Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 27

Climbing over the wooden barrier at the bottom of the stairs, I kept low and moved around to the back of the house.  Keeping to the treeline, I made my way across to the elderly couple's home next door.  Nothing to it, I assured myself, get them inside and close those blasted shutters, head out the back door and be back home in five minutes.  Sliding around the side of the home, I reached the corner and took a cautious peek.  A horde of dark shapes filled the street in front of their home.  I could see the shapes of the Brands blocking the light spilling onto the lawn. 

"Oh hell." I muttered.  Before I could rethink the wisdom of my actions, I threw myself around the corner and up the three front steps, shoving the startled couple backwards.  I slammed the door shut behind me and bolted it.

"Lori!" Mrs. Brand gasped, her faded blue eyes wide with alarm.  "What..."  I didn't waste time arguing as I rushed through the hall. "Mr. Brand, where is the remote for your shutters?  You need to put them down now!"

"Oh, uh, I keep it in the lounge room." The old man looked flustered and lost but I did not have time to reassure him.  Racing through an arched opening into the lounge with its surprisingly modern plasma tv and reclining chairs, I spotted a bunch of remotes on top of a display cabinet.

"Which one, Mr. Brand?!" I yelled, feeling the precious seconds ticking by.  I felt sick in the stomach as I heard panicked shouts and screams across the street.  Another home, another family.

"The, the silver one." He stuttered.  I grabbed it and, for a moment, tried to work out what button to press.  Realising that I was wasting time, I thrust the remote in the old man's shaking hand.  "You do it, Mr. Brand. Please hurry!"

Nervously, he ran a bony hand through his thin white hair.  "Okay, let me think a moment..."

The sound of breaking glass hitting the tiled floors in the room across the way brought our heads up sharply.

"Oh my, oh my!"  The little plump woman wrung her hands anxiously. "Why is this happening? What do they want with us?"  More glass broke behind us in the direction of the kitchen and then one of the bedrooms.  We were surrounded.

Panic threatened to overwhelm me.  Running to the lounge window, I peered out, hoping against hope that the route was clear.  Just below the window sill, a sea of soulless faces stared back at me through the gloom.  As they spied me, their arms reached hungrily towards me like a field of plants bending towards the sun.

Turning back, I saw the first dead figures stumbling through the arched doorway.  "Run!" I screamed and shoved the old couple towards the other opening.  The gun! I reached into the back of my pants and pulled out the weapon.  As more zombies piled into the room, I aimed at their heads and fired.  It tore through the side of a zombie's head, causing it to fall backwards into the bodies behind it.  Glancing quickly behind me, I saw that the Brands had, for once, moved quickly and were nowhere to be seen.

I turned and headed after them towards the laundry door.  The route ran directly past the kitchen.  Before I reached it, I heard a pain-filled scream.  Holding my gun in preparation, I turned the corner and saw the old man struggling to hold his wife's arm as she was pulled through the narrow kitchen doorway.  "Let her go, please!"  From Mrs. Brand, I could hear no sounds.

Coming up beside him, a quick look told me that the old woman was already dead.  The three zombies filling the doorway were tearing into her throat and face with the enthusiasm usually reserved for free smorgasbords.  Beyond them, another twelve or so zombies moaned and pushed in their attempt to reach us.

"She's gone, Mr. Brand.  We have to go!" I yelled, knowing we only had seconds to spare. Oblivious to me and the danger, he continued to pull futilely at his wife.  Looking around, I saw the first of the zombies from the lounge stumbling towards me through the narrow hallway.

"Mr. Brand!" I tugged urgently at his sleeve.  With a snarl, he pulled his arm away.  Time had run out.  Torn, I turned and ran for the laundry door at the back of the house.  Behind me, the hall filled with the clumsy steps of hungry zombies.  On my right, I caught a glimpse of bodies filling the hallway outside the bedrooms.  A scream, quickly silenced, lent wings to my feet as I reached the laundry door.  Flinging it open, I fled into the night, straight into a group of lurching figures.

Screaming involuntarily, I skidded to a stop before the group as they turned towards me.  Heart pounding, I spun around and sprinted between the houses towards the road.  As I rounded the corner, the light from the Brands' home revealed several figures standing on the lawn like statues.  They immediately swayed towards me.  Through the rain, I could make out dark figures filling the street ahead.  What the hell do I do now!  Looking to my right, I saw a man standing in the doorway of the home next door.  As I looked at him, he raised his arm to me.  There were zombies on his lawn already moving in my direction.  I knew it was going to be a close call but I was fast running out of options.  I leaped across the flower bed separating the two homes and charged towards the open doorway and the man reaching out to help me.   

