Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 21

I looked around me desperately for a way out of the traffic jam but we were hemmed in on all sides.  "Let me guess!" Lucas yelled.  " We run for it?"

"We run for it!"  I scrambled out of the vehicle and made for the side of the highway.  Around me, people were craning their heads, trying to see what was happening.  For all I knew, it could be a fire or a chemical spill, but I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to find out, if I could help it. 

The flood of panicked people poured past us.  I struggled to push past them but it was like trying to fight through a storm surge.  For every foot of progress I made, I was pushed back two.  I looked around anxiously for Emma and Lucas.  Several feet away, they were clearly in the same boat.  Emma looked at me helplessly.

An agonised scream shot through the confusion.  Jerking my head around, I saw a woman thrashing on her car boot with a man tearing at her stomach.  Another terrified cry on my left: a teenage boy was being pulled through the back seat window of his car even as his mother clutched desperately at his legs.  Pandemonium broke out as people realised that the zombies were amongst them. 

I was sickened as I realised that this traffic jam would offer up a smorgasbord for the zombies.  The living didn't stand a chance.  The stalled cars offered no protection as the zombies' hammering hands soon broke through the thin windows.  On all sides, I saw people kicking and screaming as they were dragged out of car windows.  Panic-stricken, others abandoned their cars to make a run for it but found themselves struggling to move through the congested gaps between the car.  We were hemmed in on all sides.  Through the mass of people around me, I saw, with something close to panic, the pallid faces of zombies closing in on all sides.  We were sitting ducks.

Desperately, I caught Emma and Lucas' eye.  "Under the cars!" I mouthed.  With a judicious use of elbows, I created enough breathing space to wriggle down to ground level and roll under a car.  Peering around me, I spotted Emma and Lucas crawling up towards me, one car across.

The terrified screams of the people around us flooded my ears.  The zombies picked them off like sharks at a feeding frenzy.  People started scrambling over cars and shoving people over in a frantic attempt to escape the death that surrounded them.  A few feet from me,  a young long-haired woman in t-shirt and jeans collapsed to the road, blood gushing from a ragged hole in her throat.  Two slack-faced zombies fell upon her  As she struggled weakly to rise, they tore with bare hands at her bare stomach.  My gorge rose as they pulled away chunks of flesh.  I closed my eyes and turned the other way. 

A child of about four years was lying on his belly between the cars.  His big brown eyes met mine for a long moment and then he was gone, swept from view by a stampede of feet.

Swallowing hard, I waited until I could catch Emma and Lucas' eye.  I pointed forward.  It was going to be a long and uncomfortable crawl but, as far as I could see, our only option was to make our way to the front of the traffic jam. The other two nodded their understanding.

On elbows and knees, I commando crawled from one car to another.  For once, I was grateful for the Australian tendency to drive bumper to bumper.  Emma and Lucas kept pace with me in the row of cars a few feet away. 

Around us, death poured down on the drivers and their passengers like oil on fire. Bodies fell to the ground, blood pouring from raw wounds, only to rise and attack the people around them.  The cries of pain and terror was unending and unbearable.  I tried to block it out, tried to focus on just getting out of here alive, but every scream shot through my body like a knife.  After fifteen minutes of travelling this way, seeing unimaginable images of suffering, my body started to shake uncontrollably. 

As I paused to rest my arms, the family in the car above me fell under attack.  The mother shrieked as her children were dragged out of the car.  "No, no, no!  Leave them be! Let my babies go!"  The pain in her voice was unendurable as the children's screams abruptly ended.  Blood splattered to the ground around me.  The mother's sobs became a gurgle and then stopped.

For a moment, my throat was so tight with tears, I couldn't breathe.  I looked across at Emma.  Her eyes looked back at me with compassion and reassurance.  You can do this, they said.  I swallowed and smiled briefly at her.  I'm okay.  Taking a deep breath, I crawled on. 

Five minutes on, I began to notice a diminishment in the amount of people - and zombies- around me.  I must be getting near the front of the line, I thought gratefully as my forty year old body was screaming in protest.

As I dragged my trembling arms along the length of another car, a body on my left stirred.  His intestines lay strewn across the bitumen.  I froze as his eyes blinked open.  Then, slowly, he turned his head and looked straight at me.  I stopped breathing as our eyes met for a long moment.  Without blinking, he pushed himself to his knees and moved towards me.  Shit!  I scurried forward as quickly as I could, trying to put some distance between us.  The zombie continued to crawl alongside the cars, never taking his eyes off me. 

From the corner of my eye, I could see Emma and Lucas keeping pace with me.  A hand closed suddenly around my ankle.  I gasped and kicked out desperately with my other leg.  It connected with the zombie's face as he inched under the car towards me.  A second head appeared under the car and another zombie started to crawl laboriously towards me.  Trying to stay calm, I reached back and, pulling my parang out, hacked fiercely at the hand clutching me.  It was hard to get much momentum with so little room but, thank god,  the sheer weight of the parang did most of the work, cutting half way through the wrist on the first swing.  Trying not to panic as the second zombie came closer, I swung again and succeed in severing the hand. With a shudder of revulsion, I shook it off my leg.  As the other zombie's fingers brushed my pants, I rolled away and scrambled into the open.  My limbs ached in protest as I stood up.

