Clifton Falls (5 page)

SEVEN
(WEDNESDAY)

Two female visitors to Clifton Falls were exploring the area at 9.00am the following morning. Last night’s freak avalanche of rain had pelted their car into submission and had chipped away the paintwork. So much water had fallen that it’d soaked the engine, causing the car to stall on the side of the country lane. The women had taken refuge inside it until the crazy weather had settled down. Now they hoped that while they spent a couple of hours hiking through the sodden grass fields, the engine would dry enough to allow them to proceed with their journey.

One of the women became uptight because she couldn’t keep up with the other person’s constant, pace setting strides, so complained about being left behind.
“Slow down, Charmaine, you keep walking too fast for me.” “Sorry, Claire, you should grow longer legs then you’d be able

to keep up.”
“Ha, ha, that’s very funny. Anyway, where are we going?” “I don’t know. Let’s keep walking for a few minutes then we can

stop and have some breakfast. What do you say?”
“Okay, but only for about five minutes, as I’m tired. I didn’t
sleep well because of all that banging from the thunder.” Claire and Charmaine were cousins looking for a little adventure
in their lives. They were sick of their normal, daily routines, so had
packed up to go on a road trip. However, their plan was failing fast
because they weren’t sure if they would be able to start the car
again. Furthermore, neither of them carried a mobile phone to
contact a rescue service. It was Charmaine’s idea to have a mobile
phone free zone during their timeout from people they knew and
Claire made sure she constantly reminded her cousin of this stupid
decision.
“Look, Claire, if you go on about a bloody phone again, I’ll leave
you here,” a frustrated Charmaine shouted.
“I’m only saying,” Claire replied, smirking as she did. Spread out across the still wet grass was a large log, so they
rushed over and sat on it. Backpacks were removed from shoulders,
unzipped, and hands reached inside to pull out leftover sandwiches
and half filled bottles of pop, but Claire’s eyes strayed over to her
left every few seconds.
“Are you okay?” Charmaine asked.
“I thought I saw something.”
“Is it still there?”
Charmaine peered over in the direction of where her cousin
stared.
“I can’t see it now, but I swear I saw something,” Claire replied,
becoming edgy.
Charmaine shrugged. She wasn’t easily frightened so if Claire
was trying to scare her, it wasn’t working. Charmaine grabbed her
cousin by the coat and pointed to the surrounding area. “Look
around you.” Claire scanned the area in front of her. “All around
here are animals of some kind,” Charmaine suggested. “Maybe you
saw a squirrel, a fox, or one of the other mammals that live here.
There are loads you know.”
“Who are you, Miss, presenter of the Animal Planet channel all
of a sudden?” asked Claire.
“Stop being sarcastic... I’m just making a point.” She gave Claire
a friendly nudge. “Now let’s eat, I’m starving.”
Closing in behind the girls was a repugnant looking, male
figure. The features resembled someone with leprosy. Decayed flesh
and loose skin dropped off the body as it walked. The clothing, or
what was left of it, was shredded after being eaten away, along with
parts of the body, by insects. One of the unidentified being’s eyelids
remained shut. Its top lip wasn’t there anymore and cigarette
stained molars showed advanced signs of infection and decay. The mystery being wasn’t even walking properly because the
left foot dragged along the grass. However, it somehow stayed
upright, but the movement resembled someone who was inebriated. The first person to be reincarnated as a living corpse was
Rodney Wilson. For the past six months he’d often been seen
walking the streets of the town. Rumours had spread that Rodney
had given up his home to sleep on the street. The local Chief
Inspector knew Rodney well so understood the story as to why he
was homeless, but the Inspector never discussed it with people who
didn’t need to know. Rodney had spilled the beans about his wife
leaving him. She’d taken the children with her and he couldn’t live
in his house at that time.
For the past few weeks there’d been no sightings of him in the
town so the Chief had checked the Wilson farmhouse to see whether
Rodney had returned. There’d been no sign, so assumed that the
farmer had come to his senses, packed some stuff and moved away,
but in fact, Rodney had lost the will to live, ending his own life at
the edge of the forest.
A weird groaning sound escaped from the mouth as the
uninvited guest closed in on the humans. This thing wasn’t going
over to ask the girls on a date.
“Claire. Did you hear that?”
The groans were faint, but still spooked the pair.
“Yes, I did. What kind of animal makes sounds like that?” Claire
produced a tiny smirk. “Maybe it’s a large bear and it wants a good
shagging?”
“Don’t be stupid, I’m being serious. What if it’s a dangerous
animal and is very hungry?” Was it Charmaine’s turn to be
worried?
Claire’s fear faded and she was now in a humorous mood. “If