Acutely aware of the zombies fast accumulating on my heels, I bolted up the steps of the raised home, two at a time. I glanced up at the man blocking the doorway.  A large man, he filled the doorway, his head cocked as he looked down at me.  Too late I realised it was because a large chunk of his neck had been gored out.  I registered a body in the corridor behind him seconds before he lunged at me.  Crying  out, I stumbled backwards and fell hard onto the pavement, dropping the gun.

In desperation, I drew my legs in and caught the zombie in the stomach as he threw himself on me.  Using his body weight, just like I'd learned in a self-defence class, I launched him up and over my head. Jumping to my feet, I saw I was surrounded by a semicircle of zombies coming ever nearer.  The gun!  Scurrying forward, I grabbed it and backed up the stairs of the home, praying that there were no more zombies lurking behind me.  With shaky hands, I aimed at the closest zombie and shot him him through the head.  It seemed a futile exercise with so many others ready to take his place but I had to try while there was breath in my body.  I'd promised Jessie.

I aimed at another zombie and missed him entirely but the zombies were so close together, that I took out the face of a woman behind him.  She collapsed, taking a couple of other zombies down with her.  A moan erupted from behind me.  Shit!  Spinning around, I saw the dead man on his knees about to plant his teeth in my thigh.  I jammed the gun into his mouth, baring my teeth in a instinctive snarl, and blew the back of his head out.

Jumping over his fallen body, I ran through the house, searching for the back door.  Fortunately, there were no more zombies in the home and I made it to the laundry door unimpeded.  Opening it cautiously, I slipped into the welcoming darkness.

Pressed against the back wall, I froze till my eyes adjusted to the dark, straining my ears for any unnatural sounds over the steady patter of rain.  Shouts, screams, bangs and thuds could be heard all over the street, making it difficult to isolate closer, more dangerous, sounds. 

My peripheral vision caught movement to my right.  Figures were shuffling across the landscape, searching for fresh victims.  I peered at the forest edge, trying to calculate my chances.  Could I make it?  I believed I could but what if the zombies had already made it into the trees?  There would be no way for me to see a zombie lurking amidst all that shrubbery.  I would be a sitting duck.  No, I decided, I had to find another way.  I almost snorted at my own thoughts.  What other fricking way was there?!  Up the street full of zombies?  I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself.  My mind raced through various potential scenarios, none of which ended well for me.  Finally, I settled on a solution which at least had a chance of success.  I would try for the river. 

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 25

"No!" I screamed.  Not as long as there was breath in my body.  I would do whatever it took to save her and suddenly, I knew what I had to do.  I saw Kaye staring wide-eyed at Roy as he rose to his feet, a trace of my daughter's blood on his lips.  I felt a momentary anguish at leaving my inexperienced sister to deal with the monster that had once been Roy, but my child had to come first.  "Stop him, Kaye!  I have to help Sarah." 

Kaye nodded fearfully and stepped forward as Roy started towards us.  I ran past her as I headed for the ironing basket in the corner.  Sarah was screaming loudly now, having registered the bloody stumps on her hand.  Falling to my knees, I grabbed a sock and wrapped it around her arm.  Twisting, I proceeded to make a tourniquet.  As I twisted it tighter and tighter, Sarah's screams turned to howls. "Hurts, mummy, hurts."

Tears dripped down my cheeks.  "I know, baby.  I'm so sorry."

Glancing up, I saw Kaye spin and land a roundhouse kick on Roy's chest that sent him flying back into the sofa.  I blinked in surprise.  While I had known that my sister was a black belt in theory, this was the first time I had ever seen her in action. 

Satisfied that no blood - or virus- could get through the tourniquet, I jumped to my feet and grabbed the long handed shovel near the door.  As Roy rose to his feet and turned towards me, I ran at him, holding the shovel like a spear.  With a violent thrust, I speared him through the throat and propelled him backwards.  The shovel tip buried itself into the wall, leaving Roy dangling like some grotesque marionnette.

Max, Ken and Emma leapt over the baby gate at the top of the verandah stairs and charged into the room.  They came to a stop as they took in the scene before them. 

"Oh, my God."  The aghast whisper came from Michele as she ran into the room followed by Lucas.  "You killed Roy."

I looked at her, adrenaline still coursing through my body. "He was one of them.  And he...he bit Sarah."

Her hands flew to her mouth in horror.  "Oh mummy, no, that means..."

Grimly, I turned away from the body hanging limply against the wall.  "Not if I can help it."

Running past Max and the others, I bolted down the stairs for the ambulance.  I flung its doors open and started rummaging through the supplies.  Within minutes, I had located the scalpel in the trach set, the morphine and the other bits and pieces.  I sat back for a moment, trying to center myself.  My hands were shaking so badly that I knew I would  not be of any use to Sarah if I didn't calm down.  I took a deep breath and then another.  It would all work out, I told myself, Sarah was going to be just fine.  I can do this.

