The Living Dead Boy (12 page)

Chapter 21

Josh yanked on the pulley system his dad had rigged up between his bedroom and the tree house. It was taut and strong.  He had never used it for anything heavier than his portable stereo, but he knew his dad tended to overkill when it came to building anything. The tree house was rock solid and safe, so it made sense that the pulley system was also.  The thick rope was rough against his hand as he pulled on it again.

“You can’t do this,” Corina said from behind him.

Down below, his mother was in a frenzy, slamming her hands against the tree.  Luckily, at some point she had dropped the gun so he didn’t have to worry about it going off.  He had considered dropping the food cans on her head, hoping to stun or kill her, but realized it wouldn’t work. Instead, they had packed the food into a pillow case to take with them.

“Yeah, I can.  I always do good with the rope climb at school.”  Josh wasn’t about to be deterred by any naysayers. His plan was scary, but it would work.  He knew it.

The backyard continued to be free of zombies, except for his mother.  They were out of view of the swarm in the front of the house, but he was aware that once he was on the rope, he could draw more.  It would take the zombies a while to get around the fence and to the gate, but he would have to be very, very fast.

“As soon as I get her to the back door, one of you has to run and get the gate shut.  We need to keep the yard zombie free so we can escape when Dad calls.” Josh ducked back behind the black plastic and looked at the other kids as they gathered around.  “Keep out of sight.  Don’t make any noise.  As long as they don’t know we’re here, we can keep the yard clear.”

“I’ll close the gate,” Troy decided.  “I’m fast.  I can do it.”

“Are you sure?  I can do it,” Corina offered.

“No, I can do it.  My brother opened it.  I should close it.”

“As soon as she gets into the house and that gate is shut, close the back door, trapping her, okay?”

“Yeah, Josh. Got it.”

“I’ll close the back door,” Corina said firmly.  “That way Troy won’t have to risk her turning back.”

“Okay,” Josh agreed, “but make it fast and get back up into the tree house.  Once I’m done getting her to follow me into the house, I’ll get her trapped in the kitchen, run back up the stairs, and come back across the line.  Then we keep quiet until my dad calls.”

“The zombies might see you on the line,” Troy said.

“I know, but I think the branches will keep me hidden.”

Josh didn’t want to tell them what his alternate plan was.  It would upset them too much and he needed them focused. Rubbing his slick palms on his jeans
, he took a deep breath. Kneeling down in front of Drake, he hugged the little guy. Drake wrapped his arms tightly around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“We’ll be with dad soon, little dude.”

“Okay,” Drake answered.  His little face was tear stained, but his eyes looked clearer.  “Don’t be a monster like Mama.”

“I won’t,” Josh answered. “Obey Corina, okay?”

“Okay.”

Josh stood up and briefly hugged Yessica.  Sam gave him a hot, sweaty hug as well.  Troy gave him a fist bump.

“Take care, dude,” Troy said.

“You, too, Troy.”

“Good luck,” Corina whispered, then kissed his cheek.

Josh surprised her and kissed her mouth lightly. He blushed deeply at his action, but he didn’t want to die not knowing what it was like to kiss her.  It
was…nice.

Without another word, he pushed back the plastic door, grabbed onto the rope and scooted himself out of the tree house.  He quickly swung his legs up on the rope and began crawling along the trembling line toward the house.  It led straight  to his room and he knew the window was open.  He shouldn’t have any trouble getting inside.

The rope creaked as he edged along it, hand over hand, foot over foot, dangling over the snarling zombie below. The tree branches swayed around him, leaves rustling softly with the morning breeze.   The agitated moans of the zombies beyond his house threatened to fill him with fear, but he fought it back.  Concentrating on the rope, he ignored the strain and pain in his joints and muscles as he slowly moved down the line.

The hissing and snarling of his zombified mother below him sent chills flowing down his spine.  If he fell, she would...

Josh fought back that thought.  It was useless now. He couldn’t be afraid.  He had to save his friends and his brother.

The rope gave little shudders as he moved, his slick hands sliding slightly as he gripped it.

“Keep moving,” he muttered to himself through clenched teeth.

Josh didn’t dare to look down or look toward the house.  He concentrated on
the rope and only the rope. He had seen too many movies to know that freaking out right now would be really, really bad.  If he saw the screws slowly coming out of the wood of the house, he would panic; if he saw the zombie below, he would panic; if he saw his friends watching him from the tree house, he would panic.  He had to keep focused and do his job.