A couple of cars down, two zombies emerged from cars, attracted by the noise.  Then another three, no, four, popped their heads up from between the vehicles.  Everywhere I looked, I saw zombies turning towards me.  Oh, this is not good, I thought with a touch of hysteria.  The one armed zombie and his companion started pulling themselves from beneath the car beside me.  Oh no you don't. Stepping forward, I placed a foot on the back of the closest one and, hoisting my parang up,  lopped his head off.  As it rolled away from his body, I moved to the next zombie and, pinning its head with my foot, proceeded to remove it.

Looking up, I could see an empty highway not thirty feet from me.  The road ahead was blocked by a pile-up.  Four smashed cars stretched across the highway, forming a tangled metal barrier.  I felt Lucas and Emma coming to stand beside me while I tried to assess our options.  They looked pretty bleak.

If we could just get to the empty highway, we would have a chance, but to do so, we would have to run a gauntlet of undead bodies.  Even as I hesitated, the gaps between the cars  rapidly filling with undead bodies moving towards us.

"On top of the cars!"  Lucas blurted. "We might be able to make it if we run across the tops of the cars."  I looked at the bumper to bumper line of cars stretching  before us and then at the dead bodies lining the sides.  Without another word, I scrambled on the bonnet of the nearest sedan and leapt onto the boot of the next car.  The thumps behind me told me that my friends had followed suit.  Over the roof and down onto the bonnet and a leap onto the next vehicle.  My heart leapt.   This might just work!

As I climbed onto a truck bed,  dozens of corpses mobbed the vehicle and reached for me.  Carefully, I kept to the middle of the truck bed, avoiding the forest of grasping hands on both sides.  I clutched my parang tightly in my hand as I scaled the roof and surveyed the obstacle course before me.  Eight zombies were grouped around the lower bonnet, hands pawing at the air as their dull eyes stared at me. 

With a deep breath, I launched myself through the air, landed on the bonnet and immediately pushed off again.  I felt hands grasping at my clothes but falling away as I scrambled over the roof of the next vehicle.  Ahead, I could see more and more zombies lining the vehicles like some kind of perverse ticket parade. 

I knew that if I stopped to think about it, I would quail so I just ran.  Over and over, I clambered over roofs and dodged hands.  I had a terrifying moment moving from a volkswagon to a four wheel drive.  For a moment, as I climbed over the back of the larger vehicle, a hand succeeded in hooking itself in my pants.  Holding on with one hand, I viciously lashed out with my parang and buried it in the arm of a young girl of about eleven years old, almost severing it.  Yanking my leg away, I was free to continue my climb over the roof of the four wheel drive.

I drew a quivering breath as I saw the roadblock ahead and, beyond it, the open highway.  A quick look back showed Emma and Lucas just one car behind.  I waited for them to join me as I looked for a vehicle that could negotiate the small gap in the road not blocked by the pile-up.

"Um."  Lucas said hesitantly.  "I have a suggestion."  As we turned to look at him, he pointed at a motorbike lying on its side, blood splattered on the ground beside it. Emma and I glanced at each other and then back at him.  "Can three of us even fit on it?!" Emma asked dubiously.

He shrugged.  "If they can fit a whole family on them in Asia, I think we can squeeze three skinny folks on this one."  Glancing around at the growing group of zombies,  I knew that we were out of time - and options.

Without waiting for a response, Lucas leapt off the vehicle and dashed over to the Honda motorcycle and righted it.  I knew he had a trail bike at home but it seemed to me that this was a whole different kettle of fish.   However, Lucas seemed to think differently and immediately kickstarted the bike into life.  With an ostentatious squealing of wheels, he roared to the front of the car and revved the engine.  It was the signal for us to climb on behind him.  Scrambling down, Emma squeezed onto the seat behind him and I jumped precariously onto the rear section over the exhaust,  clutching Emma's waist tightly.

With a surge of power, the bike roared forward. Instinctively, I leaned over to counter the tilt as we flew past the roadblock and onto the blissfully empty highway, leaving the mayhem behind us.  

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 20

We scrambled out from under the van and raced across the paved area to the door.  The zombies at the window immediately lurched towards us.  I grabbed the door handle and turned.  It was locked.  "Hey, in there!" I called softly but urgently.  We didn't need to attract attention, if we could help it.   "Let us in!"  I shook the door handle to reinforce the fact that there were people out here.  Nothing.  Only silence greeted us.  I guess I was mistaken about someone being in there.

Lucas readied his bat as the zombies stumbled up the wooden stairs.  He looked nervous but determined.  I moved across to a window and peered inside but I couldn't see any movement.  Nothing for it but to break the window, I decided reluctantly.  That was bound to attract unwanted attention.  A grunt behind me drew my eye and I saw Lucas and Emma slam their bats into the faces of the two zombies, sending them flying off the stairs.  From their uniforms, they must have worked at the resort.

Using my bat as a battering ram, I broke the window glass and cleared it away from the frame.  I suspected we only had a short window of time before other zombies came to investigate the noise.  Gesturing to the others, I clambered through the window.  There was a counter with brochures in the right corner and a door just beyond it which I assumed was an office.

