Zombie Holiday

tree trunks as I got higher.

  I slipped near the top and slid down a few feet, pulling up on the roots of a sizable oak just down the way. I squeezed back into a sitting position with my back hard against the trunk. When I turned my head to glance back the way I’d come, I saw em. From where I was it was a straight line of sight down and to the right. Several of the Red Eyes were already standing in the dirt right outside the entrance to the cave, and then several more pushed their way through to daylight. I hunched down instinctively and made myself as small as possible. I didn’t have any illusions about what it was that had got them on the march. Because that’s another thing the movies had got all wrong. Probably because it was easier to shoot during the day, but speaking from experience, mudheads don’t like the light much. Leastways if it’s real hot. Shit starts coming loose, ya know? And having a huge wet underground chamber to pass the day? Hell that was a no-brainer, even for us. But these new motherfuckers didn’t seem to mind one bit. While I had thought I was safe in my difference, I now saw that things were beginning to go even slightly more weird.

  Those motherfuckers down there were looking for me and I didn’t think they’d be throwing me any parties once they found me. I can’t say I felt fear right then but it was pretty near the closest thing to it.

  One of em, the one I saw first down there I felt sure, had pushed to the front of the rough circle of Red Eyes and was sorta pointing around. Grunting real loud and shaking like a retard. I tell you, that motherfucker was worked up. The rest continued standing around, watching him go, almost nodding their heads at the appropriate places. Then, just as sudden, Red Eye made off down the trail back into town with about half of em in tow. The rest turned off the trail and started heading in different directions into the woods. None of them, I saw thankfully, heading my way. The hill was a bit of a challenge for us and not many of them seemed to have the head of steam that Red Eye had.

  I tried to hunch down even lower, glad I didn’t breathe now. Stillness was the key here. I lost Red Eye and his bunch on the other side of the tree but didn’t let it worry me much. They appeared to be heading back to town and they sure as hell wouldn’t find my ass there. And from what I could see, or at least hear, from the rest of em they were already barking up the wrong tree. I decided to give em a while and head out when I thought the coast was clear.

  I waited until I hadn’t heard anything for a good while. Then, carefully, like a slug sliding uphill, I left the tree and crab-crawled up to the top of the hill. Old Red Eyes and his bunch would be digging through the town for a bit and I figured this was the best time to put some footsteps between me and them. I stood up, fighting the urge to stay hunched down, and looked around. It was all pretty much the same as far as I could tell.

  I picked a direction and started moving off through the trees.

  Round about dusk I heard more sounds. Typical shit really, groans and moans. But no red eyes shining through the gloom. It seemed more like my neighborhood. I kept on ambling forward because, through the trees, oddly enough I saw a light. And something damn bright from the looks of it.

  I made my way through the trees, encountering a few of the mudheads as I went. Luckily these were of the standard variety, and those lights were pulling everything around there to that bright spot. Along with me. I got to the end of the trees and there was a big cleared area. It looked like whoever it was had gotten hold of some heavy machinery and mowed down a whole lotta shit. And among all the stumps there was a line of fence. The lights were set up behind that and shining our way. Dumbly, I kept pushing forward. I had one mudhead on my left when the shit went down. The mudhead suddenly gave a jolt like someone had just hit it with a taser and that motherfucker went down like a bag of rocks. I flinched just as the sound hit me. Then, seconds later, another volley. Whoever was behind the line of fence was shooting!

  I got down on the ground and craned my neck forward, trying to get a line on anything. The lights were blinding and the sound of shots seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Grass was kicking up around me, mudheads were going down. I heard somebody shout something at somebody else and hunched deeper in the dirt. After a coupla minutes the gunfire died down and there was more shouting. I back-crawled to the safety of the trees and pushed up against a tree that seemed to offer the most protection.

  Then everything went silent.

  I just sat there watching more mudheads shambling by. I wasn’t too surprised the gunfire didn’t stop em. They could have cared less. They continued to go by, heading for the fence and that bright light. Every once in a while there’d be another shot and a mudhead would go down, but as I said, at this point it was all catch-as-catch-can. I moved over so I could get a better view.

