to the ground pushed itself against me, driving my body against the slope behind me and partially pinning my right arm under the weight of my body. My head smacked dully against a boulder implanted in the ground. If I wasn’t a zombie, the force likely would have cracked my skull. Pinning my shoulders to the mound with both forearms, it extended its head forward, its mouth opening wider than should be possible, as the two Stiffs behind it pushed into us and reached their arms out, fingers bent like claws, to tear into me. The girl was so still that the Stiffs no longer even remembered she was there. If I hadn’t tossed her aside, they would have gone after both of us. I had no idea why I had protected her. I should have used her as live bait, but for some reason, I didn’t want her to die.
I drove my left forearm around the nearest Stiff’s arm and into its neck to hold its head back. It snapped its jaws mercilessly at me, snarling and sputtering as it pushed its head forward, extending its neck as far as it would go. I tried to pull my other arm out from under my body, but I could barely nudge it against the force of the Stiff holding me down. I gazed to my left, looking for the human. She was standing, watching the Stiffs piling on top of me. Then she ran. She sprinted away in the direction I had been leading her. The Stiffs never turned from me as she faded into the darkness and I was left alone against the onslaught of undead louts.
The other Stiffs’ hands were reaching out toward me, pressing against my face and neck and chest. They curled their fingers to dig into my skin. I tried desperately to free my arm from beneath me. The Stiff on top of me was edging its head across my forearm, growling with wrath. My arm was starting to come loose, centimeter by centimeter. I tried to raise my body as far as I could off of the hill, but I was pressed securely to it by the weight of the Stiffs. I grunted with effort.
The Stiff on top of me bent its head forward, its jaw hanging open. Spit was coating its chin and it made a sound like it was choking. It made a final stretch of its neck and bit down with all its strength into my bicep. I screamed deeply as its teeth bore into my flesh. Only a Stiff could have pierced through my skin and the material of my safety gear so easily. Dark, thick blood began to ooze from the wound, bubbling out slowly and dripping thick and heavy from my arm. With a burst of energy I tore my other arm free and locked my hand onto the top of the Stiff’s skull. I pulled it with all my might, lifting the Stiff’s head away from me and forcing it to release my arm from its mouth. My blood stained its lips and teeth. As I pulled its head away, it turned and looked straightaway at me. It made a low, gargling noise as it stared at me. It had tasted my blood. It wouldn’t rest until it had devoured all of me.
If Trevor hadn’t most likely been massacred by a herd of bloodhungry Stiffs, I would be really mad at him right now for dragging me out to track humans tonight in the first place.
I reached for my belt with my other hand and withdrew the letter opener I had taken off the human. I thrust it forward into the Stiff’s head with all my strength. It made a sick, dull noise as it struck, piercing the skin, but not the skull. The Stiff gazed at me with unyielding eyes. It hadn’t taken any heed of my attack. I thrust the knife forward again. I heard the thick, brittle sound of its skull cracking against the blade’s force. I drove the knife through once more, jamming it into its brain, the Stiff’s blood pouring out over my hands. I twisted the letter opener and the Stiff’s body went limp against me. I pushed the weight of its body off of me and toward the other two Stiffs, drawing the knife from its head and pushing the Stiffs away. I held the body up toward them, holding the Stiff by its shirt collar and allowing its head to dip back. The two Stiffs immediately began tearing into the dead Stiffs head. I allowed the Stiff’s body to fall away from me and onto the ground. The two Stiffs surrounded it and began tearing mindlessly into its flesh.
I slowly rose and stepped carefully around the occupied Stiffs. It was like I wasn’t even there anymore. They were only concerned with the meal that was before them. As I stepped away from them I returned the letter opener to my belt and put my hand over my wound. Thick blood was coating my arm. The gloves of both my hands were stained with the blood of the Stiff. Others would be in the area soon. They would smell my blood quickly. They wouldn’t stop until they found me. I had to get out of Stiff territory and back to Revenant.
I walked quickly away as the Stiffs tore into corpse before them. Then, when I was a safe distance past them, I sprinted forward. I couldn’t believe that I had let the girl escape. I hadn’t been careful. Hadn’t kept my eye on her. Trusted her too much. That’s one of the most important things they teach you in zombie school, Joe. Never trust a human. Now I knew why.