Where would one keep car keys, I wondered.  As Emma and Lucas climbed into the room, I raced behind the counter and started searching the drawers.  Emma passed me, headed for the office, while Lucas nominated himself to keep a lookout.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" The enraged voice came from a large, red faced man standing in the doorway of the office, waving an angry finger at us.  "You think you can steal from me?!  I'll kick your bloody arses, all of you, if you don't get the hell out of here now!"  Startled, Emma backed away to stand next to me.

I straightened up slowly and talked soothingly to the belligerent man.  Presumably, he was the owner or the manager of the resort.  "I'm sorry, sir.  We didn't know you were here.  We'd really appreciate it if you would give us the keys to one of your vehicles."  It did not occur to me that he wouldn't be willing to help us in these extraordinary circumstances.  I was wrong.

"Oh I bet you would, missy." He sneered.  "Well, you can go back to your looter friends out there and tell them that I've called the police.  They're on their way now."  He gestured at the two zombies who had picked themselves up and were banging at the door.  Thankfully, they hadn't yet discovered the broken window.

I exchanged a surprised look with Emma.  "Looters?  That's what you think is going on?"

Lucas suddenly spoke up.  "You might want to hurry this up, guys.  We've got company."  Shit!

I looked at the large, blustery man in front of me and anger started to blossom within me.  All the screaming and mayhem going on in his park, and it was clear this man had not so much as stepped foot outside this office to assist his customers.

I pulled out the parang and held it up, noting with satisfaction the sudden widening of his eyes.  "Look, mister," I said, oh so calmly.   "I've already killed a lot of people today, and, frankly,  I am quite happy to add one more to the list.  Give me the keys to a car right now or I'm going to start chopping pieces off you until you do." 

He swallowed hard, which surprised me a bit.  I must sound very convincing.

"Guys...!" Lucas sounded a lot more urgent.  I stepped forward with the parang, holding the man's eyes.  He backed away and threw his hands up. "Okay!  Take the bloody keys.  They are on the pinboard in the office."  I nodded at Emma and she skittered past him into the room.

"There are about a dozen car keys here!  Which one do we take?"

I cocked a questioning brow at the man, whose face was becoming more flushed by the minute. 

He scowled but answered. "The orange one belongs to the closest jeep."

Emma hurried out, clutching the keys.  "Got it. Let's go."  I nodded and backed away, grabbing my bat as I passed the desk.  As we joined Lucas at the window, I paused to look back at the man.  "Those aren't looters out there, mister, and I'm pretty sure you had no luck reaching the police.   I would suggest you get out while you can."  He glared at me contemptuously.  Shrugging, I clambered out of the window.

Not a minute too soon, either.  The paved courtyard was full of zombies, all with only one thing on their simple minds. The three of us. The front ones had already reached the office stairs.  In silent agreement, we jumped off the verandah and flew across the pavers to the car park where the jeeps were stationed. 

Lucas and I jumped into the first jeep as Emma stilled her trembling fingers while she tried to place the keys in the ignition.  "It doesn't fit!" She squealed in dismay.  Anger coursed through me and I felt a moment of intense regret that I hadn't chopped a few pieces off the miserable bastard!   He might have cost us our lives, I thought, as zombies flooded around and in between the vehicles in the car park.

"Try the last vehicle!" I yelled at Emma as I leapt out of the jeep and swung my bat at the nearest zombie.  He bounced off a car and collapsed onto the ground.  From the corner of my eye, I saw Lucas ram his bat into the stomach of a zombie and push it violently back into the creatures behind it.  With the tiny bit of breathing space we had gained, the three of us backed away and ran down the line of parked vehicles until we reached the last jeep. 

Lucas and I held our bats at the ready as Emma shakily stuck the keys in the ignition.  Please God, let this be the one.   Relief made me weak in the knees as I heard the wonderful sound of the car engine starting.  The jerk turned out to be pretty predictable in his thinking, after all. Emma scrambled over into the passenger seat as Lucas hopped into the back.  I guess I'm driving, I thought wryly.  Throwing the bat on the backseat, I jumped into the driver's seat and sent the jeep into a screeching reverse, cutting a swathe through the huddle of zombies immediately behind us.  As I threw the jeep into first gear, a zombie succeeded in grabbing Emma's arm.  Emma screamed as the zombie brought its mouth towards her bare skin.  Viciously, Lucas jammed his bat into the creature's mouth and held it at bay as, with a squeal of wheels, I sent the jeep charging forward.

Ahead of me, blocking our exit from the park, was the boom gate. I placed my foot down on the accelerator.

"Lori, you're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" squeaked Emma, clutching her door frame.

I smiled grimly.  "You'd better duck."  I crossed my fingers mentally, closed my eyes and sent the car crashing through the barrier.  The light wooden pole splintered into many pieces and I roared out of the park onto the highway.

On the highway,  horns beeped and tires screeched as drivers desperately tried to get ahead of others.  The calm on the road of only half an hour ago had rapidly deteriorated into anger and fear.  I braked sharply to avoid hitting a car as it cut ahead of me.  I crawled past two cars that had collided minutes earlier as the owners harangued each other.

