Bill tried to push backward but it was useless, there was too much weight on top of him. He shivered at the idea of the man's teeth on top of him but nowhere near as much as the thought that those maggots were crawling out of him. He didn't need to be a college graduate to know that there was something seriously fucked up about all of this. He pleaded with the man because he was out of options and never in his life had he wanted the ability to be standing and running as much as this moment right now.
Bill pleaded, "For the love of Jesus can I get you some help or something? What the fuck is wrong with you? I want to get you whatever help that you need, just tell me what is wrong with you."
There was no answer of course and those were Bill’s last words because in seconds he would not have the necessary body parts to produce speech. The light grass beneath him turned dark red with blood soaking the grass pouring down both sides of his neck. Bill’s legs started convulsing as the blood loss became terminal. His hands, which were gripping the man’s chest slowly slid away and fell to the ground. The dead who had been ripping his neck to pieces bent down gripping his nose. The teeth that he had left and had not been knocked from their place by Bill and his flashlight were busy pulling the nose and making him look like someone who had been rotting for years himself. All of this damage had been done in a matter of minutes.
*****
Matt moved in the tall grass walking until he found a spot that was short enough that he could take a leak without having to worry about it dribbling down the grass and back down onto his feet. He slammed the last of his beer and threw it into the grass in front of him. He had almost forgotten about the worry he had been putting himself through. He knew the minute he was done with this that he could drop the truck off and go home and put this day behind him. He did hope that it would be possible the bar would still be open in town because he had an endless supply of cash for the night and he planned on investing a good portion of it into the deterioration of his liver.
He leaned back staring up at the stars as he shot a line of piss into an arc landing many feet away. He shook it off zipping and hoping that they were close to being done. Matt stopped at the truck grabbing a flashlight and getting two masks so they could go up and check on the progress. He found what he was looking for and walked over staggering in the dark. He hit the flashlight staring and when nothing came from it cursed it.
"Piece of damn shit, God forbid those truck drivers keep a stupid ass fresh set of batteries in it."
He stared down at it hitting the metal tube against his hand. The battery lined up just right and it came to life the bright light blinding him. He dropped it closing his eyes and seeing blinding bright stars.
“Holy shit you could say that worked.”
He slid on the mask carrying Bill’s in his hand looking left and right not seeing him anywhere. He whispered, “Bill, Bill where the hell are you? Quit screwing around man.”
He walked up top looking for him. He was so focused on finding Bill that he didn't see the hands pushing up out of the dirt or the sunken in ground that went across the cemetery from those who had already pushed out from their eternal resting places.
Matt said, "Where the fuck is he? I'm gonna kill him if he is screwing with me. I don't have time for this shit."
Matt walked slowly around seeing nothing. When he wasn’t sure what else to do he started walking back toward the truck. He saw Bill’s feet coming out from a brush pile and started laughing.
He yelled, “You drunk son of a bitch, good God man. We only split a case of beer, hell I still wanted to hit the bar after this. You can’t hold your liquor for nothing. Let me guess you forgot to eat today.”
He kicked at his feet still not focusing on him he was laughing too hard at him. He ran the flashlight up the length of the hose to the top of the cemetery grounds. Matt saw that there wasn't anything coming out of it.
"Hallelujah, we are done. Get up you lightweight and let's get out of here. You know damn well if we go driving the truck back in and you go staggering out the security guard is going to go and tell Phelps and that's if he isn't sitting there waiting to see us come back making sure we did what we were supposed to do. Come on man get up! You just need to be cool for a few minutes man."
When Bill didn’t respond Matt growing impatient kicked his leg hard. His fuse was getting pretty short at this point. When Bill still didn’t respond he finally got nervous. He shone the light from his feet up slowly and after he got past his crotch his stomach turned making him half sick. Bill’s entrails were spread across the grounds and his head was hanging on by a thread of skin. Matt didn’t bend down to check his pulse because he knew there was no chance his friend was still alive. He was less worried about Bill and more concerned about the fact that he more than likely hadn’t done this to himself. He looked around trying to find whatever it was that had done this and when he couldn't find anything started to try and think things out. He went back to the truck reeling in the hose, the last bits of the remnants of the chemicals spilling out as the hose wound up.
Matt went back to Bill thinking that he was going to have to call the cops and that there was a killer on the loose or that there was quite possibly a wolf somewhere and it needed to be taken out. Matt was frantic and didn't know what he could do about it. He was losing his mind. When he ran back to Bill he was not there. He followed the line of entrails and blood. The trail that it was making was not something easily missed. Bill had not made it far and when he caught up to him the angle with which his head was hanging on to was the most unnatural thing he’d ever seen in his entire life.
