Authors: William Kenney
"Shit! Hurry! In the back door!" he called out as they reached the back of the building and turned the corner. The back door was slightly ajar and the man threw it open, allowing Bo and Klaus to slip inside as he fired a few more rounds. Zombies were now converging from all directions, attracted by the gunfire and the shouting.
The man managed to close the door as the monsters reached it, catching two decaying hands in it as it closed. The fingers were severed and fell to the floor, still twitching even after the man stomped on them several times with his heavy boots.
Klaus fell against the wall and dropped to the floor, eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"Well, welcome to Jasper's Jug, ya'll. I'm Jasper. I own the place," said the man, removing his camouflaged hat and jacket. His face was deeply wrinkled and covered in age spots, his ears far too large for his head.
"Name's Bo. This is Klaus."
"Nice to meet ya," said Jasper, cringing as zombies battered the back door like the world's worst hailstorm. "What's wrong with yer friend? Klaus, is it?"
"Yeah..." answered Bo. "Not sure. Started just a few minutes ago. Sick or something."
"Hmmm... wait... he wasn't bitten out there, was he? Is that motherfucker turnin' into one of those things?" Jasper said, backing away anxiously.
Bo stepped back as well, staring down at the fading Klaus, unsure.
"Check 'im, man! check 'im fer bites!" shouted Jasper, gripping his shotgun tightly.
"Hell naw..."
"Well, I'm not doin' it. He's yer friend. You don't check 'im, he's goin' back outside. I ain't havin' it, friend. I knew I should've just left ya'll out there. Dammit to Hell!"
Bo put his hands out.
"All right, all right! I'll check 'im!" said Bo, kneeling next to the incoherent Klaus. There was so much blood and filth on Klaus's clothes that it was impossible to tell if he was injured. Klaus moaned and coughed, his head listing to one side.
"Klaus, brutha... I'm gone take yo jacket off, all right?" Bo explained as he got his fingers under one slimy sleeve and began to pull. "Don't you go fuckin' trunin', dog. Ya hear me? Keep those teeth to yo damn self..."
"Wha- what are you- ?" Klaus mumbled, resisting Bo's efforts.
"Gone make sure you're cool, Klaus. That's all," Bo said as he got one sleeve off of his arm.
"I - I wasn't b-bitten... no.." Klaus said, very close to losing consciousness.
Bo jerked hard on the jacket and managed to wiggle the other sleeve away from Klaus. Along his right forearm was a shallow gash about six inches long that bled freely and appeared to be infected, the entire area bright red and swollen.
Bo jumped up immediately, wiping his hands on his pants.
"Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Is that a fuckin' bite?" he said as Klaus blacked out and fell onto his side, smacking his head against the floor.
Jasper raised his shotgun and pointed it at Klaus's head.
"I ain't takin' no-" he began, but Bo cut him off.
"No!" he screamed and pushed the gun to the side.
"What're you doin'? That fucker's gonna turn into one of those monsters! You wanna just wait for it to wake up and eat us both?" asked Jasper. "He ain't yer friend no more, I'll tell ya that!"
"No, no, just wait," Bo said in confusion. "What if it's not a bite? Maybe it's a scratch, ya know?"
"A bite turns ya into a zombie, right? Why wouldn't a scratch do the same damned thing?" Jasper asked.
"I don't know! I'm just sayin' we don't know fo sho!" Bo shouted. "Let's wait, lets wait. He might not turn. Maybe a scratch is different. Maybe it don't pass the sickness."
"My friend, I ain't gonna stand here and wait to get chewed on..." Jasper said, his finger tapping the trigger of his twelve-gauge.
"Come on, man. I'm just sayin' we don't know if he's gone turn. He's still a person, not a zombie, right?"
"Okay, what do you want to do, lock him up? Keep him restrained just in case? Throw his ass in the freezer over there and wait it out?" asked Jasper, raising one eyebrow. "Now, I agree we don't know what a scratch might do, if that's what it is, but I'd bet my balls it's all gonna end up the same."
