The Village of Dead Souls: A Zombie Novel (11 page)

Loud explosions and bright flashes came from the opposite end of the block. Prometheus turned and saw several police officers climb over the concrete barrier. They had face shields, gas masks, body armor and batons. Teargas canisters landed in the street and sidewalks
,
streaming smoke into the air. Undead, who had been scavenging the abandon stores, ran away from the advancing enforcement. Two officers tackled a fleeing zombie and beat him over the head with their batons until his skull broke open and his brains spilled onto the asphalt. Gunnar picked up a large rock and said, "Finally, the descendants speak a language I can understand."

He ran towards the advancing police unit with a loud scream. The officers drew their handguns and opened fire. Bullets pelted the Viking's body from his hips to his shoulders
,
but
it
did nothing to slow his assault. When he reached the first line of police, he smashed his rock on top of their helmets
with
no effect. An officer grabbed his arm holding the rock. Gunnar quickly bit the man's hand. As the human screamed out in pain, the Viking bit a large chunk out of the man's cheek. Two more officers pulled him off their colleague and tried to pin him to the ground. Greg quickly thrust a
three-foot
long piece of rebar through the throat of one officer.

Gunnar sprang to his feet. Bullets flew through the air like rain
,
but did nothing to the undead. An officer shot his taster into the Viking. The electrical jolt sent his body into convulsions. He fell lurching on the ground
,
as Hod's spear thrust into the officer's body. Hod grabbed Gunnar's shoulders and pulled him away from the attackers.

Prometheus felt as helpless
, just
as he did when the Spartans attacked
Athens
. Only these weren't
powerless
civilians this time. He watched Greg use his skills as a samurai to
maim
and kill the attacking force, wielding the rebar as a sword.

Hod jumped from cars and trees onto the living men, demonstrating this
was
not his first battle. He bit the ears off each victim. Drew and Jennifer stood
further
back
,
throwing rocks. Accustomed to her royal position, Rachel stood on a plastic crate and ordered those around her to attack
,
as though she sent her army into battle.

The police slowed the assault, took cover behind vehicles and trees
, and
they called out in their strange language. Gunnar waved his arm forward and yelled in his Norse accent, "Come on men! Let's teach these scoundrels what happens when they start a fight with our clan."

* * *

Dressed in riot gear, John Colton quietly addressed his men
, who were
all huddled close together. "There's a group of re-ans
on the other side of the quarantine barrier
around the corner. We're going to do this by the
book,
just like we practiced on the range. The
flash
-
bangs
will confuse them and the gas will corral them together. We should have them in the truck in no time."

As he glanced around the corner, one of his rookie officers said, "This is so surreal."

He turned back toward the skinny man with thick glasses and a slight overbite and asked, "What's your
name,
officer?"

"Schimmple, Morton Schimmple."

"
Well,
Schimmple, why is this surreal?"

"
Just
a week
ago,
I thought this re-animated outbreak was only a myth, some kind of Internet hoax. I thought the news blew the whole thing out of proportion and we'd forget about it once the
playoffs
started. But here I am about to go on my first goose roundup."

Checking around the corner again,
Colton
waved his hand forward and said, "Now!"

Three officers stood and threw the
flash
-
bangs
into the street. Two more officers threw several teargas canisters into the quarantined block. Pulling their gasmasks over their faces, the policemen scrambled over the concrete barrier.
Colton
remained behind the lines to coordinate the assault. He watched as the closest zombies ran from his men. Two of his men tackled a living dead as he came out of a store. He struggled and tried to bite them. As one officer held the zombie down, the other pulled out his baton and beat the undead over the head. "Oh
holy
crap!" The officer screamed out. "His brains are pouring out of his skull."

Colton
called out to his men. "Watch out! That one has a big rock."

A zombie with long hair, chain necklaces and leather wrist cuffs
,
charged the officers while holding a piece of broken sidewalk in his hand. He had gray rotted skin and patches where dried muscle showed through. The police drew their guns and fired. With bullets hitting their target, the crazed heavy metal band re-animated body continued running at them. When he reached the front line, he tried to smash the rock into the helmets of the men. One officer grabbed the deceased's arm and tried to shake the rock
loose
. The zombie turned and bit the man's hand. As he pulled a large piece of flesh
back,
blood splattered over the zombie's face.