The job his dad had given him.

He was going to save his little brother and his friends.

Josh’s head impacted hard with the side of the house and he gasped, his grip on the line almost giving.  His legs swung off the line and he slammed into
the house.  Below him, his zombified mother groaned and reached desperately up to him.  Beside her was another zombie.  It was Brad.

Arms burning, Josh pulled his legs up away from the snarling zombies and hooked them over the rope. This would be the hard part of his plan.  Releasing the rope with one hand, he quickly rubbed his hand against his jeans to dry the sweat from it.  Reaching out, he caught hold of the window sill.  It was rough and dry against this palm.  Once he was sure his grip was tight, he lashed out with his other hand as he let go of the rope with his legs.  The momentum swung him hard against the house, nearly knocking the air out of him. He managed to get his other hand hooked securely on the window sill.  He dangled there for a moment before scrabbling his feet against the clapboards of the house and pushing himself up.

Below, the two zombies groaned and beat against the house.  It took a little more work than he had anticipated to yank out the window screen.  His shoulders were screaming with pain and his legs quivered as he braced them against the house by his knees.  The screen came off with a small screech and fell over his shoulder onto the zombies below.  Daring to look down, he saw the zombies clawing at the house, unaffected by the  screen slamming onto their heads.

Pushing up with his legs, Josh slid his body over the window sill and into his room.  He landed on the floor at the end of his bed and took a deep breath.  His hands ached and burned from the rope and his knees hurt, but he was inside. Forcing himself to stand, he looked out the window and toward the tree house.  He could see that the plastic over the door was pulled back slightly and he suspected Troy or Corina was watching him.  Otherwise, it looked like it was empty and abandoned; just how he wanted it.

Stretching his limbs, he was relieved to feel he could move without limping.   Crossing his room, he picked up the heavy zombie killing bat he had gotten special permission from his dad to make.  It had big nails pounded into the wood and looked like a makeshift mace.  Holding it tightly in one hand, he opened the door and hurried into the hallway.

His heart beating hard in his chest, he looked down both short hallways in the upstairs part of the house. All the bedroom doors were closed and silence filled his home. Taking a deep breath, he started down the stairs.

When he had made his plan, he had not considered that maybe another zombie had gotten into the house when his mother had escaped.  Holding tightly to the bat, he felt sweat began to pour down his back and bead on his forehead.

At the base of the stairs, the door to the study was open, the guns in the gun cabinet out of reach and no help to him.  The entry hall to the side door was full of fishing and sporting equipment.  The door to the downstairs bathroom was closed.

He darted across the hall and quickly pulled shut the door to the study.  Breathing heavily, he forced himself to calm down.

The archway to the dining room beckoned to him, and as he stepped toward it, he cast a quick look down the entry hall to the front door.  It was empty.  Slowly, he stepped into the dining room and looked into the living room.

Empty.

He turned and moved toward the child gate still blocking the way to the kitchen.  He sidestepped the overturned chair and took a deep breath.  With shaking fingers, he reached out and pulled the child gate free.

The kitchen was dimly illuminated by the sunlight trying to press through the curtain at the single window over the sink.  He lightly banged the bat against the edge of the doorway to see if anything stirred.  The room remained still.

That left the laundry room.

That door was also open.  Josh looked around the kitchen again, just to make sure a zombified Rog didn’t jump out at him.  He was pretty positive that Rog had come into the house through the outside door and opened the laundry door. That was what had let his mom outside.  But of course, the back gate was open, so maybe Rog had run out after encountering the zombie version of Lynette.

Josh lifted his bat into an attack pose as he stepped into the laundry room.  The small room was empty of anything other than the washer and dryer and the small table his mother had used to fold clothes on.

The back door was open, revealing the beauty of the sun-dappled back yard.  It was a peaceful scene except for the two zombies wandering in from the back gate.

“Crap,” he muttered.

That made four zombies he had to lure inside. Slowly, he stepped toward the outside doorway.

“Mom, Brad,” he called out in a cracking voice.

His mother stepped sharply into view, startling him. He backed away from her, swinging his bat through thin air. She reached out with bloody, torn hands and pulled herself up into the house.  Brad was right behind her.  The two new zombies moaned loudly and staggered toward the house.

Josh backed further into the house, his bat at the ready. His original plan had been to trap his mother in the laundry room, but now there were four zombies to deal with and he realized he would have to lure them much deeper into the house.

