The Dead Live On Read online

  “I know a bar called the Hideaway, just about three miles off the interstate, on Loch Laurel Road. Take the next exit.” John told Tank. The few cars they had seen over the last few hundred miles, had been pulled over and abandoned, they assumed the cars were out of gas as well, so they didn’t stop to check.

  “Since when do you know about bars in Georgia?” Tisha asked and said, “You don’t drink.” John turned around in his seat and faced her, he looked a little nervous and said; “I was an alcoholic once. It was hard to get sober, but I did it. I never told you because of how you spoke about your ex and his drinking. I didn’t want to scare you off. Anyway, a friend of mine used to own it until he died; he left it to his nephew. I used to stop in from time to time to see how he was when my route took me through this area. I don’t even know if it’s still there but it’s worth a shot. Might be some supplies or something we can use and cars to get gas from. There aren’t any stations off the next three exits. ”

  “You used to drive a truck or something?”

  “Yes I did, Tisha.”

  “I wonder what you else you haven’t told me. You want to tell me anything else I should know?” She was being just a little sarcastic, but it really didn’t matter to her though; she still had a genuine smile on her face.

  Tank pulled off the exit and it didn’t take long to get there. The Hideaway was a good name for it, the driveway leading to it was at least a half mile long and the bar itself was surrounded by dense woods on both sides and the back. In the parking lot in front of the building there were three cars and one SUV. The door to the SUV was open and as they rounded the lot they saw a man slumped over in the seat. Tank stopped and Dave got out to approach the vehicle and an able infected shot out from under the SUV and grabbed Dave’s’ leg. Tank shot it with his shotgun and it splattered its head all over the ground. It was like popping a balloon. Its hand opened up and twitched before flopping to the ground. A little of the carnage dotted Dave’s right boot and cuff of his pant leg. Dave then shot the man slumped in the seat just in case. Kate looked at Angel and she was looking at Dave with a worried expression.

  “I’ll walk to the door; I don’t want to get this on anything in the van. I’ll clean it up when we get inside.” Tank parked the van directly in front of the door and we all got out. Allen kept his distance from Kimmy since she liked to abuse him so much. Unfortunately Angel had to pass her to get out of the van, and Kimmy grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her down hard. Angel quickly recovered and slapped Kimmy before anyone knew what was happening. Kimmy held her hand to her face as she stared at Angel in disbelief. Suddenly her expression changed and screamed at the top of her lungs. Tisha promptly clamped her hand across Kimmys mouth to muffle the screams. Angel stood back and smoothed her crooked ponytail, saw her one remaining purple ribbon on the ground and picked it up. She handed it to Kate and she put it in my pocket, took her hand and went through the doors.

  Tank and Dave were already in and looking for other Infected. There were none. There was still a little daylight left and they took advantage of that and searched for supplies to take with them. There were sodas, candy bars, chips and pretzels. The bar had a very small kitchen, but there were canned goods on the shelf. The cooler was full of warm bottles and cans of beer. Kate offered one to Tank but he declined saying that he would wait until he got home to his own bar before he would drink. She gave a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon to everyone else, including herself, no one had any more than one beer.

  Tisha and Kate sat at a booth with the two girls and Tank. Allen and John sat on stools at the bar. Dave disappeared for a moment, Kate assumed, to clean up his boot and pant leg, and to make sure that none of it hit his skin. He returned and sat in a chair at a table close to the door.

  Angel no longer seemed to be afraid of Kimmy and the two sat across staring at each other across the table. Kimmy was making faces as usual and sticking her fingers in the arm sockets of what was left of Barbie. The men at the bar were talking amongst their selves and Dave sat and watched the door. Kate decided she would ask Tisha how she had met John, for lack of any other interesting subject to speak of.

