Ray watched as a ghostly white head peeked out of the trash receptacle. It rose into daylight as Teddy continued tugging on his rifle. A large chunk of the slug’s forearm was gone, but most of his face was still intact. He made eye contact with Ray and opened his jaws. No sound came out, and a moment later, Ray saw why. Its throat had been ripped free, and tendons and gristle dangled and flopped against the creature’s chest. It appeared as if they had been yanked out by hand rather than shredded with teeth. A barely audible bubbling hiss emanated from the hole in its neck as the ghoul grabbed the side of the dumpster and slithered out.
Teddy saw the man’s face and finally let go of the rifle, darting back out of the range of its hands. The rotter wobbled momentarily, but kept its balance on the edge of the trash bin. It took a swipe at Teddy, who promptly tumbled backwards. The mangled man toppled over the side and out of the container to follow him. It fell in front of Teddy and landed on its shoulder. There was an audible snap as the monster’s collarbone broke. Lifting its head, it attempted a moan at the teen who was whimpering pitifully and trying desperately to scoot away from the dumpster. The dead man’s shattered legs flopped uselessly as its body quivered with excitement.
The slug latched onto one of Teddy’s shoes and held on tight as the teenager let out a full-throttle scream and frantically tried to shake the creature off. The boy screamed again, this time in pain, as the creature clamped down hard on his ankle. Its arm flapped wildly as Teddy jitterbugged, but the fingers only tightened their grip. It slid forward, clawing the ground with its other hand in an attempt to gain purchase on the smooth surface. Two fingernails peeled back, and the pockmarked skin underneath ruptured, splitting as its small finger bones clawed even harder on the asphalt.
Teddy landed a sharp kick with his free leg and caved in the ghoul’s nose. Its head rocketed backwards, but the hands continued pulling it toward the boy. As its head came back down after the kick, the teen swore that the slug was smiling at him. The blackened tongue wiggled in its mouth as the monster moved closer to Teddy’s leg.
Three shots rang out in quick succession, startling Teddy as he prepared to kick at his assailant again. The first bullet made the rotting body jump; the second hit its shoulder, sending a spray of bone fragments and shredded flesh into the air. There was no blood, but the arm wobbled. The third shot sheared off the back of its skull along with a sizeable chunk of brain matter. The monster glared at Teddy a moment longer and then collapsed on its jaw, which slammed shut as it hit the ground. The milky white irises remained fixed on Teddy as the boy wrestled his foot free from the ghoul’s clenched fist. He scrambled backwards, desperate to put some distance between him and the corpse.
“Holy shit, I got him!”
Ray had barely stirred the whole time the infected man attacked his friend. The only things he had moved were his arm and his trigger finger. A small wisp of smoke curling up from the barrel was the only hint that he had done anything at all.
“I nailed that thing! Yeah!” Ray raised the gun above his head and roared in exhilaration. It was the first time he had fired the weapon and the first infected he had ever killed. He felt ecstatic.
Teddy was staring at him, stunned, as Ray did several more fist pumps. He missed the movement near his friend’s feet.
Ray’s cries of joy turned to howls of agony as he felt teeth sinking into his ankle.
Chapter 15
Jeff and George were making swift work of the general store when they heard the shots.
A quick inspection had found few useful items remaining on the shelves. The place had been ransacked and abandoned long ago. George had set to work collecting anything that looked edible, but the pickings were slim. Jeff searched the store for bodies, living or dead, and found neither. There were no blood trails or splatters marking any sort of battle. Just dust bunnies and a few useless items like surge protectors and garden hoses to pick through.
When they heard the loud reports from outside, they both froze in place. The walls muffled the noise enough that Jeff did not immediately realize what it was. He wondered why in the hell a car was backfiring and moved to the front door. He blinked in the harsh sunlight as his eyes adjusted. When he was able to see, the first thing he noticed was that Ray and Teddy were not standing by the door. A sickening dread filled him.
George navigated across the debris-strewn floor when he saw Jeff pushing open the door, also noticing that the two teenagers were missing.
“Where the hell are the boys?”
Jeff didn’t bother answering as he rushed out to the parking lot. He heard a bloodcurdling scream and several more shots. Another scream intermingled with the first, this one higher in pitch and filled with shock, not pain. Jeff swore he could hear shouting, but the gunshots devoured everything else. He had no idea where it was coming from. George was right behind him, and they ignored the flattened corpse of the jumper as they tried to track the sounds. After a few seconds of listening, Jeff ran to the side of the building.
As he did, Jeff caught a glimpse of Marcus stepping out of the Hole in the Wall across the street, a small crate under one arm, the pump-action shotgun in the other. Frank’s buddy didn’t appear to be in any sort of rush to find out what had happened. Instead, he stood watching as Jeff ran furiously toward the sound of screaming.
Jeff felt the shakes coming on as he rounded the corner.
What he saw at first confused him. There was an inert corpse next to the dumpster, but that was not what drew his eye. It appeared as if Teddy and Ray were wrestling with one another. Teddy was yanking on Ray’s leg like he was possessed as the other boy beat on Teddy in response. Jeff stutter-stepped, trying to get his bearings. As he moved closer, he realized what was actually happening.
“Oh my God,” George said as he caught up to Jeff.
One of the infected had attached itself to Ray’s ankle. He and Teddy were doing their best to force it to let go by yanking at it and beating on its head, but it was ignoring their efforts. Jeff rushed up and pushed Teddy out of the way, dropping his baseball bat as he knelt next to Ray.
George dropped his bag and grabbed Teddy before the boy could react. He wrapped the teen in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground as Teddy struggled. George was shocked at the kid’s strength; he was wiry and compact, a bundle of muscle with the vigor and energy of youth behind it. But as determined as Teddy was to break free, George was twice his size, and his arms were like bands of iron.
Jeff swallowed hard as nausea nearly overpowered him. Ray was still alert and pounding on the creature with the butt of his empty handgun. Despite the urgency of the situation, Jeff took a steadying breath and tried to figure out what to do.
The ghoul on Ray was probably as decrepit a specimen as Jeff had ever seen. Its tangled greasy hair was pressed to its scalp, and the age spots beneath were pronounced. Major patches of graying skin were missing from the skull, and it had no nose or eyes. Instead, there were gaping holes where its facial features had once been. The ears had been torn off, and some sort of black oil oozed from the ragged holes on the sides of the creature’s skull. Its lone arm was latched firmly onto Ray’s leg. The skeletal hand had only a spider web of skin remaining, but there were strips of flesh still dangling from the arm, displaying sinewy muscle underneath. Both legs were gone, along with a significant portion of the lower torso. The spinal column, with various threads of meat still attached, dangled below a violent tear at the base of its ribcage. It was hard to tell, but the throat and chest, which were facing the ground, also looked decimated. What remained of the pathetic creature was latched firmly to Ray’s ankle, smacking its lips as its teeth dug deeper into his flesh. The boy screamed, and Jeff flinched.