His hands trembled with terror as he slowly stepped away from his shambling zombie mother.  Zombie Brad pushed at her, trying to get past her, but Josh’s dead mother shoved him back. The milky white eyes were devoid of all emotion, but her teeth clicked together with anticipation of Josh’s flesh as she drew closer.

Over her shoulder, Josh saw the other zombies pushing their way up into the house as Troy and Corina climbed down from the tree house.

Moving backwards, he tried not to stumble.  They moved through the kitchen, Josh a few feet in front of the staggering zombies. He pushed the stool his mom had used to get items up on the top shelves into her path.  She didn’t notice it until she tripped on it, falling into the stove.  Zombie Brad stumbled over her, crashing to the floor as the two new zombies pulled themselves into the kitchen.

Josh reached out and snagged the doorknob to the kitchen door, ready to slam it shut.  He had to be sure the back door was closed first or else the zombies would go right back into the yard and attack Troy and Corina.

Zombified Brad crawled on the floor toward him. Josh shoved the heavy cookbooks and flour tins off the counter onto his head.  The zombie version of his mother was tangled up with the stool and trying to walk toward him.  She fell again, kicking her feet.  The two zombies behind her were people Josh had never seen before. They moaned with hunger at the sight of him.

The house abruptly echoed with the sound of the back door slamming shut.  Relieved, Josh stepped back and shoved the kitchen door closed.

Brad’s dead hand stopped it.

Josh shoved it again, but the zombie’s body weight pushed on it.  Josh’s feet slid on the carpet as the door yawned back open.  Zombie Brad’s hand lashed out toward his foot and Josh leaped back.  He fell over the chair he had thrown the day before when he had been attempting to avoid his newly zombified mother’s pursuit.  Rolling over, he quickly tried to get his feet under him as the zombies spilled out of the kitchen toward him.

Chapter 22

The zombies snarled and groaned as they poured out of the kitchen.  The ones that had once been Brad and Lynette were on their hands and knees, but the other two zombies were on their feet and much faster.  Both were men, and they sidestepped the two zombies on the ground to lunge at Josh.

Josh got his feet under him and pushed off like a sprinter.  He almost dropped his zombie killer weapon as he skittered through the archway, heading for the stairs.  He felt the cold fingers of one of the zombies brush over his back as he ran and almost screamed in terror.

Hitting the stairs, he tripped again. Fear clawed at his insides, raked his brain, and stole all his breath from his lungs.  The two new zombies were right behind him. The one in the lead grabbed his foot.

Flipping onto his back, Josh grabbed his bat and swung it hard into the creature’s arm.  He heard and saw the bone in the arm shatter.  The zombie’s grip loosened enough for Josh to pull free and crawl up the stairs.  He could hardly breathe and his heart felt like it was about to explode. Reaching the top of the stairs, he looked back down to see the zombies struggling to get past the first few steps.  They were on their bellies where they had fallen and clawing at the stairs.  The other two zombies were back on their feet and heading toward the staircase.

Josh darted down the hall and flung open the door to Drake’s room.  He grabbed the rocking chair and dragged it back down the hall with him.  Pushing it down the stairs, he watched it slam into the zombies below. In a frenzy of fear, he dragged other pieces of furniture back to the stairs and sent them tumbling down onto the zombies below, making it even harder for the zombies to make any progress.  It took a few minutes and every chair and small table upstairs, but finally he was satisfied that they were pinned down and unable to move up the stairs.

Catching his breath, he realized he needed to do the one thing he was afraid of.  He had to check and make sure that his friends would have a clear path to the bus when his dad arrived.

Moving into his grandparents’ old bedroom, he ignored the musty smell and drew near the window. The curtains were drawn closed. He hooked his finger along the edge of the fabric, drew it back, and peered down.

What he had feared had happened.  Zombies were on their way to the alley to get into the backyard.  They had seen him on the rope and were coming for him.

The phone ringing beside him made him yelp and he snatched it, breathing heavily.

“Josh!”

“Corina, I’m okay, but-”

“They’re almost here.  They’re going to be here in ten minutes.  They had to go another way to get to Orange Street because the zombies from the highway are in town. You need to get back here.”

Josh looked down at the shambling creatures moving across the side yard of Corina’s home.  “I can’t. The zombies are moving to the back of the houses. They saw me.  I have to distract them.  You guys go.”

“Josh, no,” Corina wailed.

