This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are
not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. Any resemblance to any person or
persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved
The right of Eduard Joseph to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the South African Copyright Act of 1978 (as amended).
Twitter: @TheEduardJoseph
#ZacZombie
Facebook: facebook.com/zaczombiebook
To keep up to date with any upcoming books, you can follow the author on his official Facebook or Twitter accounts.
IF YOU ENJOY ZOMBIE BOOKS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY THE FOLLOWING BOOKS BY EDUARD JOSEPH:
- Zac Zombie: Slayer of the undead (Book 1 & 2)
- How to date a corpse
- The Town*
- Morgue of the living (Short story)
OTHER FICTION BY EDUARD JOSEPH:
- Freaks want love too
- The Thirst
- When there is blood on the moon (Short story)
- Trick or treat (Short story)
- Ultimatum (short story)
- Welcome to the neighbourhood (Short story)
- God’s gonna cut you down
* Contains Biblical references which might upset sensitive readers
CHAPTER 1
You can’t negotiate with the dead, for the dead no longer have anything to lose. They’ve lost their lives and souls to the darkness that took over their bodies. During the fall of mankind, you have to make sure that you do not stray from the path, or you too – irrespective of whether you lived or died – could fall victim to the eternal darkness.
Outside the rain poured down as Mother Nature tried in vain to wash away all that was evil in the world, if only she knew that there was no more good left. One by one more and more survivors fell victim to the infection and one by one they joined the throng of walking corpses outside the dispatch building. The rain falling onto the roof and the dead banging on the metal doors to get in synchronised until I could no longer tell them apart.
We would not be able to negotiate safe passage through the sea of dead at our door and I couldn’t risk the lives of Fred and Henry by going out wielding weapons. The continuous banging on the metal doors became deafening and then with a loud thud one of the dead dented the metal door.
“That door won’t hold forever.” Fred said.
Fred was stating the obvious which we all were too afraid to say. If the metal doors gave way, not only did we die, but so did mom, Michelle and Alex. I could not allow that.
“You have to think of something.” Fred said fretfully.
“Why do I have to be the one to think of everything?” I asked annoyed.
“Aren’t you the leader?” Fred asked.
“I was never elected the leader of anyone.” I said.
It was a good question, but I did not know how to respond. I probably was the leader of the group as I found and kept most of them together. What exactly is a leader? A person who gives guidance to others in a time of need – a person who makes all the difficult decisions that could mean the difference between life and death… perhaps I was the leader of the group.
Fred and the other guy; what was his name again? Henry, right? Anyway, both of them stared at me with blank faces waiting for some kind of leadership while the banging at the metal doors continued.
“Zac?” Fred asked.
I stared at him and then another loud bang at the metal door caught my attention. We all glanced over at the door and noted a large dent of about five feet across.
“What the hell was that?” Henry asked terrified.
I wasn’t one to be startled easily, but not knowing what caused such a massive dent in the metal doors rattled me a bit. It was only then that I realized that the banging had stopped. It was quiet on the other side of the door.
“They stopped.” Fred said half relieved.
The silence was too abrupt for me to be relieved. Why would the undead suddenly stop pounding at a door when they knew there was fresh flesh on the other side? Something was terribly wrong.
“I don’t think it’s over yet.” I said cautiously.
The three of us stared at the door in silence and then there was another loud bang which enlarged the dent. Fred and Henry jumped back a few feet at the sound of the impact, but I kept standing where I was while trying to figure out what the hell was happening.
Just as brusquely as the bang came it disappeared. I stared transfixed at the indent waiting for another bang, but all that came was silence. I had no idea what could have made the dent or whether the door could sustain another blow. Perhaps it was time to move on.
“Get into the ambulance.” I said without looking away from the door.
“Who’s driving?” Fred asked.
“It doesn’t matter.” I insisted, “Just get in the damned vehicle.”