  And that’s when I saw em.

  It musta been a buncha Red Eyes because I saw one in a group with a pair of bolt cutters. It kinda shambled up to the fence with a coupla others. Started cutting away at the fence. A shot rang out and the one with the cutters went down. He hadn’t no sooner hit the dirt than another one had the cutter in its hands and it started sawing away at the fence. Another shot rang out and it hit the dirt too. Same thing, another one moved up to finish the job his fellow had just been stopped at. Then another yell and a group of Live-ers started running toward the fence, screaming and yelling, shooting as they came on. By the time they got to the fence and cleared the area I could see a pretty big hole had been cut. And the whole group that had come to cut it were bleeding out right where they went down. Musta been about ten of em. All dead. But the cut in the fence was substantial enough for a mudhead to squeeze through.

  The Live-ers near the fence continued shouting and motioning toward the fence and right about that time another shot rang out, this time from the trees probably twenty-thirty feet from where I was, and a Live-er went down like somebody had just stole his Christmas presents. I thought, what the fuck? We’re shooting at them?

  The dead Live-er was laying there in the dirt, still. His whole group was silent, surprised. There wasn’t even one of em who was trying to get cover. Then another shot rang out and another Live-er went down. Well, let me tell you, that got all the rest to scrambling for cover. This was definitely something they were not prepared for.

  Again, for just a moment, there was all silence. I trained my eyes through the arc lights and watched the newly-dead lying on the ground. I knew what was coming. After a few minutes the one who’d been shot first began to twitch. Then the other. They both rolled around on the ground for a minute and then began trying to stand up. No Live-er showed. The Live-ers, now mudheads, gained their feet and sort of just stood there swaying back and forth. They bumped into each other and this seemed to bring about their bearings. They looked at each nother with muddied disinterest and then turned to face the compound beyond. I already knew how hungry those two must be, like a fact of birth.

  Suddenly a small Live-er, it must have been a child to one of the newly-dead, came running out of nowhere. It was hysterical, screaming, pointing at the thing that had been its daddy. The thing seemed not to care, but it did shuffle forward in the child’s direction. The child pointed again and screamed and then the mudhead lurched forward and had the child by its shirtfront. The other Deader moved in for the kill likewise. The kid started screaming as the two mouths went to work and soon the activity behind the fence looked like a Chinese fire drill. Suddenly the place was crawling like an anthill with people running here and there. It was precisely then that I heard a gunshot over in the tree line and directly following a nest of Red Eyes charged out in the direction of the hole in the fence.

  Jesus Christ, I thought. A plan.

  They were shambling now, but in full-fledge run, making for the fence. There looked to be at least fifteen or twenty with more streaming in from the woods. I’d lost the kid being mauled by the two Deaders in all the action, and now shots began sounding out all around. I couldn’t for the death of me tell where they were all coming from. But I did stand up then. I figured whatever was
fixing to go on at and within the fence was going to hold everyone’s attention for the next little while.

  By this time the first wave of Red Eyes had reached the fence and were already pushing through. The Live-ers on the other side were completely unprepared for the assault. This wasn’t the typical scene they were used to seeing. This was all-out war.

  A couple of Deaders went down just inside the fence line but a wave of the rest poured through the hole, leaving big chunks of themselves in their hurry, and scrambled out to the field beyond. There were screams mixed in with grunts now. Constantly. Guns were firing. I watched as the Dead and the Live came together like two armies smashing against one another on a plain. More Red Eyes poured from the woods and I couldn’t believe there were so many. Where were these things hiding? Suddenly they were sprouting up all over the place like weeds. And I already knew they didn’t seem to care for me much already.

  Shit, my mainstream lifestyle appeared close to an end.

  I watched the destruction for a long while. It went on all night and was just dwindling to a close as the sun peeked over a ridgeline far to my right. Most of the place was burning and the