  “I used to work at a small lunch café called Noah’s Ark. He came in for a Rueben every Thursday. We chatted here and there during his visits and became friends. He started going out of his way to come in on Tuesdays as well. Then one day he just started coming in with flowers or something I might’ve mentioned wanting. I grew fond of him. I knew he was much older than I was. It didn’t matter to me though because I really was taking a liking to him. I had never been given gifts from a man before, well; not from anyone that didn’t expect something in return. John didn’t want anything. He was being himself. He didn’t even ever ask me out. I was the one who approached him for a date. So, we went to a festival they were having downtown and had a great time. The rest is history.” She started picking at the label on her bottle of beer and looked over at him. He must’ve felt it because he looked back at her and smiled. “I love him more than I can even explain.”

  Kate thought of Jillian and Evan and became saddened. She pulled Jillian’s phone out of her pocket and hoped it was still working when she opened it. It still held a charge. Kate told her who they were and about the notes she found and how it ended for Jillian. Tisha’s eyes welled up with tears while she was looking at the pictures and listening to Kate talk about them.

  “So you think that their minds are still functioning while their bodies decay?”

  “Yea, I do. But there’s nothing we can do to help them other than give them a final death.”

  She pondered on this for a few minutes and then said, “What about you, Kate? Was there anyone special in your life?” She looked over at Dave who seemed to be caught up in his thoughts. “No. There’s been no one special in a long time. The last guy I was with was an alcoholic, and a mean one at that. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I left.”

  “What about Dave? I think he’s a little sweet on you.” She said. “He’s not sweet on me,” Kate laughed. “I’ve known him for many years, since high school.”

  “Oh, I thought you two had something going on, my bad. But I know for sure Allen is sweet on you. He told me so.”

  “That’s so nice, but I am gonna have to break his heart. He’s way too young for me. He doesn’t need to think about girls right now anyway. And he’s only crushing on me because I’m the only other warm blooded female here besides you and the girls. Hopefully we’ll all survive long enough for life to become normal again, but I don’t think that is gonna happen. Have you always had custody of Allen?” Tisha looked down and tears were forming in her eyes again, her chin started to tremble and Kate felt bad for asking. “I’m sorry, Tisha. I am just being nosy. I shouldn’t ask personal questions.”

  She wiped at her face and sniffled. “No, it’s okay. Allen belongs to my little brother Calvin. He didn’t make it. He was attacked at work before we all knew what was really going on. I went to claim his body and it was gone. Later that night, he showed up. John shot him. Allen didn’t see him and he doesn’t know that his dad came back. He thinks his dad died from a head wound caused by a fall at work. I couldn’t tell him the truth. I don’t want him to know. Of course at that time everything got worse and we had to run. I was going to tell him but he made a comment about being happy that his dad wasn’t around to have to worry about him (Allen) being eaten by a zombie. His dad worried about him an awful lot. He was over protective, ya know. And Allen was just as protective of him. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him after he said that. So, when you said that they were still aware inside… I wondered what my brother was feeling when he came back.” She broke down in loud sobs and John came over from the bar and wrapped her in his arms and rocked her. A few seconds later Allen was holding them both and crying as well. Nothing was said of why she was crying. They all knew. Kate felt sorry for them, she had not yet lost anyone close to her. Well, not that she had to witness.

  Kate took the l
ast sip of her beer and looked at Angel. She was leaning on Kate’s arm fast asleep, and Kimmy was still staring at her. Tisha regained her composure and John and Allen returned to the bar. John has his arm around Allen and Allen laid his head on John’s shoulder. He wiped the tears from his eyes.

  Kate gently moved her off of her arm, got up out of the booth and laid her down in the seat. She asked Tisha to keep the demon child away from Angel, thinking that a task would distract her thoughts. Tisha laughed at the demon child reference and said “Absolutely.”

  Kate saw a door by the restroom that she hadn’t noticed before; it opened up into a small room with a full size bed and two comfy looking chairs. She closed the door and went into the bathroom. She propped the door open with the waste basket so she could see what she was doing, did her business and went back out to the main room.

  “How long do you think that Angel’s father was down before he got back up, Kate?” Dave asked her as she emerged from the restroom. They had obviously been talking about how she found Angel. Kate had forgotten about him rising for a second time.