There was another loud bang and the indent tore right open as a human face punched through the metal door. The face stared at us for a moment, blinked and then pulled free from the hole. From where I stood I could see that a much larger zombie was using a smaller one as a sledgehammer and was backing up to hit the door again.
“We have to go now!” I yelled.
The larger zombie swung the smaller one at the door and the impact tore the hole wider. The zombie gnarled and bit as it bevelled through the hole. The larger zombie pulled it free and backed up to take another swing. It would take just one or two more swings for the door to completely give way. I turned around and ran over to the ambulance as the others got in.
As I closed the passenger door there was one final blow and the metal door gave way. Fred sat between me and Henry and we all sat in silent anticipation for what would happen next. The larger zombie put down the zombie he used as the sledgehammer and then he stepped into the building. He was the biggest man I had ever seen. He had to be over seven feet tall and consisted of muscles upon muscles. He even had muscles in his neck – I mean, who needs muscles in his neck? The giant smiled at us and black blood oozed down his lower lip and across his chin.
“Why aren’t the others coming in?” Fred asked.
“I think the question is,” I said, “Why is he coming in alone?”
I glanced over at Henry who sat with his shivering hands resting upon the steering wheel. He could not bring himself to look at the beast, so he stared at it from the corner of his eye.
“Get us out of here!” I insisted.
I watched in anticipation as Henry started up the car; half expecting it to stall like in the movies, but it didn’t.
“Floor it!” I yelled.
Henry put the ambulance in gear and screamed as he floored the gas pedal. The ambulance accelerated and propelled forward, mowing the giant zombie down before squashing the rest standing outside the metal door. Once we cleared the small group of zombies, Henry slammed on the brakes and the ambulance came to a halt. He tried to catch his breath and stared at the larger group of zombies that surrounded the hospital building.
“That… was… intense…” Henry said in between gasps for air.
There was a bang and the ambulance shook. I glanced in the side mirror and spotted the giant zombie walking alongside the ambulance. His neck was broken an
d his head slanted to the left as he banged against the body of the ambulance.
“We have company.” I said concerned, “This one is smarter than the others.”
I stared at the hospital building across the lot. The zombies were too many for us to safely get the others out to the ambulance. We would have to draw them away first.
“What now?” Henry asked.
“We have to draw the undead away from the building.” I said, “We can lead them to the other side of town, give them the slip and come back. Turn on your siren.”
“What?” Henry asked confused.
“Noise attracts the dead.” I insisted, “Now turn on your siren to get their attention.”
“And what if they overturn the ambulance?” Fred asked nervously, “What will we do then? I don’t want to get eaten.”
“That won’t happen.” I said, “I have complete faith in Henry’s driving capabilities.”
The giant zombie banged against the body of the ambulance again and I could hear the metal bending. I peeked at the side mirror – he was a few feet away from reaching my door.
“We have to go!” I insisted.
Henry nodded, switched on the sirens and put the ambulance in gear.
“Here we go.” Henry said with a shaky voice.
As the siren echoed through the night, and one by one the zombies in front of the hospital building turned around to investigate the noise. When they realized the flashing lights were the source of the noise, they started running towards it. Some scampered, some ran and some walked with a limp, but all of them started making their way towards us. Henry floored the gas pedal and the tyres screeched as the ambulance propelled forward.
“Where are we going?” Henry asked.
The ambulance swerved across the parking area towards the exit and knocked over some zombies. They splattered into bits of guts and blood as the bumper struck them. Henry switched on the windshield wipers to wipe away some of the blood.
“Head over to the Shop & Save.” I suggested, “It’s on the other side of town.”
“I know where it is.” Henry said.
I glanced in the side mirror and saw that the zombies were falling behind.
“Slow down a bit.” I said, “You’re losing them.”
Henry lifted his foot from the gas and the ambulance slowed down a bit. I looked in the side mirror and saw that the zombies were catching up again.
“That’s it.” I said, “Keep it at this speed.”
The ambulance cruised down the road at a steady speed while the horde of zombies followed us towards the Shop & Save on the other side of town.