"This is mayhem." Emma muttered anxiously, her eyes darting from car to car.  "We should get off this road as quickly as we can."

I agreed but, unfortunately, the first turnoff was at least a mile away.  If we could make it there, though, it would take us straight to my sister's.  I prayed that this madness had not reached there yet.  Fear surged through me as I wondered if Roy and the kids had reached the house safely.  I shied away from the thought - there was nothing I could do about that at the moment. 

I fought the chaos successfully for another half mile or so before movement came to a standstill.  The horns beeped futilely and drivers cursed and yelled in vain.  None of us were going anywhere.

"What do you think is going on?" Lucas asked, standing on the back of the jeep to get a better view.  I shrugged, trying not to let my anxiety show. "An accident blocking the road, probably."  Maybe, maybe not.  My ears strained to hear anything that would give me a clue.  With all the honking and yelling, it was hard to separate the different sounds.  Still, that whine I could hear above the general noise seemed to be getting louder...

Too late, I realised the sound I was hearing was not a whine but cries - the cries of hundreds of people fleeing.  They poured towards us through the stalled vehicles like ants fleeing a fire.

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 19

The kitchen contained the basics that campers would need to cook dinner - stove top, a couple of pans and pots, some cutlery, a kettle and a microwave.  That was pretty much it.

Coming to a decision, I whispered my plan to the others and then, very quietly,  gathered the pots and pans, carefully placed the metal cutlery in them, and moved to the doorway furthest from the dining zombies.  'Here goes nothing.'  I muttered under my breath, preparing to throw the items onto the paved pathway.  A hand shot out and gripped my wrist.  Startled, I looked up to meet Lucas' apologetic eyes.  "Sorry, Lori" he whispered.  "but you throw like a girl.  If we're going to do this, we need this stuff to land as far from us as possible."  Hell, I couldn't argue with that!  Silently, I handed over the pots and pans to him and gestured for him to go ahead. 

He launched the pots and then the pans through the air. With unerring aim,  they landed an impressive twenty feet away on the pavement.  The noise as they landed was shattering!  I cringed back, terrified that the plan would backfire and bring the zombies straight to us.

I crept back to the other entrance and poked my head around the doorway.  Sure enough, five of the six zombies had staggered to their feet and moved off to investigate the racket.  One, however, would not be distracted from his menu.  Fortunately, he had his back to us so we could still go ahead as planned.

Gesturing to the others, I -  oh so gently - placed my feet on the grass.  Light as a ballet dancer, I tiptoed towards the end of the kitchen block and peered around it.  In every direction, I could see zombies  but, thankfully, none in the immediate vicinity.  With a bit of luck, we might make it to the laundry without being seen. Holding my bat forward in readiness, I crept across the grass towards the laundry, my eye always on the back of the crouching zombie.  To my relief, I reached the laundry without incident.

"Now what?"  Emma gasped as she joined me in the laundry.  A fine sheen of sweat coated her lip. 

I shrugged.  "More of the same till we reach the office, I guess." 

She groaned. "I was afraid you'd say that."

The laundry also sported two entrances.  From the far one, I could see that we were approaching the caravan portion of the park.  And beyond it, the large 'Reception' sign stood like a beacon above the building we sought.  Almost there!  I felt like doing a jig.

A dash across the path brought us unseen to a space between the two nearest caravans.  As we paused to catch our breaths,  the sound of dragging feet hit us.  They were near, really near.  But which direction?! Pressing ourselves against the caravan wall, we froze as a zombie lurched by on our left. I watched him from the corner of my eye as he passed only a few feet away.  The bloodstained skin showed that he had already dined on human flesh. 

As the zombie disappeared, I let out a shaky breath.  Jerking my head at the others,  I inched around the caravan.  It was clear on the other side so we raced to the rear of the next caravan.  My hands were clammy and cold as I pressed myself against the caravan wall.  The bat was threatening to slip out of my grip.

We made our way through a few more rows of caravans unseen, hearts pumping, hands sweating.  At any moment, I expected to be spotted and hear the terrifyingly familiar sound of many moans mingling with hundreds of clumsy footsteps dogging me. 

Then, the moment I had dreaded, panicked human voices, running towards us, undoubtedly bringing  a lot of zombies in their wake.

I exchanged an alarmed look with Emma.  Quickly, I moved to the front of the caravan and risked a look around.  My stomach dropped as I saw three young children, a boy and two girls of about ten years old, running as fast as their young legs could take them.  In their wake, a horde of about forty zombies.  For all their uncoordination, the zombies as a group covered a lot of ground and seemed to be closing the gap. 

I could see the children's terrified faces.  They weren't aware of us but, nevertheless, they were bringing the zombies straight to us.  I pulled back, pulse pounding and heart aching.  They would be on us in seconds.  What to do, what to do? 

"Quick! Under the caravan!" I whispered urgently as I fell to my knees and, pushing the bat in front, scurried under the van.  Emma and Lucas speedily joined me.  A few seconds later, I saw the children's feet as they  flew past the caravan.

Crawling forward until I could see what was happening, I watched in horror as the scene continued to unfold before me.

As the children ran towards the exit, I had a moment of hope that they would escape.  They were young and fast; if they kept their heads, they might just make it!