More officers opened fire and more
of the
undead retracted their retreat, turned and attacked. A black zombie in a business suite and tie, swung a piece of rebar like a sword. He showed the dexterity and skill of a martial arts master. Firing bullets had no effect as the
well-dressed
dead man dropped each officer he approached.

Colton
stepped over the concrete barrier, lifted his gas mask and called out to his men. "Bring the line together. You're too spread out. They're breaking through the openings and flanking us." He watched
,
as his men hid behind cars and trees
,
firing wildly down the street. "No, come back to the center of the street and form your tight line."

Through the cloud of smoke covering the street
,
just beyond the barrier, more zombies appeared. They grabbed his men and began biting any exposed skin. Through his radio,
Colton
heard General Brown ask, "
Colton
. What's going on over there? Why haven't you called for the truck?"

John grabbed his radio and replied, "General, this went south real fast. It's not the goose roundup we expected. These re-ans are fighting back. My men are out of ammo and they've overrun our front line. We need to withdraw from the quarantined zone."

Over the speaker came, "Out of ammo! Ignoring every science fiction movie ever made, you thought bullets would stop zombies? Get your men out of there now!"

As
Colton
called out the order for his men to fall back behind the concrete road barrier, another wave of undead swarmed over his men. Outnumbered and out of bullets, the police force tried to flee
,
but the zombies overwhelmed them. With several re-animated holding each officer to the ground, they took bite after bite out of the living. John continued to call out to his officers to retreat
,
but he could no longer see any movement through the smoke. Slowly
,
the screams of his men died
out,
until only the moans and hisses of the zombies remained.

A shadow grew large in the smoke
,
as something ran directly at him.
Colton
pulled out his taser and aimed at the approaching body. From smoke, Morton Schimmple, his only remaining officer
,
appeared and jumped over the barrier. John relaxed his grip and asked, "Where are the others?"

In a panic, Morton responded, "They're dead! Those things are eating them. We need to get out of here now."

As his officer tried to run away, John grabbed his shoulder and said, "Wait, here comes someone."

A silhouette moved out of the smoke, close to the barrier. John saw one of his officers walking slowly toward him. The man had blood covering his face with several areas
of
skin and muscle bitten and torn away. "Johnson, is that you? Let's get you to the paramedics."

As the officer walked into the light,
Colton
saw the white milky eyes and blank expression on his face. Morton turned and ran as he called out, "He's one of them!"

Colton
raised his taser and said, "You're going to be
okay,
Johnson."

The approaching officer answered in a language of moans. Two more officers walked out of the smoke speaking in the same un-translatable words.
Colton
holstered his taser and ran off down the street.

A squirrel ran across the floor with part of a cracker in its mouth. Outside the building, ravens cawed and the gentle breeze whistled through the tree branches. Voices of the small groups of zombies echoed and bounced around the warehouse. In the center of the large vacant industrial space, Hod tried to start a fire on a pile of broken wooden pallets sparking a piece of flint against a shard of steel. Prometheus stood near a window letting the sun's rays bask on his face. He could not sense the golden warmth
,
but
he
let his mind imagine what it should feel like if he were still alive. With his eyes closed, he saw himself back in
Greece
standing on a cliff overlooking the dark blue sea. The wind blew through his toga as the salt air filtered through his nose. He could hear the seagulls squawking and the waves crashing on the rocks below. For the first time, a sense of calm flowed through the body he inhabited
,
but it all came to a sudden stop.

"Hey
,
dude, the Roman and the Viking want you to join their little pow
-
wow."

Prometheus opened his eyes and saw Drew standing next to him pointing to a group gathered next to a large hydraulic press. Nemi, the Egyptian in the motorcyclist's body, waved him over.

As he joined the group, Titus caught him up on the conversation. "To organize our growing society, I have scribed a structure of government to help us achieve the task given to us by the gods. It is the system we used in
Rome
with governors and senators representing the greater number of voices. I have spoken with many of the moderns and this structure has endured through the centuries and with various forms
it
is still in use today."