"It just don't feel right to kill him on a guess..." Bo said, shaking his head. "Klaus said he won't bitten and... I believe that."
"Okay, whatever. Toss him in the walk-in. Door's right behind you. It ain't cold in there no more. Power's been out for some time," Jasper said, leaning his gun against the wall.
Together they dragged Klaus into the freezer, placing him gently on his back upon the floor.
"Old boy ain't been missin' many meals, has he?" Jasper joked with a smile. "Must be over three-fifty."
Bo frowned as he stared at Klaus. He watched as his hands and legs twitched and the sweat gleamed on his fevered forehead.
"You ain't missin' too many either, I'd bet," Jasper went on.
"What's your point?"
"Ain't got one. Just makin' small talk. Although... I guess that'd be
big
talk, wouldn't it? Heh, heh. Now... yer gonna help me empty some of this stuff."
Jasper pointed to the shelves against the freezer walls.
"If he turns and we have to lock him in here, we won't be able to get to any of this shit."
"Power's out," Bo replied. "This stuff gone be any good?"
"Some of it'll go bad. But, you see them cases of imported beer right there? That's some seriously good shit and I ain't about to lose that!"
As they transferred boxes out of the freezer, Klaus's symptoms grew worse, his convulsions and babbling shouts hurrying them along, their eyes always on his thrashing form.
"I don't know what's goin' on, man, Bo said. "I've seen suckas get bitten. They turned quick. This ain't the same."
"Well, if he ain't turnin', I think he's dyin'. I mean, look at 'im!"
"Maybe a bite turns you and a scratch just kills ya..." Bo thought out loud.
"Looked like a bite to me..." Jasper said, popping the top off of a beer.
"Klaus said he won't bit," said Bo, shaking his head.
"And you choose to believe a soon-to-be zombie?" Jasper asked, wrinkling his brow as he took a sip.
"I ain't known him long, but he's a good guy," Bo said.
"If you say so. All I know is if he turns, I'm blastin' him in the face. That's all there is to it."
"If he turns, I'll help ya blast 'im," Bo agreed.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," Bo said. "Once they turn, who they were is gone. If he becomes one of those things, Klaus is dead."
"Good enough," said Jasper. "Here, have one. It's German. Damned good."
Bo caught the can as Jasper tossed it, then took a seat on the floor a few feet from Klaus.
"So, yer waitin' here until ya know?" Jasper asked. "Wish I had friends like that. My friends would throw my ass out the door."
"Just feels wrong to abandon him. I'll wait here 'til it's over."
"All right. I can't argue with that. I'm goin' up front and - no offense - but I'm lockin' the door between here and there. Just in case he transforms into one of those dead fucks and eats yer ass."
"Don't blame ya," said Bo. "and thanks for the beer."
"Yer welcome. There's more where that came from if you make it out of here."
Bo nodded and Jasper left, closing the door behind him.
With Jasper gone, the sounds that Klaus was making became all the more disturbing, moans and screams, spittle spraying from his lips. His legs kicked out sporadically, striking the nearby shelves and sending boxes toppling to the floor.
"Diane? Diane! You're coming apart! Fuck... so cold..." Klaus muttered, his words suddenly very clear. "Why... why is it so dark in here?"
Bo took off his jacket and threw it over him. Klaus pulled it tight against his chest, his teeth now chattering.
Hours went by, Bo sitting his silent vigil, head in his hands as Klaus's feverish tirade went on. It had to end soon. It simply had to.
Something brushed against Bo's leg and he awoke with a start to see Klaus standing above him, staring down with red-rimmed eyes.
"Shit, fell asleep!" Bo said, scrambling to his feet. "Klaus, you okay?"
Klaus tilted his head, unblinking.
"Aw, shit... Klaus?" Bo said, slowly reaching behind him for the gun in his belt. "You okay, brutha?"