Upstairs, Max and Ken had removed Roy's body.  I didn't know where they had put it and I didn't care.  Picking up my crying daughter, I laid her gently on the dining table.  I grabbed the vial of morphine and drew the quantity I would need for anaesthesia into the syringe.  Emma came up quietly beside me.  "Lori..."

I sent her a hard look.   "If you're here to help, great.  If you're going to try to talk me out of it, then get the hell out of the way."

She touched my arm, her eyes searching mine.  "I'm not exactly sure what you're planning, Lori."

Searching for a vein, I placed the needle carefully against my daughter's skin.  I smiled gently at her.  "This needle will make all the pain go away, baby."  She hiccupped tearfully.  "Hurts, mummy."

I injected the morphine and then stroked Sarah's curly hair.  "There.  It will be all better soon.  You'll see."  As her sobs faded and her eyes slowly closed, I turned to Emma.  The others stood around us, their faces reflecting their concern and compassion.  My oldest daughter looked sick with fear.  I felt sick, too.  I could hardly believe I was going to do this.

"I am going to amputate her arm."  I heard someone start to cry.  Looking up, I saw my sister's tearful face as she shook her head in disbelief. Closing my eyes for a moment, I looked back at Emma.  "Will you help me?"

"You know I will, if you think it will work." She said softly. 

I shrugged, struggling to keep the despair I felt from my face. "I applied a tourniquet within minutes.  If I amputate now, at least she'll have a chance."

"Well, then." Coming to a decision, Emma nodded.  "Let's do it."   She turned and briskly issued instructions to the group.  Michele and Lucas kept the other kids away while the remaining adults organised boiling water, lights and sheets.

Looking at my daughter's peaceful face, I wondered for a moment how I was ever going to explain this to her.  Hey baby, mummy decided to remove your arm. You won't miss it, will you?  Emma touched my arm.  "Ready?" She asked gently.  I nodded, taking a deep breath.

Carefully, I made an incision.  I worked methodically and clinically, separating flesh and muscle, until finally, the limb was off and I could focus on suturing the wound.  Then I wrapped the stump and, finally,  placed a sock over it to keep the bandage in place.

Sighing, I stood back.  My baby lay so still, a stump where her soft, plump arm had been.  Please let this be worth it, I prayed to each and any god that might be listening.  Let her be okay. 

"You did good, Lori."  Emma smiled at me.  "She's going to be fine."

I tried to smile back at her but I just couldn't manage it.  The emotions I had been holding at bay for the last hour finally overwhelmed me and I started shaking like a leaf.  Kaye hurried over and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight as I started to sob uncontrollably. 

****

In the kids' room, I sat beside Sarah, stroking her hair, as she drifted off to sleep.  Her brother was already fast asleep at the other end of the bed while the cousins were tucked in the top bunk above. 

She looked peaceful.  Thankfully, there was enough medication in the ambulance should keep her comfortable for several days.  A hand touched my shoulder.  Kaye sat down beside me.  "Are you okay?"

I snorted.  "As okay as I can be, having just chopped my own daughter's arm off."  The thought still made me sick in the stomach.

"You did what you had to do, Lori, to save her life.  Do you have any idea how much I admire you?"

Startled, I met her eyes.  "Huh?"

Kaye leaned forward and covered my hand.  "That's what makes you special, Lori.  You see what has to happen and you act, no doubts, no hesitation.  If it had been my child..." She stopped and swallowed, eyes suddenly dark. "I don't think I could have done it."

"Maybe I shouldn't have." I burst out.  "I keep wondering - was I wrong?  Maybe she wouldn't have turned!  It's not like I knew for sure...What if I cut off her arm for nothing?  What if it doesn't even work and I put her through that pain for nothing.  What if..."

Kaye covered my mouth with her hand, cutting me off.  "Lori, you need to stop torturing yourself right now.  You knew that a bite probably lead to death and you took steps to prevent that happening to Sarah.  That's as much as anyone could ask of you, including yourself.  So I don't want to hear you talking like that anymore. "Got it?"

I smiled tentatively.  "Got it, boss." Her belief in me almost managed to reassure me that I had done the right thing.

"Besides, we need your undivided attention here and now.  You don't expect me to make all the decisions that need making tonight, do you?"

"God, no!" I grinned, forcing myself to respond to her attempt at levity.  "I remember what happened the last time I let you make the decisions.  We ended up with a hot pink bedroom!"

"Hey!" She pushed me, dark eyes flaring in mock outrage.  "That colour was all the rage at the time!"

After she left, I sat beside my babies a while longer before reluctantly leaving to check on the other kids. Michele and Lucas were sharing an earphone as they listened to an iPod.  As I passed the spare room, I saw Jessie lying tucked in the large bed, lit by a soft nightlight.  Her eyes were wide and vulnerable.