"Bill, Bill you okay? What the fuck is going on?"
Bill turned around slowly the guts from his stomach hanging down by his feet. Matt backed away slowly a pair of hands gripping his shoulders and stopping his path. A second then third set gripped him and the weight from them falling forward as he tried to escape sent them all down into a pile. Matt screamed for help, there was none to be had and none that was going to come.
“Help me, help me please somebody!”
He spun on the ground as he tried to push himself backward. What he saw was men and women of different rates of decay. Matt found it weird that they were dressed in suits and dresses. The fact that they were looking like they were more ready for church than a mass feeding on him as the meal was making the stress and weirdness of the moment even stranger. One of the men fell rolling off of the pile and he could see the man's suit was slit up the back. The instant thought of sitting around with the old guys at coffee in the morning joking about needing new suits for church and those that were forced to go by their wives always saying, oh don't worry about the new suit when I pass you can just slit it up the back. Matt gripped at one of the women ripping her dress from her top down to her waist.
He didn't want to see what was clearly in front of him, but he saw an incision the kind that the mortician would have done once she'd been sent to the funeral home.
Matt said, "Yo-you-you are dead? What the hell happened to you?"
They, of course, didn't answer and he continued pushing away from them. The mouths were open wide some of their mouths had been sewn shut and those were having the hardest time opening their mouths as they got them to finally tear through the mortician’s yarn, Matt could see the lines hanging in their mouths. When he backed up far enough to be able to get up he made the mistake of forgetting the very important fact that Bill was sitting behind him originally and he ran directly into him. Matt tried pushing him away, but Bill was reaching out gripping for him. Matt was trying his best not to get his feet caught in the entrails. Matt hated to do it, but survival was the only thing ringing through his head. He punched Bill in the head twice the thin ligaments that were keeping it attached finally broke free. His large body toppled over to the ground where he lay still and did not get back up again, his head rolled many feet away. Matt watched it, half expecting that it was still going to be moving, but when it did not he felt a small sense of relief.
Chapter Seven
Good Times
It was a Friday night and the bar was packed with the regulars. There was no shortage of beer and whiskey. The few waitresses on shift were busy ducking and weaving in between the bar’s patrons. There was a heavy cloud of smoke and country music was blaring out of the neon jukebox, which could barely be heard over the men and women screaming in their own personal conversations.
A blonde haired waitress who knew how to get tips walked briskly to a table filled with Jude and the rest of his crew all four men were wearing identical army green shirts with the tree cutting name printed on the back.
She said, "You all ain't from around here are you? What are you doing in this neck of the woods? You guys on a team or something? Or are you looking for trouble?"
Chuck leaned back in his chair smiling from ear to ear, which was not the easiest thing to tell given the thick beard he had.
"We are from Iowa sweetheart. We are always up to trouble, we are kind of a team we work together and are down here picking up a few extra bucks in between jobs at home. Why are you looking for something special?"
Chuck raised his hat winking his eyes up and down and she just laughed setting the fresh beers on the table.
She said, "Honey if I was looking to hook up with someone at this bar it sure as hell wouldn't be you."
She looked at Jude and gave him a smile that they all believed was the one you needed to get from her if you wanted to get with her.
Chuck said, “Go fucking figure.”
Jude said, “I hadn't even said anything to her yet.”
Chuck said, "Does it matter if you say anything or not? The son of a bitch doesn't even have to try, and ladies just seem to fall over him. And then once they get to know him and find out about his past then the son of a bitch is as good as gold. It's just a shame that he's too dumb to take any of the offers up."
The waitress leaned on the table resting her elbows and giving all the men behind her a view to not soon be forgotten.
She said, “What is this back story that just guarantees you all the lovely ladies?”
Jude said, “I don't really want to get into it tonight. We are celebrating since we just got done cleaning up this town of all the wood and we are going to head home tomorrow.”
Chuck chimed in, “Oh he only acts shy, he just hasn't started drinking any whiskey yet. Once you get him a little liquored up he'll start talking to you and then you will find out about his sweet little boy Patrick that is at home with his aunt and how Jude is doing these things to help make ends meet and to give him a better life blah blah blah blah, same old shit.”
