked at her curiously, "Umm, What have you got in that basket…?"
Cass looked at Jack and shook her head. She wasn’t even going to get into it. After his double rescue of her, all she could say was, “Travel writer my ass." She then took a moment to recover both her wits, as well as her breath, before yelling to the crowd, "Somebody needs to run up the trail and get the old bus. Drive it down here." The survivors stared at her in stunned silence. "Now damn it!" She snapped. That got them moving.
Fawn raced to the pool's edge, "Oh god you're so brave, you saved us all!" She yelled, choking back tears.
Cass felt flattered, "It was no big deal, I just…"
But Fawn threw her arms around Jack, "You're the bravest man in the world."
Cass laughed, "Did I miss something?"
The following few minutes seemed like hours, but the bus finally arrived in the compound. Cass guided it to the edge of the pool.
"Do you want me to load everyone up," Jack asked.
"No, these roads are too dangerous at night, especially with all the rain we’ve had. We can’t afford to get stuck or stranded. For now I think it’s best to stay here. "
"You think we'll be safe?"
"Hell no, there's another swarm of zombies on their way here. And these ones are gonna be extra rotten and nasty, believe me. Now listen, here’s what we are gonna do.” She pointed to the bus, "The resort's water softening system uses salt. I threw twenty huge bags of it in the bus. We need to make a circle around the dining hall building. I’ll explain later. We should then have enough food and water inside to figure something out…or maybe just ride it out. Maybe they will get tired and decide it’s easier just being dead."
"What? What's going to stop the zombies… high sodium?"
"Trust me. Just get a circle made fast."
Cass sat down next to Talin's basket while Jack organized a work party. She popped open the basket and picked up Talin's head. "I hope you can make a bigger circle work the same way you did before, ‘cause I’m kind of banking on it."
"Such a clever girl," He said with a smile, "But remember, I need everyone inside the circle before I can start the incantation.
Cass lifted up Talin's head and pressed her lips to his, "I love you Talin," She whispered. “And don’t you worry, as soon as we get organized we’ll find a way to get you your body back.”
Fawn was handing out bottled water to the workers. She stopped, watching Cass, with a combination of shock, awe and revulsion on her face.
Cass turned to her, "What, you've never seen two people kissing before?"
The exhausted survivors hustled, encircling themselves with the rocky industrial salt as fast as they could. Jack gathered all the weapons and ammo he could find. He handed Cass a rifle and distributed three more among the most able bodied of the tourists. Other survivors were stacking furniture and broken rubble as a rough barrier. Fawn was busy handing out water, pausing intermittently to admire her new hero, and lover, Jack.
Cass picked up Talin's head and handed it to Fawn. "Take him inside and give him a hand if he needs it… Sorry Talin, no pun intended. Do whatever he says…he’s gonna save us." Fawn just stared at the severed head for a moment.
"Hello, my name is Talin." He said, with his most charming smile, "What's yours?"
The smile calmed her down, "umm…hi, I'm Fawn," She held up a water bottle, "Are you thirsty?"
The
magic circle was only two thirds done… but the next wave of extra-dead zombies had arrived. Cass appeared calm, but she was just too numb to register any more shock.
Cass watched the creatures shuffling across the lawn towards the compound. Some of them were surprising agile and quick. "Those are the cemetery zombies! Hurry up people!" She looked down at Talin, "We're lucky it took them so long to get here."
"Maybe they stopped for lunch."
The wave of zombies began to pick up speed, in response to the shouting and barked commands. They began to build a momentum like an oncoming stampede.
"Christ, they're running." Cass said nervously.
"Okay," Jack said to his shooters, "All you can do is slow them down, so aim for their legs. Use short bursts and hit the kneecaps if you can. But don't waste any ammo." The horde came within range, "Fire!"
The first shots were effective. Cass shot the legs out from under at least two while Jack hit three. The other shooters missed but kept firing. The barriers of furniture and rubble slowed the zombies down … but only for a few moments.
"We finished the circle!" Shouted a middle aged balding guy. He looked like he was having the worst mid-life crisis on record.
Cass, Jack and the shooters quickly fell back into the dining hall, barricading the door behind them. Talin began the incantation as the zombies bashed at the doors and windows.
Cass had a horrifying thought, "What if they're inside the circle when the spell is completed?"
Talin just continued muttering the spell, louder with each passing sentence.
A zombie ran headlong into a floor length window shattering the glass. Jack opened fire, shooting its legs out from under it. Another raced in behind it and pounced on Cass. They fell to the ground in a tangle of tanned and decaying flesh as they wrestled furiously. Its hands clasped around her windpipe. Cass felt herself becoming weaker, losing the battle as she did her best to keep it’s gnashing teeth away from her.
Talin's voice reached a crescendo and stopped, "It is complete." He said.
Cass was barely conscious when the zombie suddenly relaxed its grip. It stared at her for a moment…or would have if it still had eyes, until, in a rasping croak it said, "ahh…thank you," as if in relief. Then it went limp.
The other zombies that had entered the circle weaved unsteadily and then collapsed as well.
Cass examined her opponent's body, "It’s dead… again. I mean really dead…like supposed to be dead…oh you know what I mean."
Jack looked out the window, watching in relief as the zombies outside the circle began to wander off into the jungle, "They're leaving," He shouted to the heaven’s as well as to the assembled crowd.
There was tremendous excitement until Talin chimed in.
"The circle makes us more or less invisible to them…but there is no need to tempt fate… So please keep it down!"