Then, coming from the playground side of the park, I spotted another group of zombies moving towards the children.  Their trajectory would soon block the children's escape route.  Dammit, dammit, dammit!

The taller of the girls spotted the second group closing in on them.  For just a few seconds, she faltered.   I watched helplessly as the most agile of the following zombies succeeded in wrapping his fingers around her arm.  She screamed in terror and tugged in a desperate attempt to escape his clutch.  But within seconds, she was sucked from sight into the horde.  For several seconds, I could hear her terrified cries.  Tears streamed down my face as I turned my eyes away.

The boy swung away and headed for the pool with the girl in tow.  Yes, I silently screamed in excitement, get inside the gated area!  I watched the boy struggling to reach the magnetic lock on top of the gate as the zombies neared them.  Come on!  Suddenly, the gate swung open and the two children fled inside, slamming the gate shut behind them.  They stood, paralysed, next to the pool as they waited to see if the zombies could get in. 

They could not. The creatures milled around the gate, arms pawing in the air as they tried futilely to reach the children. 

Shaken, I whispered to the others.  "I think we'd better keep under the vans.  There are just too many zombies around."  They nodded nervously.  Checking first, we kept low as we made a dash for the next caravan and threw ourselves under it.  In this manner, we made our way to the edge of the caravan park.  There, across the large paved courtyard, stood the front office. 

Just as Lucas had indicated, in the carpark across from it, were several jeeps with the resort's logo emblazoned across the sides.

Two zombies banged on the windows of the office.  I guess that meant they could see someone in there. 

"Do you have a plan for getting inside, Lori?" Lucas asked.

"Sure." I replied.

"What?"

"Run for it."

A long silence followed.  "You know, Lori," Lucas said in a conversational tone.  "You really need to make up some new plans.  This one is getting really old."

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 18

"We need another vehicle." I knew it was time to get moving again, even though part of me just wanted to stay here forever where it was safe and quiet.  "Any ideas?"

Lucas held up a finger.  "The staff car park?  The keys would be in the staff room."

I stared at him disbelievingly.  "You want to go back into the school?"  The thought of the hundreds of corpses waiting for us there sent a shiver through me.

He shuddered as the same thought obviously occurred to him.  "Um, no.  Not really."

We sat in silent thought for several more minutes.

"We could try some of the neighbourhood homes here." Emma offered tentatively.

 I shook my head firmly.  "We aren't going to take away other people's only chance of escape."

Flipping open the mobile, I rang Kaye.  "Maybe Roy is at my sister's.  He could come get us."  The line was busy.  Frowning, I tried again and got a busy signal again. 

Lucas spoke again. "There's the caravan park across the highway.  I see a lot of resort vehicles coming and going.  They probably wouldn't miss one."

Emma nibbled her lip, a nervous habit of hers.  "There could be zombies there too."

"Considering their proximity, it would seem a likely bet." I agreed as I mulled the idea over in my head.

It did seem our best option at the moment, I concluded unethusiastically.

I sighed. "Let's try the park.  We stay out of sight, get in and get out as quickly as we can, alright?"  Reluctantly, I pushed myself to my feet.  "Can you get us there without being seen, Lucas?" 

He stood up, brushing off his long shorts.  "I think so.  We stick to the gully until we get to the highway, take the underpass and then up the hill and we're there."  Emma watched him with a mix of emotions - pride, fear, love.   He was handling this crazy situation with a practicality that was admirable in one of any age, let alone fifteen.

"When we get the car, we're going to go find mum and dad, right?"

Emma froze and looked at me helplessly.  Stepping forward, I gripped his shoulder.  "I'm sorry, Lucas.  We've already been to your house.  Your parents... didn't make it."  I prayed that he would let it go at that.  I couldn't bear to have to tell him what part I had played in their deaths.

Lucas' eyes darkened as he stared at me.  His adam's apple bobbed convulsively.  Then he nodded jerkily and turned away.  My heart ached for him.  It was so unfair that he had to go through this but, my god, what a man he was turning into.  His courage, quick thinking...his family had every reason to be proud of him.  Lucas started to speak, stopped for a moment and tried again. "Are they really dead" He jerked his head towards the outside. "or are they still out there?"

I closed my eyes.  "They're dead, Lucas." I made sure of that. 

The boy bent down to pick up his bat.  "We should go."  Head bent against the roof of the drain, he moved towards the exit.  Emma's eyes were shiny with tears.  "I just couldn't tell him..."

"I know." I squeezed her arm understandingly.  "It's not a conversation anyone should have to have.  He's an amazing kid, though, Emma. "

She smiled tremulously as she tucked her bat under her arm.  "He is, isn't he?  Did you see how quickly he accepted the whole zombie situation?  It was, like, 'oh, zombies, okay.' "

Laughing, I agreed.  "If only the adults we've met had adapted so well!"

Lucas was cautiously examining the area around the other end of the drain pipe.  He glanced at us as we joined him.  "Looks clear."

Quietly, we left the security of the pipe and stepped into the open.  Under the blue skies, I felt horribly exposed and vulnerable.  If even one zombie spotted us while we were in the gully, it would bring hundreds of zombies upon us.