Jude looked over at Chuck taking a sip of his beer bottle and shaking his head, he said, "Do I need to break this bottle over your head? It can't possibly make you stupider right? You know it is fortunate for you that I am not a gambler, I couldn't take that chance of it making you worse."
Pete and Roger both cracked up laughing, they enjoyed nothing more than the bickering between the two and it made the time on the roads even faster because of it.
Pete said, "I don't think you can make Chuck any worse. God wouldn't do that to us he is too kind. Chuck just gets a little upset that those offers from beautiful ladies like yourself don't ever seem to fall in his lap to put it nicely."
The waitress smiled even wider at Jude and bent down resting her elbows on the table, giving the men behind her a even better view of what they had been looking at all night. She said, “So why is it that he is home with his aunt?”
Chuck started to open his mouth, but Jude hit him in the side with a quick elbow. This instantly gave Chuck reason to reconsider the words that were about to come out of his mouth. Jude said, "My son Patrick is at home with his aunt his mom got sick and we lost her a few years ago."
Chuck could see the lady's eyes melting and her lip quivering just a little bit and could also tell that if Jude desired it that they would have a long and probably loud night together. The biggest reason Chuck hated the idea of this was because Jude was his roommate and he did not like sleeping in a large van that smelled heavily of gasoline and oil.
She put her hand to her chest shaking her head and said, “You poor, poor, baby.
”
When Jude held up his hands to let her know he was okay she grabbed his right hand clutching it to her breasts still shaking her head and making the other three men at the table wish with everything in their heart that they were Jude.
Jude said, “It's okay, it's been two years since she passed and I am
not
over her and still love her very much but it has gotten a little easier with time. Her sister has made things much smoother by helping us out. She has been living with us since we lost her.”
She squeezed his hand even tighter into her chest, the men just stared with mouths open. Chuck held his chest gripping a soft pack of smokes and shook one free lighting it up murmuring something about how life just isn't fair.
Pete said, “What is that you're complaining about?”
Roger cut in before Chuck could reply and said, “I think he’s complaining that he hasn't lost his virginity yet.”
Everyone including the waitress burst out in laughter. Chuck grabbed his beer and gave a quick salute, which as he brought his hand down gave a wave of the finger to the group.
Chuck said, "You would only be so lucky to see my list. I'm going to make my way around the bar. There are plenty of people that I can get abused by beside you assholes."
Roger said, “Don't leave unhappy.”
Chuck smiled adjusting his collar setting his sights on a brunette on the other end of the bar shooting pool and said, “Don't you worry about me I'm going to be just fine, I won't leave unhappy tonight, don't you all worry about me.”
Roger was laughing so hard it was nearly impossible to make out the words, but he tried to say, “We aren't worried about you. We are worried about her.”
Jude said, "You make sure by the grace of God if by some miracle you get laid tonight that you have your ass back at the motel at the crack of dawn. We have a four-hour ride ahead of us and I don't think you want to have to worry about walking that entire way do you?"
Chuck said, “You don't have to worry about me because there's no way in hell you're going to leave in my van asshole.”
Jude laughed pulling his hand back out of the cleavage and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that's Shaw's van."
Chuck said, “Yeah but I have to pay for the gas. And we can't always get gas with the shortage so you should be damn happy I had that extra cash on me when it was there and we had to refill on the ride down.”
Jude said, “Um I don't think you remember how everyone split that gas and I think you had to borrow from me. You probably don't remember that do you?”
"Well I guess your memory is shit, you just don't realize it. You poor man. You have fun with the waitress here, you might want to make sure he wraps it up honey. God knows where he has been."
Jude shook his head and held up his hands. The waitress cozied up next to him hugging him and kissing his cheek and licked his ear.
She said, "Oh I'm not worried about you sweetheart. I think you're going to be a real good time."
Jude reached a hand behind her patting what everyone wished they had their hands on. He said, “What time are you getting off tonight beautiful?”
She said, “You finish out your bill and get your boys a new waitress and we can leave right now.”
Pete dropped his beer crashing it on the floor breaking the bottle. Jude looked at him and said, “I’ll pay you back my share in the morning?”
Pete said, "I don't know it depends, are you going to give me any of these details?"
The waitress Kindra stroked a finger from Pete’s Adams apple to his chin smiling and said, “He can tell you anything that he wants to sweetheart, there ain't nothing that I'm ashamed about what I'm going to be doing to this here man.”
Roger stared jealously at Jude and said, “I really hate you sometimes. I don't mean that in a nice way like you know oh I hate you, I mean I fucking hate you, your life is only what some people dream of.”