I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Any delay and the Stiffs could catch up to me. In ten minutes I had reached the gate surrounding Revenant. As I came up to it I saw that the human girl was climbing down the other side. As she fell to the ground in town, she gazed forward at me with frightened eyes. She spun around and began to run.
I quickly scampered up the gate. My fingers were slick with blood, and I was careful not to let them slip as they curled around the mesh of the gate as I climbed to the top and jumped down on the other side. I darted after the girl and caught up to her with ease. I grabbed her by the sleeve of her jacket and held her firmly. “What the hell is the matter with you?” I demanded.
“Let me go!” she cried, trying to pull herself free.
“You could have gotten us both killed!” I cried.
“So?” she demanded, still struggling to break free.
She had no respect for life. She didn’t deserve it. I tugged at her arm to get her to stop squirming. “That’s enough. You’re coming with me.”
She tried to push against my chest to get free. It was no use. She struggled for a few minutes as a group of Stiffs noisily began to gather behind us, pressing up against the gate and rattling it loudly. They had smelled my blood and caught up to me. But they couldn’t make it over the gate. They were too stupid to figure out how to climb it.
“Look,” I said, pulling the human forward so she could look at the Stiffs gathered at the gate. “You either go with me or you go with them. There’s no other option. You choose.”
I pushed her forward toward the gate. The Stiffs curled their fingers around the mesh, pushing their faces against the gate and trying to bite at the metal wire. The human stood motionless for a few minutes longer, standing lifelessly where she was, pale and limp. If you didn’t know any better, you would have guessed she was the zombie and I was the human. It was funny how human Wakes had become and how dead the humans had become. Not funny ha-ha. More funny hmmm.
She stood motionless, breathing shallowly. It was beginning to irritate me. She was such a useless lump of flesh. Her brother was dead and she was faced with the choice of living or being fed to a bunch of hungry Stiffs. None of that stirred her. It had deadened her. That’s why zombies are superior to humans, Joe. Against adversity and turmoil, humans die. Zombies live. It’s really that simple. It’s evolution. Survival of the fittest. We live, we survive. That’s why zombies inherited the earth. Don’t let anybody tell you anything different.
I sighed. “Let’s go,” I said.
I pulled the girl forward and she followed me thoughtlessly. I couldn’t see the bus stop. I hadn’t gone back the exact way I had come. But the bus stop shouldn’t be too far away. I led the human in the direction I thought it should be. My blood was still oozing slowly down my arm, and I didn’t have anything to wrap it with. At least I was safe in Revenant for now. I was worried for a while I was going in the wrong direction, but then the bus stop thankfully appeared in the distance. The girl was staggering now, so I had to support most of her weight as I brought us to the bus station. Trevor wasn’t there. I dropped her on the bench and sat down beside her, holding her wrist firmly in my hand. She drifted onto her side and lay on her back, her eyes closed. I shook my head. I was keeping her alive against every instinct inside me that said to kill this human and devour her brain, for the good of
Revenant. I hoped it was worth it.
I waited. Trevor would come soon. I hoped. My brain was thumping. All the night’s activity had intensified my hunger, and Trevor had all the brain preserves in his backpack. I hoped I could hold out until he arrived.
The human girl’s brain was very, very tempting.
And I was famished.
16. MY PET HUMAN
Twenty minutes later Trevor still hadn’t arrived. I was worried. What if he hadn’t made it? What if the Stiff horde had caught him? Then he was dead. I couldn’t think about that. Even if I tried to go back and find him, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and that meant letting the human go and putting myself at risk against a bunch of blood-hungry Stiffs. It was suicide. I had to get back to zone A with the human and try to explain myself. I was going to be in so much trouble. But I didn’t have a choice. I had screwed up enough for one night.
We couldn’t take the bus. No one else could know about the human. We’d have to travel on foot, even if it took all night. The human was still lying with her eyes closed, breathing lightly. Her mouth hung open and her face looked out toward the night. I had to get her up and out of