it’s hungry then we can give it some crisps and an apple.” “Okay, the fun’s over. It’s time we moved on. We’ve been here
long enough.”
Charmaine now acted the part of a parent, making the decision
to leave the area as the moaning noises increased in volume. The owner of the voice seemed to be stalking the women,
choosing the right opportunity to close in without being spotted.
The cousins were too busy throwing food into backpacks to even
notice that this creature was nearing them.
Claire rubbed her nose as a revolting smell wafted through the
trees. The aroma hit hard like a piece of meat that’d been left in the
sun for a week. Before she could mention it to Charmaine, a
deformed hand reached over the log, gripping her shoulder. Both
girls turned to face the owner of the skinless, weightless limb and
screamed for help. They also thought the yelling would scare the
unwanted guest away. It didn’t work, as the zombie moaned even
louder, frightening the cousins to the point of panic.
Claire struggled to free herself from the clutches of the madman
so threw a punch toward the face of the freak. A nervous fist was
embedded into the right cheek. Her own features filled with shock,
but the adrenaline kept her from freezing. She removed her hand
from the crushed area, screeching loudly when she saw maggots
crawling all over it.
Charmaine vomited all over her backpack while Claire yelled
out even more, shaking off the wormlike insects, but she stepped
back, lost her balance and tripped over the other backpack. Charmaine should’ve helped but decided to leave, running as fast as she could in the direction of the car. Her plan was to find some help before the situation got out of hand. Charmaine heard Claire shouting out but her legs and brain wouldn’t work together on this. The petrified woman’s feet kept on going in the opposite direction
like she’d no control over them.
Claire tried returning to her feet but her left ankle had twisted
during the fall. She now ended up squarely on her backside in the
boggy, wet grass, as the madman clambered over the log, gaining
on her. She’d hoped this was the owner of the land, wanting to see
her off his property, but this thing in front of her didn’t appear to be
talking; it just groaned and slobbered insect-filled drool. “Fuck off and leave me alone. What have I ever done to you?
We’re very sorry if we stepped onto private property, mate.”
Claire’s hands, legs, and jeans were now soaked through with the
filth from the ground as she desperately did a crab-like walk to
escape the stranger. “But I swear, if you let me go I’ll never come
back here again.” As she spoke these words her voice became like
that of a frightened, lost child.
She did what all scared people normally did and cried, as the
stranger closed in. She kicked out at the beast, trying to knock it
over, but it was no use. Suddenly, it dived on her. She stretched out
her arms to stop the monster from landing on her body but couldn’t
avoid the torrent of underground insects spilling out of the recently
opened escape route on the zombie’s face. They dropped onto her
face and wriggled down her nostrils, forcing Claire to open her
mouth and gulp down anything landing inside it. This, and breathing in the stale, toxic fumes became a major problem for her. Now, becoming hysterical, she shook her head violently to release most of the maggots, but couldn’t avoid some of the mud stained, writhing, small critters from slipping beyond her tonsils and down
into her stomach.
The zombie wasn’t heavy as half of its insides had disintegrated,
but somehow Claire couldn’t find the power to push it away. It
ripped bony fingers down the side of her face, leaving behind a
large, deep, infected scratch as blood seeped through the stinging
wound. The smell from the red liquid excited the hunter and it
thrashed around, causing Claire’s arms to slowly give way. Her
eyes remained fixed onto the evil being closing in for the kill. Her
pupils captured images of the grotesque attack. Her face became a
picture of fear.
Claire let out an echoing scream. The zombie sank cannibalistic
teeth into her neck, and with a quick snap, the creature ripped away
a chunk of flesh. Blood gushed out, spraying onto the monster’s
face. The zombie tasted the sweet, dark-red liquid and liked it. It’d
yearned for this taste since being reborn into the world. This, along
with the desire for human flesh and brain tissue was all its kind
required to make them stronger, more deadly.
One bite wasn’t going to be enough for this starving beast so it
ripped at Claire’s neck again. Her eyes remained wide open when
she died. The zombie bit into her shoulder this time before growling
like a wild animal. After a few seconds sniffed the air then moved
away from the slaughtered, blood-soaked, fresh corpse. Charmaine stopped running and was now in two minds - was
she going to help her cousin or keep on looking for help, hoping
Claire was going to be okay? Sweat dripped off her as her eyes