  “It was somewhere around five, six hours, maybe seven. We sure didn’t expect that to happen.” She said as she looked over at the booth where Angel and Kimmy were both sleeping. Tisha had gotten up to sit at the bar with John. Everyone was turned in their stools looking at Dave. She took a seat in the chair next to him.

  “Well, we haven’t seen anyone else get back up after being shot so, maybe it only happens to the ones who go through the abled stage. It could be some kind of genetic anomaly. We just have to be more careful. I thought I’d let you guys know so if it happens it won’t be a surprise. You have to decapitate them. The bodies can’t get to you without the head and vice versa.” Everyone had become silent and it was getting dark outside.

  “I found a room with a bed and a couple chairs, and we have a long trip tomorrow if the cars out there have gas to syphon. I’m gonna grab Angel and take one of the chairs. I assume you want to keep watch, Dave?”

  “You assume right my friend. Allen will keep me company, won’t you Allen?’

  “Yea, I’ll stay up with you.” He left the bar stool to take the seat across from Dave.

  “I’m ready for a little sleep, too.” Tank said as yawned and stretched. Tisha picked up Kimmy and walked up to John.

  “I’m gonna stay out here with them for a while. I’ll be in shortly, Tisha. I love you.” John said. “I love you, too.” Tisha kissed him on the lips and followed Kate into the room.

  Kate settled in the chair with Angel in her lap and quickly fell asleep only to be immersed in yet another nightmare.

  She is standing in the middle of an amusement park and didn’t know how she had gotten there. The multicolored lights gave her an ominous feeling. She had lost her key and didn’t know where it could be. She could see and hear the band of undead clowns on stage singing.

  “It’s the one and only boogie man! He creeps, he hides, he sneaks, he slides! If your little feetsies are hanging off the edge of the bed, you’ll run on STUMPS motherfucker!”

  She saw an entrance to a ride. The flashing lights above the door said it was the Tunnel of Terror. She didn’t want to go through the doors but was being pulled in. As she neared, the doors swung open and she could see the living dead lining the tracks of the tunnel, and the overhead lights illuminating the platforms ahead on each side. The brakes of the ride released with a loud clanging sound that echoed throughout. The chains on the track began click, clacking as she moved forward; she looked down and was strapped into the seat of the ride, her arms down at her sides, unable to move.

  The reanimated corpses of Jillian and Evan were in the first platform to her right. Evan’s disfigured face dripping blood and muck onto the seat as leaned over the rail and blindly swiped at her. The drops hissed and bubbled as they sizzled and burned into the upholstery of the seat. Jillian did not try to harm her, only turned her back. Her long beautiful hair flowing down her back, it was moving in waves and seemed to be alive.

  On the left, Dave was walking back and forth with his MP5 in hand and when she passed he screamed, put it in her face and pulled the trigger. Her body trembled with both fear and relief. The gun did not fire and he laughed at her. He gave her a salute and turned the gun on himself. She squeezed her eyes shut just a millisecond before he pulled the trigger because she didn’t want to see her old friends brains splatter against the wall. She heard the thump of his body hitting the floor and could hear the band outside louder than ever.

  “Little Jimmy, Jimmy…GOT EM!”

  The ride continued and before she reached the next platform, she saw little Kimmy all covered in tiny specks of blood, laughing and slashing angrily at something that she could not yet see. As she grew closer, Kimmy looked at her and held out her chubby, little left hand and she was holding Kate’s lost key! It was gold and attached to a shiny, purple, heart keychain. It glistened even in the dim lights of the tunnel. Kate started to reach for it, but realized her arms were still chained down and now she could finally see what Kimmy had been doing.

  A life size Barbie doll was chained to the wall stripped of all her clothes. There were many cuts and slashes across Barbie’s body and Kimmy had a pair of scissors in her hand. Though Barbie bled from her wounds and tried to pull away from oncoming blows, her face remained waxen and expressionless. Kimmy scaled the giant doll’s body with one jump and latched onto Barbie’s waist, making quick jabs to her face with the scissors and ripping her hair out with the other hand. Barbie tossed her head from side to side. And the band played on.