We placed our feet carefully, taking care not to step on a crackly  leaf or stick while keeping a nervous watch above us.  Occasionally, we froze as we heard a nearby moan or shuffle, but, to our relief, the sounds faded away. 

When we finally reached the cover of the underpass,  I collapsed against the concrete wall.  "Oh hell, I never want to do that again!"

Emma touched the wall appreciatively.  "The great outdoors is definitely overrated."

"We have to get up that  hill over there."  Lucas interjected.  He pointed to a steep incline a short distance from the overpass.  My stomach sank as I realised we would be heading out into the open again.  However, I knew we weren't really any more protected here than in the open.  Any zombies coming along this road would quickly spot us.  The sooner we moved, the better.

Moving forward to stand beside Lucas, I examined our surroundings carefully.   The road we were on circled around to join the highway above us.  The left bank lay at the bottom of a hill while on the right bank, trees and a wooden barrier indicated the boundaries of the caravan park.  In the distance, I could see some figures shambling along the highway.  I shivered, and craning my head, tried to check out the highway above me.  I ducked back quickly as I spotted a zombie shuffling along the bridge above us.  Putting my finger to my lips, I pointed above me and we waited silently for the shambler to pass.

After a few minutes, I cautiously took another look.  It seemed to be clear.  I strained my ears for any sound that would indicate zombies nearby, but all was quiet.  Not counting the constant scream of sirens in the distance.  It would seem the people here were on their own.

"Okay, let's go."  I tried to look confident but my stomach was already churning.  "We'll make for those trees on the bank and then regroup."

Emma raised a brow teasingly.  "Regroup?"

I blushed a little.  "Maybe I watch too many action movies."  I glanced over at Lucas who stood silent and alert.  "Ready?"  He nodded. 

Never had being under open blue skies on a sunny day felt so frightening.  As I ran, I expected to be confronted by zombies appearing out of nowhere at any moment.  About thirty feet down the road, when I felt we were out of direct line of vision of the highway, I turned and headed up the roadside bank. I didn't check but I could feel Emma and Lucas behind me.  The need to get under cover helped me to negotiate that steep hillside in record time.  My calves screamed in protest as I topped the bank and bolted for the nearby trees.

Emma gasped as she fell in beside me, "There was a zombie on the bridge!"  She took a couple of deep breaths.  "It was looking the other way, though.  I don't think it saw us." 

"God, I hope not!"  I didn't know how many more runs like this was in me.  Lucas, of course, barely show any sign of exertion, apart from a bit of pink in the cheeks.

Within the walls of the tourist park, I could hear shouts and screams.  Along the highway, cars continued to race past.  Were they trying to escape, I wondered, or were they still blissfully ignorant of the disaster facing us?  Across the road, I could see a single figure staggering away from us.  In this town, it would be easy for a driver to dismiss the sight as yet another drunk making their way home, but I knew better.

"Looks like the zombies beat us to the park." Lucas said, matter- of -factly.

"Yeah." I agreed, resignedly.  "But it's still our best option."

"The entrance to the park is about a hundred feet down the road." He gestured to the highway running past us.   Walking to the corner of the fence, I peered around it.  The path beside the road had a lot of natural cover in the form of bushes and trees but I did not feel reassured, spotting several small groups of bodies staggering drunkenly down the road.

"It might be a better idea if we just hopped the fence here." I suggested slowly. 

Lucas raised his dark brows.  "Anything could be waiting for us on the other side."

I acknowledged his point and, after some discussion, we decided to do some careful scouting first.  I kept a lookout while Lucas gave Emma a leg up.  She peered cautiously over the fence for several minutes until Lucas said in a strained voice.  "Are you done, Emma?"  She nodded and he released her quickly.  "Man, how much do you eat, Emma?!  You weigh a tonne!"

"Hey!" She scowled at him. "I've just got heavy bones."

Before they could fall into familiar sibling repartee, I interrupted. "Well?  What did you see?"

Emma frowned. "Not much, really.  This end of the resort is pretty empty.  There are a few cabins that seem unoccupied, and that's it.  I couldn't see what was happening at the other end but it doesn't sound good."  No kidding.  The screaming seemed to have escalated in volume in the few minutes we were standing here.

"Good.  That means this is a good entry point for us."  I wished I felt as confident as I sounded.

Lucas cupped his hand and looked at me.  "You first."

"Gee, thanks." I  said, my voice dripping with irony.  Still, it was my idea.  Sighing, I allowed him to boost me up and over the fence.  Landing clumsily on my knees, I scrambled quickly to my feet and looked around.  Nothing exciting, thank God.  In fact, no sign of life whatsoever.  Or the life-less, I thought with a bit of gallows humour.   The absence of any activity in the area was a relief but also somewhat unnerving when the screams continued unabated not too far away. 

"Okay, Emma.  Your turn." I called softly.  A minute later, she landed on her bum with an 'oof'.

"Nice one, Lucas." She muttered ungraciously as she stood up. 

"Incoming!"

Emma looked up to see our bats come flying over.  "Hey!" She protested.

 With all the agility of youth and long legs, Lucas clambered over the fence gracefully.  "I said 'incoming', didn't I? ". 