constantly searched the forest for any sign of movement. “Claire, Claire. Are you okay? Please answer me?” These words belted out of her mouth for the next few minutes
but received no reply. Charmaine feared the worst, thinking
something had happened to her cousin. Tears rolled down her face
as thoughts of Claire screaming for help sent her on a huge guilt
trip. Panic crept in, and Charmaine now knew she was in danger if
she remained in the forest.
All the shouting had attracted the attention of the zombie and it
zoned in on the woman’s location. Viewable bloodstains and
chunks of flesh were still trapped between the creature’s teeth as it
staggered. Charmaine saw the zombie following the path she’d
taken but didn’t budge an inch. The sight reminded her of
Frankenstein’s monster. The zombie walked and talked just like the
mad scientist’s creation.
Was this somebody’s creation?
she wondered.
It closed in even more. This time she ran as fast as her legs
would let her and without looking back finally reached the vehicle. Within twenty minutes of leaving the car this woman had
witnessed a psychotic lunatic attack her cousin and now she was
desperate to escape the thing with the rotten face.
Charmaine fumbled around in her pockets, searching for the car
keys. “Shit, fucking shit. Where are they?” she screamed. Her memory had been affected by what was going on and she
was scared, shaking and sweating from fear. The fumbling ceased as
the keys were spotted still in the ignition. Charmaine tried the
handle on the driver’s side and it opened. Fortunately, the cousins
had been so eager to leave the vehicle after a disturbed night that
they’d forgotten to lock up.
She leapt into the seat, shut the door, locked it and turned the
key, but the car still wouldn’t start. Again and again she tried, but
still nothing. This was not the news she’d hoped for but at least she
felt safer inside the car. She decided to wait and see if somebody
would pass by to save her from this madness.
There must be farm workers around these parts. Perhaps my knight in
shining armour will appear on a tractor and save me from this madman
,
she thought.
It wasn’t romantic, but was the best offer she might get today.
She prayed for someone to rescue her.
Each window had been checked. There was no sign of
movement anywhere, but as a precaution all doors were locked.
Charmaine leaned over the passenger seat to look in the glove
compartment. The frightened woman searched for anything that
could be used as a weapon in case the weirdo attacked her. She heard a shuffling sound coming from outside the vehicle
and hoped it was a rabbit or another small animal.
That strange man couldn’t be this close already. I’m pretty certain he
wasn’t around a few moments ago
, she thought.
Charmaine remained with her head down for another couple of
minutes but was frightened that the sound of her racing heartbeat
would give her location away.
The shuffling sound faded. Charmaine slowly lifted her head to
peer through the driver’s side window, but to her horror, staring
back at her was a revolting, rotting image of a being, with what was
left of a face pressed against the glass. Saliva drooled from the
mouth. Birds, or maybe insects had tried dislodging the eye hidden
behind the piece of rotting skin, but it somehow remained intact. Charmaine bounced up and down in the seat, fear for her life
overtaking other emotions. Again and again she screamed, just like
her cousin had done only a short while earlier. She could easily
escape out of another door but couldn’t do it. The zombie had her
trapped in some kind of trance, reducing her to a scared girl that’d
frozen just by looking into its crazed eyes. The screaming
aggravated the zombie so it briskly swung a hand toward the
window. Glass particles scattered over Charmaine’s face and body
as an insect filled palm clenched her hair, gripping with an almighty
force. With hands covering her face, the tearful, scratched woman
screamed even louder than before. Fingers slapped at the creature’s
arm. It was a desperate attempt to gain freedom, but it was no use,
the thing wouldn’t let go.
Suddenly, the hand released the hair, and Charmaine did
something that was probably going to be done back to her. She bit
deep into the beast’s colourless hand, drawing lifeless blood. She
thought this would work but it angered the monster even more. Not
only was she left with a rotten, maggot taste on her tongue, just like
her cousin, but the crazy attacker was now snatching at her hair
again, gripping even tighter than before. The arm retreated through
the window, dragging Charmaine’s hair with it. There were sharp points of glass still intact around the edges of the hole but even though the monster was cutting its own limb to shreds, it wasn’t letting go of this vociferous human. Charmaine now saw the jagged pieces of glass from an uncomfortable position, aware that she was about to endure terrible pain. As the monster pulled Charmaine’s head through the broken window her right eye punctured on a piece of bloody glass. Dark liquid seeped out, sticking to her cheek. She tried screaming again but nothing came out this time. All she