“It’s okay,” Josh said firmly though fear churned in his stomach.  “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I have to take care of you guys and my brother.  I can do this.”  He hung up the phone and felt tears in his eyes.

Twelve seemed too young an age to die, but he had already watched Arturo die.  Everyone seemed to think he was a hero. He knew that sometimes in the movies the hero had to die to save the rest of the people.

He shoved the window open and knocked out the screen. The zombies looked up at the commotion. They moaned when they saw him.

“Hey, stupid zombies!  I’m up here!  Not back there! Hey, stupid zombies!!”

The zombies nearing the alley turned slowly toward his voice.

“Hey, stupid dead guys!  Looky!  Up here!  I’m up here!”  He skirted around the bed and opened the other window, the one nearer to the front of the house. “Hey, look. Here I am!”

The zombies all moaned hungrily, reaching up toward him. Their dead eyes and terrible faces made him want to throw up, but he was too pumped full of adrenaline to stop now.

Running across the hallway, he opened up the window in Drake’s room and busted out the screen. “Hey, dead guys! I’m up here!”

The zombies moving down the other side yard turned toward him.  Eerily, they all raised their hands toward him and moaned.

Running back and forth between the two rooms, Josh drew the zombies toward the front of the house. Finally, he opened the windows in his parents’ bedroom and watched with relief as the shambling, smelly undead of his neighborhood moved away from the back of the house and his friends into the front yard.

Screaming until his throat felt raw, Josh kept the zombies’ attention directly on him.  His zombie killer bat in one hand, he kept thinking about his little brother and friends.  He had to give them a chance to survive or else he would have failed.

The phone kept ringing behind him and he ignored it. Josh knew it was Corina trying to stop him.  He had to keep the zombies paying attention to him at all costs.

It stopped ringing, then started again.

Josh was touched by her persistence.  He glanced over at the family photo next to his parent’s bed and Drake’s dinosaur, Rex, still lying on the bed where he had left it before leaving for daycare the day before. He had to do what he had to do.  He couldn’t let Corina stop him.

Now he would never know if she would be his girlfriend someday.

Finally, he picked the phone.  He wanted to say goodbye one more time.

“Don’t hang up!  We’re leaving.  You need to get out here,” Corina’s voice said urgently.

“Tell my dad I love him,” Josh answered.  “I’ll hold them off while you guys go.”

Josh slammed the phone down and ran down the hall to his grandparents’ room.  Looking out one of the windows, he could clearly see the alley and Orange Street.  Keeping behind the curtains, he saw a big green metro bus from the city of Austin slowing down as it neared the alley.   Below, his friends and little brother opened up the back gate and ran into the alley.   It was clear, thanks to his hard work, and he watched them run toward safety.

Zombies began to move toward the bus, the sound of its engine drawing them.  Dashing back to the front of the house, Josh leaned out of the window and began screaming. A chunk of the zombies moved toward the bus. Below him, he heard glass shatter as the zombies busted out the windows of the house.  They were coming for him.

Running back to the other room, he looked out to see his father pulling Drake into his arms and into the bus.  Troy climbed on next. Yessica suddenly ran toward one of the zombies.  Josh could hear her calling out for her father even from this distance.  To his amazement, Sam ran after her. Valiantly, Sam shoved a slow moving zombie away from the little girl, his weight adding enough force to knock it to the ground.  Then he grabbed the little girl’s hand and dragged her back to the bus.

Josh felt tears running down his face as relief filled him. His friends were almost away and safe.

Then, to his horror,  Corina turned and ran back down the alley, avoiding the few zombies shambling toward her.  He saw her raise her hand to her face just as the phone next to him went off.

He grabbed it.

“Corina, go back!”

“Get out of the house now!  I’m getting Brad’s bike!”

Josh froze for a second, then suddenly he understood her plan.  He grabbed his bat and ran out the door.  Seeing Rex, he grabbed up the stuffed toy. He had promised Drake he would get him.

The sounds of the zombies coming through the broken windows downstairs filled the house as furniture crashed to the floor and glass shattered. Their moans filled the house and the stench traveling up from below made his eyes water.

From the sounds on the stairs, the zombies were finally making progress in their pursuit of him.  Josh ducked into his room and grabbed his emergency lighter off his desk. Lighting it as fast as his trembling fingers would let him, he set his pillow on fire.  He waited for a few seconds then threw it at the door.

Climbing out the window, he heard the sounds of the motorcycle roaring toward the house.  Looking over, he saw the bus was gone and Corina was speeding down the alley toward his house.  He tossed Rex and his zombie killer bat to the ground below.