Klaus's eyes opened wide and he screamed, the echo bouncing around the freezer. Bo pulled the gun and slowly brought it up in front of him. Just then, Klaus became silent, his eyes returning to normal, a sudden recognition filling them. He shook his head, blinking his eyes repeatedly. He seemed incredibly confused.
"Bo?" he asked, staggering and falling to his knees. "Shit. What happened? We inside the liquor store?"
"Yeah, yeah, man," Bo said with relief and helped Klaus to his feet. "Brutha, I thought... I ain't gone say what I thought."
"How long was I out?"
Don't know. I fell asleep," said Bo.
"My God, I'm thirsty..." said Klaus, licking his lips. "I... I don't remember coming in here. Last thing I remember is that dumpster and fighting them off."
"Jasper let us in the back. It's his place," Bo explained. "I thought you were turnin', man. Fo real."
"Well, thanks for not shooting me, Bo," Klaus said with a smile as he examined the wound along his arm. "Guess this shows what a simple scratch can do. I had the strangest nightmares..."
Bo pulled Klaus to his feet and helped him to the freezer door, where they stepped out into the back room. All was silent now, only the slop sink's steady drip echoing in the small room. To their right was the locked door that led to the front of the store.
Bo knocked lightly and immediately heard footsteps coming toward them, then Jasper's voice.
"Zombies must have gotten in the back," Jasper said.
"It's all good, Jasper. Klaus is all right now. Can we come in?"
The lock rattled and the door swung open, Jasper standing before them with an odd expression on his face. His eyes glanced left then right rapidly as Bo noticed the new bruising along one of his cheeks.
"Jas-?"
Two figures suddenly appeared from either side of the doorway with pistols in their hands.
"Sorry, ya'll," Jasper said as the men roughly pulled Bo and Klaus into the room, stripping them of their weapons.
"You said you were the only one here, you old motherfucker," said one of them, a short and muscular man with a blonde crew cut and goatee. "I should shoot you for lyin' to me."
He put the barrel of his gun against Jasper's temple with a grin.
"What d'ya think about that?" said the other one, a chubby, red-faced young man, maybe twenty-five. "Just blast 'im, Miller. Why we need this grandpa anyway?"
Why
do
we need you, huh?" Miller asked of Jasper, shoving the gun against his head.
"Whoa, whoa," Bo said, hands in the air. "We got those things outside to worry about. Let's not do this, ya'll. You kill him and there be less of us to fight those things off, right?"
"Shut up, spook," Miller said, getting a laugh from his companion. "What you doin' in this neighborhood anyway? Come here to loot something?"
Bo bit his lip and shook his head in anger.
"Come on, man..." Klaus said, trying to calm the situation, while still suffering the after effects of his previous ailment. "You don't have to do this."
"Nah, I don't have to," Miller said. "But I want to. Survival of the fittest, right? I think I'm the fitterst one here. So guess who's gonna survive?"
"What do you want?" Klaus asked. "Why do you need to kill anyone?"
"Because there's no one around to stop me now. No more cops. They were the first to die," Miller said with a laugh.
Jasper swallowed hard, his neck craned far to one side from the force of Miller's gun.
"I kill all of you and I got a fuckin' lifetime supply of brew, man," said Miller. "Look around. The rest of the world can have their zombie apocalypse. I'll have me a party."
"Heh, heh. Only thing missin' is weed!" said the other one with a chuckle.
"Ha, right! You got any weed in this place, old man? Don't hold out on me? Mary Jane? Chronic?" asked Miller.
"No," said Jasper with a frown. "Just let us go, guys. You can have the store, I don't care. We'll just leave."
"Place is surrounded right now, you dumbshit," the red-faced boy said, pointing to the windows, now filled with the faces of the undead. They ran their tongues across the windows and pulled at the bars. "Unless you can fly, you ain't gotta chance."
Glancing out the window to the north, Bo noticed something above the heads of the zombies outside. In the window of the house next door, there was a white sign with a message scribbled across it in black magic marker.
Conor. Aiden. Trish.