Pete leaned over and said, “Dude, he lost his wife, why don't you take it a little easy on him.”
Roger said, "I don't know maybe cause he's about to have his brains utterly fucked out."
Jude went to open his mouth, but the waitress put a red fingernail across his lips. She smiled nodding and said, "Oh I'm going to fuck his brains out alright. You boys have a good night now don't go knocking if the rooms a rocking."
Jude just stared at her wondering if Patrick would like this town. He pushed up from the table handing the van keys to Pete but not yet letting go of them.
He said, “Have you had too much to drink Pete?”
Pete smiled and crossed his arms shaking his head no and said, "Fuck yes I have. I'm shit faced."
Jude said, "We need to take the van home it's our only way there you do realize that right? Do not crash it. Shaw would not be paying us. You make goddamn sure you go nice and slow and don't go getting your dumb ass pulled over and thrown in jail. If I have to spend a week's worth of pay to bail your ass out I'm going to take it out of your pay when we get back. After giving you the longest painful ass-kicking you've ever had."
Roger said, “Don't worry about it Jude I will make damn sure that we get home safely.”
Pete said, “You have got to be shitting me right, you've been drinking longer than I have. How the hell are you going to make sure that we get home safe?”
Roger smiled confidently and said, "Because if you start to head toward the van I'm going to smack you upside the head dammit. You and I can stumble our asses back to the motel, we won't get in any trouble."
The waitress just smiled as her hand disappeared beneath the table and said, “Jude honey you sure you don't want to stay with your friends here?”
Jude jumped a foot he could tell it was going to be one hell of a night to remember. He shook his head no almost looking like a crazy man and said, “Don't worry about me I think I am going to be in very, very good hands tonight.”
The waitress leaned in again driving him insane licking his ear biting on it and said, “Oh sugar you're going to have a good night and a good morning. Come on let's get on out of here.”
Jude smiled to his friends. He left looking over he saw Chuck in the corner and it was not hard to tell he was definitely being shot down. Jude waved to him as he left and Chuck returned the wave with the middle finger shaking his head in disgust.
Pete said, “Are you sure that we can’t just drive this bad boy?”
Roger said, “It's less than a mile back to the hotel let's just walk. I am pretty sure that Jude was not kidding when he said he would make us pay him back if he had to bail us out again. We can meet him in the morning and we can all walk back. It won't take more than a half hour, otherwise maybe we just get up early and we can have it back before he knows it.”
Pete tilted his head a little watching Roger’s mouth move and said, “You know there's about four or five of you right now. It might not be the worst idea in the world if we just walked back. It's a nice night out at least and I never get along with the police.”
Roger laughed agreeing that he too was shit faced and neither of them needed to drive. Chuck walked over asking them what the plan was.
Roger said, “To tell you the truth Chuck I don't really have too many plans, I am pretty confident that I should go to the bathroom and puke for at least five minutes and then it would probably be a good idea if we started our walk home.”
Chuck said, “What you are trying to tell me is that you're giving up on getting laid tonight?”
Roger and Pete both nodded. Roger said, “I never thought I had a chance in the first place man. Besides it's going to be a long ass ride home tomorrow, and there is a good chance that we can't rely on Jude to get a good night's sleep and drive us home.”
Chuck said, “Yes I am pretty confident that I hate him just a little. I love his kid but God I hate him. I hope he catches something that he needs a shot for and makes it really painful when he needs to piss.”
Pete said, “Isn't that the kind of lady that you usually end up with?”
Chuck stared around the bar for a moment and said, “You guys go ahead I've had my fill of assholes for the night.”
He picked up his beer leaving yet again from his friend’s table. He stumbled past two men dressed alike and both carrying thermoses. He staggered into them and said, "Excuse me, fellas, I think I over did it tonight."
The men made sure he was standing upright and the taller of the two patted him on the shoulder and said, “You gonna be able to get wherever it is that you’re headed to man?”
Chuck nodded his head drunkenly, “Yep I won’t have any issues sir, seeing how the fact that I don’t have any idea where it is I'm going once I get out of here.”
The man said, “You need a ride?”
"Nah you boys look like you got better shit to do than give me a ride. My roommate is shacking up with some hot little thing anyways and he's going to be busy for at least - well I don't know how long, I just know that if it was me I'd take a couple rounds on that ride if you know what I mean. So I figure if I take my sweet time stumbling home that maybe I can miss the marathon and just pass out when I get back to the motel on the other side of town."