Scooting out the window, Josh grabbed hold of the window sill and let himself down until he was dangling from it.  Taking a deep breath, he dropped down to the ground, remembering to tuck and roll so he wouldn’t break his legs.  He still landed hard and his hip hurt, but he got to his feet.  Grabbing up Rex and his zombie killer bat, he headed toward the gate that was standing ajar.

It
burst open as Corina roared in.  He was surprised to see she had a gun in one hand then recognized it as the one his mother had the day before.  Corina must have found it in the yard.

He rushed over and climbed onto the back of the motorcycle.  Holding onto his bat, he tucked Rex between their bodies and slid his other arm around Corina’s waist.

“You got Rex!”

“I can’t let Drake down,” Josh answered.

Lifting the gun, Corina fired a shot at a zombie trying to follow her into the yard.  It fell back out of view.

“Hold on!”

Corina gunned the engine.  The motorcycle shot out of the yard and into the alley.  All around them zombies reached out to grab them.  Only their speed and Corina’s expert handling of the bike kept them from being snagged from the wildly grasping hands.  Josh slammed his bat into the face of a zombie trying to lunge for him as the motorcycle roared onto Orange Street and turned away from the zombie crowd moving toward them from the intersection.

Zombies shambled through yards and around the wreckage of cars as the two kids rode through town on Brad’s motorcycle. Corina was fearless with her handling of the bike, and she kept them away from the thicker packs of the zombies.  The dead were everywhere.

Up ahead was the big green bus that his dad and brother were on. Corina followed it as it roared out of town.  The bus slammed through clusters of zombies and flattened any in its path.  The motorcycle sped along behind it, weaving through the bodies

A few times Josh thought for sure one of the zombies would snatch them off the bike, but they escaped every time.  A few times he used his zombie killer bat to shove zombies away. It was a journey through hell. He clung to Corina as she rode through it like a knight on the shiny motorcycle.

At one point Josh saw a familiar shape and turned to see Roger staggering toward the bike.  Behind him, was Roger and Troy’s zombified mother.  Roger had found his mother after all, Josh thought sadly.  Corina sped the bike up and they roared past the zombie Roger.

The buildings and houses of the town gave way to tall trees and the zombies were no more.  They had escaped.

A long, winding country road unspooled before them.  Looking over his shoulder, Josh saw smoke rising over the town.

The bus slowed down as it came to a
stop.  Corina rode up beside it just as the doors opened.  Jamie jumped out of the bus and rushed toward them.

“Josh!”

“Dad!”

Jamie yanked Josh into his arms and held him tight. He kissed his son’s cheek firmly and buried his face in his neck, sobbing.

“Dad, I’m okay. I promise.  I’m good.”  Josh felt as though his heart would burst with happiness, but he was a little embarrassed at the same time.

Jamie cupped Josh’s face in his hands and grinned. “Yeah.  You are.  You’re so brave.  You did such a great job.”

Big massive trucks began to rumble up the road along with buses and some cars.  It was the caravan.

“I did my best, Dad.”

“And you saved them.” Jamie turned to Corina. “And you saved Josh.  Thank you.”

Corina grinned before she was drowned in Jamie’s embrace.  Jamie watched as the big vehicles full of people slowed down.

“Come on.  We need to get moving,” a black man said from the doorway of the bus.

“We’re coming, Derrick,” Jamie answered.

A Labrador peeked her head out the doorway and woofed at them.

“Get back inside, Bonnie,” Derrick ordered, smiling.

A big man with a cowboy hat and another man dressed in a business suit walked over and took hold of the bike.

“I’ll load this up on the back of my truck,” the big man said.

“Thanks,” Corina said, picking up Rex from the ground.  He had fallen when Jamie had grabbed Josh.

Jamie took hold of both of the kids by the backs of their necks and guided them toward the front of the bus. “We’re going to keep going out into the countryside and find a safe place.  Army guys are on their way to join us.  Coming up from San Antonio. We’ve been talking to them on the CB.”

“Dad, about mom...”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Jamie answered, pain in his voice.  “I’m just glad my boys are okay.”

Josh stepped up into the big rumbling bus and looked over at the other passengers.  A pretty young woman with long brown hair seated near the front with Bonnie pressed into her side.  The woman was obviously blind.  The dog watched them with curiosity. There were young and old people on the bus.  All looked scared, but also relieved to be moving on.