As Emma glared at him, Lucas passed out the bats.  "The office is at the other end of the resort." He offered helpfully.  Of course it is.

My plan wasn't very original but, hopefully, it would work.  "If we stick to the trees and bushes, we should be able to make our way to the front unseen."  The other two agreed.  We worked our way from bush to bush, pausing to check the surroundings before making a dash for the next chosen cover.  We progressed maybe halfway across the resort before we saw our first sign of people - and zombies.

From our position behind a grove of palm trees, we watched helplessly as the camping grounds across from us became the killing fields.  Bodies lay strewn across the fields.  Collapsed tents told stories of battles already won or lost.  Not ten feet from me, a man grappled with a slack-faced young woman.  "What the hell!"  He was yelling.  "Get off me, you psycho bitch!"  A little further away, a woman labored to place her screaming children in the car as her husband swung a tent pole wildly in an attempt to keep four zombies at bay.  In a campervan,  I could see the terrified faces of three little kids peering out of the window.  Where were their parents?  Just beyond the caravan, I watched in horror as a pack of corpses brought down a young woman.  As she disappeared beneath them, I had to turn away while I fought to regain my composure. 

I understood now why we had not seen any sign of zombies at the other end of the park.  The campers were proving to be such easy and plentiful targets - tents not offering much protection from flesh-hunting corpses - that the zombies had not yet felt the need to wander deeper into the park.

Taking a deep breath, I turned back and tried to examine the situation objectively.  Some campers had already made it to their car and were fleeing the park .  Others had already lost the battle and joined the zombie horde.  The remaining twenty of so campers were clearly outnumbered by the corpses, three to one. I had to acknowledge to myself that I could not help them, as desperately as I wanted to. 

We were going to have to be even more cautious now.  It was going to be difficult to get past the zombies using the shrubbery, not with the next couple of blocks taken up by utility and entertainment features.  Catching Emma and Lucas' eye, I indicated that we were moving and hurried over to the back of the nearby toilet block.  As we pressed our backs against the wall, I whispered, "If we get separated, we meet at the office.  Okay?"  They nodded, eyes wide and scared.  I swallowed hard and forced myself away from the toilet wall. 

Scurrying like a rat, I ran across the small open space to the kitchens.  I waited for the others to join me and then I slowly inched along the kitchen wall until I reached the corner.  Peering around, I saw a group of zombies standing just a few feet away.  I pulled back quickly and indicated to the others to back up.  We slid back the other way until we reached the other corner.  Emma glanced around the edge of the wall for a long moment and then nodded at us.  I followed her as we slipped quietly into the kitchen. 

A body lay between the camp tables.  A closer examination showed it to be a zombie body, to my surprise.  A cleaver lay buried in its head.  Yay, I thought, strike one for the good guys.  I slid to the far doorway and peeked around it.  The laundry beckoned invitingly about fifteen feet away.  Unfortunately, the route was blocked by zombies hunched over a body, gorging themselves on intestines.  The body may have been male, judging from its length, but at this point, there was not much left to say for sure. 

I wondered briefly what to do next - wait it out or push forward.  In truth, I knew it wasn't really a question.  The camp kitchens didn't have doors so there was nothing to keep the zombies out indefinitely.  Lucas and Emma were looking at me questioningly.  I did the universal sign for zombies - two arms held limply out in front of me - while I wracked my mind for an answer.  We needed a distraction, I decided.  The question was, what?

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 17

As we raced down the fenced walkway towards the hall, the zombies rapidly filled in the space behind us.  Urging the stocky little boy to find an extra burst of speed, I kept an anxious eye on the rapidly diminishing gap. I marvelled at how much faster the zombies seemed to move as a pack. It seemed the momentum of many bodies carried them forward as rapidly - and as inexorable - as a lava flow travelling downhill.  I shivered involuntarily as an image of the zombies flowing over me like lava absorbing a rock flashed across my mind.  It had been too close.

On the other side of the lattice fence, zombies dotted the garden that ran the length of the walkway.  They lurched instinctively forward as they spied us.  I veered over to the wall as one reached over the hip-high barrier.  The boy was still sticking close to me with Emma and Lucas bringing up the rear.  As more and more zombies moved to the fence, moaning and pawing at us, we had to slow down to make sure we got past them safely.   Unfortunately, a glance behind me showed, that allowed the zombies behind us to get ever closer.  "Lori..!" Emma called nervously, looking over her shoulder. 

"I know, I know!" Just ahead, the path opened onto a grassy stretch.  The hall was only a short run from there.  We could get the kid to safety and then circle the school back to our vehicle.

Seconds later, I knew that plan was blown to hell as dead-eyed kids stumbled onto the walkway ahead of me. 

"Hell!"  I stopped and looked at the others, feeling my heart pounding in my chest.  Fifty or more zombies already blocked the walkway on our left and now the right side was rapidly filling up.  And in front of us...

"Follow me!" I yelled, stopping to give the boy a hard stare. He gulped and nodded vigorously.  Finding a good-sized space between the zombies lining the fence, I jumped lightly over and immediately beckoned to the boy.  "Come on!"  Terrified but obedient, he hurdled over the lattice awkwardly, falling on his knees.  With the cricket bat, I whacked a zombie that staggered too close as Emma and Lucas joined us.  We could make it, I realised excitedly.  This stretch only had a few zombies.  The majority, thank god, seemed to be stuck in the walkway trying to work out how to reach us! 

