“We never had a chance,” Xander said. “They were waiting for us. Killed the first four through the door including Chaz’ brother before we even knew what was going on.”
“And the rest of you?” Kong asked.
“Chaz made us put down our weapons when the guy inside, Mike I think his name was, said that if he wanted to keep his brother alive that’s what we had to do. Chaz shot Ned when he didn’t want to. So when all of our guns were gone, he takes our vials except for Pete’s and Adam’s. Pete shot most of his foot off when he tried to hide his gun and Steve pushed him into the trench, so that he could take his vial.”
“What a cluster fuck, where is Steve?”
“He fell into the pit, a few zombies ate him.”
“Christ on a cracker! What the fuck am I going to tell Eliza? She’ll want me to assemble another team. The men already think this Mike guy is supernatural.”
“He is,” Xander replied.
“What?” Kong asked.
“I’m telling you, man, there’s something different about this guy, he’s not normal. He was just in a gun battle and was as cool as a cucumber. Eliza is as mean as a rattlesnake, he
“Deserve? You’re better off not knowing,” Kong told him.
“I think we earned the right to know,” Chaz said, standing up from where he had laid his brother down. “Is the bitch even human?”
“I’m telling you, Chaz, you’re better off just leaving it alone,” Kong told him, trying to placate the other man.
“We’ve loaded trailers full of zombies and hauled them close to a thousand miles to fight a guy that has wiped out two insertion teams and killed my brother and you’re telling me to mind my own business? Well fuck you, Kong!” Chaz shouted.
Kong punched the man so hard in the side of the temple, Chaz’ legs locked up before he pitched over. “You got a problem with that?” Kong asked Xander.
Xander was backing up holding his hands in front of him. “No, man.”
“Get him up and help him bury his brother,” Kong said as he turned to relay the bad news to the one really in charge.
“There’s something else, Kong,” Xander said. “The zombies…they’re acting weird. Yeah I know, but even weirder for zombies. There’s a seven- or eight-foot deep trench, and it’s lined with spikes and fire it’s pretty nasty business. The zombies they won’t even try to get over it. They’re just standing there.”
“Are they looking down the trench?” Kong asked.
“No, that’s the thing, I don’t think they give two shits about the trench. They’re every one of them looking up at the house like they’re under a spell or something. It’s fucking creepy. The ones outside the fence keep moving in, then they stop. I noticed it when we were going in, and especially when we were leaving, because we were trying to get around them.”
***
“I expected to have Michael’s head by now,” Eliza said.
Most people would say that as a euphemism, Kong knew she meant it literally. “The team is back.”
“And yet I see none of the Talbots,” Eliza said, looking around with an exaggerated swing of her head.
“Only two of them made it back,” he told her hopelessly, hoping that would appease her.
“Did they exact any type of revenge for their losses?” Eliza asked.
“No,” Kong answered honestly.
“Perhaps some of the Talbots were mortally wounded?” Eliza asked.
“No, Eliza.”
“So twelve of your finest men were slaughtered and it appears that Michael has not so much as suffered a stubbed toe?” she asked, more of a smile showing on her lips than her normal sneer.
“It would appear that way,” he told her, wishing that right now he was anywhere except here. He would gladly even go back to 2005 and relive the worst day of his life over if it would help him escape this hell. He had been living in Connecticut with his wife of seven years—Madeline. He had just accepted a long distance haul to bring components to a Californian firm in Silicon Valley. The pay was something the couple could not refuse, although, being away from home for ten days was not sitting well with him. Leaves blew around his yard on the blustery fall day, his wife blew him a kiss and he pulled out of the driveway.
He had made it all the way to Colorado when he received word from his company that InTech had gone belly up and he was to bring the shipment of electronic components back to the distributor in Massachusetts. His pay would be cut, but it would save him two days away from his home and for that he was grateful.
The car in his driveway was not familiar and he parked his Chevy pick-up truck behind the late model BMW. He moved quickly to the front door, fumbling with his keys as he began to live the nightmare of so many other long distance haulers. He could hear his wife’s first words, ‘I have needs!’ she would yell.
Fear adrenaline blasted through his veins making the delicate action of slipping a key into a lock exceedingly difficult. He heard her cries of passion as he opened the door. He looked to the kitchen and the butcher block knife holder. “Fuck that, I’ll crush his throat with my hands,” he said as he tore down the hallway.
The bedroom door was open. Why would it be closed? They had no children and he wasn’t expected home for another forty-eight hours. It took him many heartbeats to reconcile the sight he saw in his bedroom with what he thought he was going to see. His wife was sitting up in her bed, tears were streaking down her face as an older gentleman sat on the bed next to her, he was holding her hands. A small satchel sat on her nightstand.
“What,” he said loudly, “is going on, Madeline?” His words getting quieter with each progressive syllable.
The older gentleman turned.
Madeline struggled to look through her natural waterfall. “Kong,” she sniffed. “What are you doing home?” Her words sounding guilty, but her actions belied that.
“What is going on?” Kong asked even quieter than before. His mind noticing the twin snakes wrapped around the pole emblazoned on the satchel. At that moment he hoped—no, he prayed—they were
“My name is Dr. Corren,” the elderly man said, standing up. He walked over to Kong extending his hand.
Kong knew that most men that had just fucked another’s wife didn’t generally shake the hand of the jilted. Kong reluctantly accepted the man’s gesture. “Hi,” Kong said, staring at the man’s hand as if it contained the answers he sought.
“I’m a friend of Maddie’s dad. I’ve been their family physician since she was in diapers,” he said, smiling back at Madeline. “Maddie’s mom, Gwen, asked me to stop by.”
“Stop by? Maddie’s from West Roxbury. You practice in this neighborhood now?”
“Not quite.”
“Doc, you made a hundred mile house call?” Kong asked.
“For Maddie there would be no limits,” the doctor answered.
Madeline was still crying.
“Maddie?” Kong asked, looking past the smaller man.
“I’m going to let you two be alone. Maddie, you call me if you need anything. Do you understand?” He waited until she answered. He walked over and kissed her forehead. The tenderness of the gesture made Kong realize that the doctor knew he would never have the opportunity to do that again.
Kong walked the doctor out, for a quick moment he thought about following him; irrationally thinking that if he waited the two days until when he was supposed to come home, that this waking nightmare would be over by then.
“Maddie?” Kong asked as he walked back into the room.
She broke out into fresh sobs as he approached.
“How bad is it?” he asked, sitting where the doc had been, a ghost of his body heat still present. For a moment, Kong resented the man’s presence in his bedroom.