  “The Worlds’ Greatest Boogie Woogie Wu will come to you. Slumber party sleepovers, intimate nights! Whatever the occasion of the midnight hour, he will gladly come and fuck that shit up!”

  Kate could see the end of the tunnel. A huge cross in front of her glowed bright yellow and Angel appeared on the track crying for Kate to help her. The cross then turned blood red and began melting. A huge black figure came from behind Angel and folded her into its arms until her cries became muffled and she disappeared. Kate struggled in her restraints and instantly broke free. The ride was over and Kate was back outside in front of the gruesome band. A female with long, blood matted hair and a missing arm was now singing…

  “Please don’t let me fall asleep, cause the boogie man will creep. Through my window in my room, stab me with a broken broom.”

  It was so strange, Kate recognized the song as something she’d heard many times before but could not put her finger on it. She looked around for Angel and saw John and Tisha in line for the Ferris wheel. She ran to them for help and when they turned around, they were undead. What Kate thought was a cone of cotton candy at a distance, she now saw for what it was. A cone of bloody brains. They continued taking bites from it and staring at her as she backed up into the arms of another undead and screamed…

  “KATE! Wake up! It’s just a dream!” Tisha was shaking her by the shoulders.

  “Man, you scared the bejesus outta me! You gonna be okay?” Kate grabbed and hugged her tightly. “Thank god, it was a dream. Where is Angel?” She stood and slapped her own face to make sure that she was awake. Kate had never in her life had such vivid dreams. She didn’t want to ever dream again.

  Fully awake now, the song in her dream resurfaced and she knew exactly what it was. It was Boogie Woogie Wu by Insane Clown Posse. It didn’t surprise her that the band she conjured up in her head was undead clowns. She had always liked that song and played it at every Halloween party for the last five years. She didn’t like it so much in the dream.

  “Everyone is outside. Dave and Tank are syphoning gas and John and Allen are putting the stuff we need to take in the van. I was coming to wake you when you started screaming. What kind of dream were you having?” She asked as they walked out into the bar.

  The second that Kate saw Angel a wave of comfort washed over her. “It was just a bad, bad dream. They have been really lucid lately. I’m glad you’re all okay. How co
me you didn’t wake me sooner? I would’ve helped.”

  “Dave said to let you sleep a little longer, that you were gonna need the rest. Besides, there really wasn’t anything for me to do either. The guys took care of it all.”

  Angel ran to Kate and she picked her up and sat her on her hip. Kimmy looked at Kate with her creepy, weird eyes, laughed and walked up to Kate. She opened up her hand and held it out to her. In her hand lie a small shiny purple heart, though there was no key attached.

  Kate felt the goose bumps rising all over her body as she remembered the keychain in the dream. Kate reached out to take the heart, Kimmy closed her hand and ran out the door, leaving Kate feeling puzzled. She went out behind her, determined to find out about the heart. The guys were finished syphoning gas and filling the tank so it was time to roll.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Once everyone was settled in the van Tank headed down the half mile driveway. Kate was feeling close normal again; as if the dream had stayed behind with the bar. Everyone talked for a little while and learned more new things about each other. Though Dave had not been very involved in the conversation and Kate didn’t want to put him on the spot by asking him what was wrong. He’s usually a private kind of guy so she would respect that and talk to him later. The conversation eventually grew stale and Kate watched the road pass by through the window, lost in her own thoughts of the little heart that Kimmy held out to her.

  “Where did you find Kimmy, Tisha?”

  “She came with her social worker, Miss Blake, about two weeks ago. At first I thought they were sick because of Kimmys demeanor,” (she chuckled) “But when I realized they were okay I let them in. I didn’t think that anyone even knew that there were people at the Springs, so it was funny when they showed up knocking on the door. Miss Blake was nice enough, but Kimmy had her wrapped around her little finger.”