Wordlessly, the three of us formed a blockade around the boy and held our cricket bats in readiness as we dodged and weaved our way past the zombies in the garden.  Once past them, it was a clear run to the large hall.  The doors flung open as we neared it, a woman beckoning to us urgently.  I slowed and stepped aside to let the boy pass me. "Go!"  I said, gesturing to the open doors.  Wordlessly, he darted forward into the teacher's waiting arms.    

"I hope you have a Plan B."  Lucas said, trying hard to maintain his composure.  He and Emma were staring in horrified fascination at the mass of bodies heading in our direction. There must have been a hundred at least, pouring out from both ends of the school.  Young and old, they all had a single goal.  Us.  "Yeah." I murmured, tearing my eyes away from the sight of a dead girl in her bloodstained uniform.  So young.  So inhuman.

"What is it?"

"Run."

Options being pretty  limited, we chose to head across the oval.  With all the zombies, it seemed, on our heels, there was nothing stopping us getting to the ambulance that way.  I hoped.

"I wish I'd gone to gym more often." Emma gasped as she jogged beside me.  It was a sentiment I echoed.  I felt completely burned out and yet the adrenaline continued to pump through my body.

"Almost there." I panted.  I could see the copse of trees blocking my view of the ambulance some fifty feet away and felt relief flooding my body.  We were going to make it.  The zombies were falling behind. 

"Look!"  Lucas yelled as he pointed to our left.  Oh no no.  Pouring across the car parks were more zombies, probably from the estate across the road.    I did some quick estimates of the distance to the car.  It was going to be close.  Without another word, I raced for the road, Lucas and Emma close behind.  I sprinted with every last bit of reserved energy in my body, acutely aware of the wall of bodies closing in on my left.

We burst through the trees to the road and the ambulance waiting on the other side.  Except it wasn't.

We stopped, stunned, for precious seconds as we looked at the space that the vehicle had occupied.

"Come on." Lucas tugged my arm until I moved forward again.  He led us across the street and down into the gully that ran the length of the road.  Silently we raced towards a storm drain.  I felt numb.  Where had Roy gone with the children.  Why had he abandoned us?  Did he leave because he felt the kids were in danger?

When we arrived at the storm drain, Lucas grabbed the grate covering it and with a jerk, removed it. The sound brought me back to the present.  As far as I knew, the kids were safe.  Us, on the other hand...

"Looks like you've done this before." Emma murmured suspiciously to her brother.

He glanced at us as he stepped aside with the grate.  "Nah.  Everyone know it's where the smokers hang out."

The lumbering sounds of heavy feet at the top of the gully told us we were out of time.  I clambered into the drain with Emma and we pressed our backs against the curved wall as Lucas climbed in. Quietly, he pulled the grate back into position.

We held our breath as bodies began stumbling and falling into the gully.  Thump!  One fell so close to us that I could see every detail of the raw wound that marred the left side of his head.  The young adult male pushed himself to his knees and then linked his fingers through the grate to pull himself up.  I tensed, sending up an urgent prayer to the gods above for the grate to stay in place.  Emma clutched my hand convulsively.  As he stood up, his face pressed against the grate.  It was dark in the drain but I had no idea if it was dark enough to hide us from the monster.  I stopped breathing as I saw his dark, cold eyes seemingly looking straight at me.  For a long minute, he pressed against the grate before, finally, moving away.

I slowly released the breath I had been holding.  Emma loosened her grip on my hand but I was so terrified of attracting attention that I daren't even turn my head to look at her.

More and more zombies gathered in the gulch.  Soon it was so thick with bodies that they stood shoulder to shoulder- men, women, the elderly and the students.  The air filled with the sound of their moans.

We sat there, unmoving, for an interminable time.  At least it felt like forever, although it turned out to be only about thirty minutes.  The creatures milled, no doubt trying to locate the warm human bodies they knew were here somewhere.  I breathed as shallowly as I could, petrified that they would hear me.  Sometimes they wandered right up to the grate, appearing to be peering inside.  Any second, I expected them to realise we were here and drag us out.  Each time one came near, my heart hammered so violently against my chest, I feared that it was audible.

Finally, the zombies, one by one, shambled off.  The sound of sirens in the distance suggested there were other targets attracting their attention now.  As the last of the zombies disappeared from sight, the drain reverberated with the sound of all three of us taking our first deep breath in half an hour.

Lucas cleared his throat.  "You know, I thought zombies would be a lot more fun than this."

I laughed  as I ran my hand shakily through my hair.   "Stick with us, kid.  We really know how to show you a good time."  I caught Emma's eye and she grinned weakly in response.  The relief of having escaped with our lives was exhilarating.  I doubted any drug could match the natural high we were all feeling at that moment.

For several minutes, we sat quietly in the dark, relishing the feeling of just being alive.  Outside, we could hear ambulances, fire engines and police sirens constantly. They seemed to be coming from all directions.

"I'm guessing the authorities know about the zombies now." I said wryly.