The survivors complied.
Fawn raced over to Jack, throwing herself around him with all her might. “Oh Jack, we made it!”
Jack was surprised, as he actually felt his heart skip a few beats with her embrace. She was a cute kid, and truth be told he realized he had actually developed something of a bond with her. Maybe it was just the whole zombie thing that had kind of thrown them together, or maybe there really was something there…
He hugged her back , kissing the top of her head, “Yeah, looks like we are going to be alright after all.” Maybe more than alright, he thought as he held her tight, caressing her back and nuzzling her to him.
Cass picked up Talin's head and cradled it in her lap.
She looked at him and smiled, "How long does the spell last?"
"As long as the circle remains intact we are safe." Talin replied.
Cass was beyond exhausted. It had been a hellish night, but they were finally safe, thanks to a circle of salt. She looked outside and did her best to smile. Surveying the carnage she knew they had paid a heavy price. It had been an insane night. Scores of tourists and soldiers had died, and then come back. Some of those were just so much hamburger, while many were even now wandering the surrounding jungles in search of human flesh. She had not had time to even think about the safety of the other villages on the island. They would be at the mercy of the horde. And then there was the whole my-boyfriend-is-just-a-severed-head thing to contend with. But she was confident that with his magic they could remedy that as well. They just had to bunk down for the night. With the new day they would figure out their next move. At least for now they were safe.
Then the first drops of rain began to fall… thin rivulets of water were already coursing across the earth as it quickly turned into a downpour.
THE END
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Table of Contents
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Muriel looked out across the loch as the sun began to set over the mountains. Even though winter had yet to arrive around Inverness, the air was crisp and the chill seemed to rattle gently through her bones. She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. She had always loved her home and this moment was no exception. The beauty surrounding Cawdor Castle was incredible, the mountains, the lush greens of the land and the deep loch that was laid out before her always took her breath away.
Behind her, in the distance and coming from deep within the forest, she was aware of the sounds of her brothers and father playing with their swords. They clashed their steel together and laughed as if they didn’t have a care in the world, even though Muriel knew the real reason behind why the boys were being trained was definitely not funny. Clan Calder was at risk like many other of the highland families that were scattered around Scotland. The bigger and more powerful clans were trying to claim them and take over them all. Muriel shuddered at the prospect of a war and bit her bottom lip. The cold had turned it dry and she wet it with the tip of her tongue and felt the icy chill bite at her again.
“Back to the castle,” she whispered to herself as she turned on her heel and wrapped an arm around her horse’s neck before she hoisted herself up and sat astride it. The beast had been a present for her thirteenth birthday and they had grown up side by side over the years, their love and deep bond strengthening with each passing day. She had named him Hugo after the ancestral legend of how their clan had come to be, started by a French knight who had settled there and begun the Thane of Calder. Hugo had grown into a strong and powerful beast, and was one of the finest horses within the entire castle. Muriel was honored to be able to call him hers and each time she climbed up onto his back and dug her heels into his side, she knew that he accepted her and wanted to be her steed.
She kicked her heels against him and he picked up his pace into a gallop. Muriel clutched tightly onto his mane as they approached the forest and the sound of her brothers and father came closer. As Hugo slowed and they trotted slowly into the forest and between the trees she smiled as she saw her youngest brother Hamish standing tall and proud with their father’s sword, a piece so big it dwarfed him in size.
“I think you may need one of your own, Hamish,” she smiled warmly. “Something tells me that will be hard to take into battle.”
Hamish smiled boyishly and tried to lift the huge hunk of steel high over his head, failing with his trembling arms which brought it crashing down into the soft, moist earth.
“But I’m a big lad now,” he said triumphantly. He pushed his hands sturdily into his hips and looked at her challengingly. Her father laughed with a hearty roar and slapped the lad on his back before they both made their way over to Muriel and her horse at the clearing’s edge.
“It’s late,” her father said. “You should have been back at the castle hours ago.”
Muriel nodded sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.
“No place for women out here at night,” he father said, “It’s not safe.”
“Och, I know pa,” she said. “But I lost track of time.”
“Back now,” he emphasized sternly but without anger. “Your mother will be worried sick.”
Muriel nodded and turned Hugo around, ready to begin their walk back to the castle gates. Her brothers all let out low chuckles and she wanted to turn around, jump down and punch the lot of them, but she knew it was pointless. She could easily be just as good a warrior as them, when the time came… but because of her sex she was destined to be cast aside and married off to a worthy suitor just to keep alliances sweet.
She stuck her tongue out at her brothers before she dug her heels into Hugo’s side and they galloped back out across the valley and towards Castle Cawdor. Muriel, the only female offspring of the Calder’s, had lived a sheltered life up until this point, but she knew in her bones it was all about to change. It wasn’t just her father training the boys, or him insisting she wasn’t beyond the walls of Cawdor after nightfall, there was something hanging in the air. She could tell there was a storm coming. News reached them from the peasant boys every so often, stories of other castles that had fallen, whole families wiped out and the bloody trail that was headed in their direction. And even though her mother, father and any of the other elders would deny it… she could sense something was coming for Cawdor that none of them would be able to prevent without an army.
As Hugo’s hooves clattered across the drawbridge and the guards helped her down before leading him away to his stable for the night, Muriel vowed that she would never be as secretive with her own children. Whoever her husband turned out to be, she would insist that they were a real family, open, honest and full of love. This above all else, is what she craved. And she knew that if she wanted it enough, one day she was sure to get it.