"Hey." I smiled as I walked towards her.  "What are you still doing awake?  I thought you'd be out like a light by now." 

"It's too quiet." She mumbled into the sheets, big brown eyes locked on me.  I sat on the edge of the bed and brushed away the hair from her eyes.  "I know but that's a good thing!  Quiet means nothing exciting is happening and nothing exciting means no trouble.  So you can sleep without worrying."  Jessie nodded but her eyes remained locked on me.

"Go on, move over." I jostled her gently.  "I'll lie here with you until you go to sleep, okay?"  She wiggled back a little to make room for me.  As soon as I lay down, a wave of tiredness swept over me.  I had not realised how exhausted I was until this moment.  We lay together quietly for a moment, heads touching.  Just as I started to wonder if she had fallen asleep, I heard her soft voice.

"My mummy used to do this."  

"I bet she was a lovely person." I whispered back, my heart going out to her.  "Do you want to tell me about her?"  There was silence for a moment.

"She laughed a lot."  Jessie spoke in a low sad voice.  "And she liked to sing a lot.  She was pretty bad at it."  My throat tightened.

"Yeah well, good for her if she didn't let that stop her.  You should hear my kids complain about my singing!"  I saw a hint of a smile warm her solemn face.

"I think mummy would have liked you, Lori.  Daddy, too."  Oh Lord, I think I'm going to cry.

"Lori?"

"Yes, Jessie?"

"Promise you won't die too?"  I closed my eyes in a vain attempt to block her loss and pain.  Turning to face her, I stroked her face gently.

"I promise you that I will do everything within my powers to keep us all alive."  Trying to lighten the atmosphere, I smiled cheekily at her.  "If I am forced to, I will pull out my secret weapon."

"What's that?"

"My amazing voice. The kids swear that my singing makes anyone listening want to kill themselves."

Not surprisingly, I fell asleep beside Jessie.  A couple of hours later, after checking on the babies, I walked quietly into the living room.   The whole house was dark, lit by a few discreet candles behind drawn curtains.   We had decided that the less attention we drew to ourselves tonight, the better.  Soft murmurs in the corner drew my eye.  Emma and Ken sat on the love chair, heads close together as they  talked softly.  A pleased smile crossed my face at the sight.  This was a first.  Emma usually went for the loud and enthusiastic adrenaline-seeking types.  It was nice seeing her with someone who might not be as flashy but had more depth and character than any boyfriend I had seen her with before.

Sliding the doors open, I quietly walked onto the wooden verandah.  I could see Max's dark frame sitting in a chair as he kept watch over the street.  "Nothing exciting to report, I assume?" I murmured as I pulled up a chair beside him.  I saw the gleam of his eyes as he glanced at me.  "Nope."

We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes as my eyes adjusted to the dark.  The moon was hidden behind clouds heavy with rain and the air had a cool chill to it. I kept my fingers crossed that the rain would hold off. At this time of the year, when it rained, it dropped like a heavy curtain.  There were times I'd had to pull the car to the side of the road because visibility had dropped to zero.

A heavy mist lay on top of the hills surrounding us, creating an illusion of being cut off from the rest of the world.  Below us, the street lay still and quiet.  Nothing stirred.  It was unnerving and reassuring at the same time.

"Would it be too much to hope it stays like this forever? " I sighed

"Yeap."

I narrowed my eyes at Max.  "I bet you were a real party pooper in your past life." 

Grinning at me, Max propped his rifle on his lap.  "Yeap."

I laughed softly in appreciation.  "So what is the plan tonight?"

He pulled out a pistol and held it out to me.  I hesitated briefly before taking it.  "First, some practice time so that you know what you're doing if you're ever need to use it. " He stood up and seemed to choose his words carefully.  "You can keep watch with me - if you're up to it. We'll be rotating the watches between the adults every four hours."

Standing up, I smiled at him.  "I'd be honoured."  Feeling a little flustered for some reason, I turned and pointed the gun at a palm tree. "Now show me how to use this thing."

Max came and stood beside me.  For the next half an hour, we practised sighting, loading and shooting, although without bullets.  Gunshots were bound to attract attention.  As we looked out over the street, I heard noise in the distance.  Frowning, I strained to discern what it was.

"Gunfire." Max stated, his voice surprisingly grim.  "Not far away."

My heart dropped.  "Maybe the army will keep the zombies at bay. They might never get here."  In the moonlight, I could see the scepticism in Max's face.   I couldn't blame him; I didn't even believe what I said.

A rumble told me that a vehicle was crossing the rickety little bridge at the bottom of the street.  We listened keenly as it turned up our street.  An army truck trundled slowly past as a soldier spoke through a loudspeaker.  I shivered as I remembered the ruthlessness they had displayed this afternoon towards civilians just trying to survive.

"A curfew is now in place.  All residents must remain inside their homes until further notice.  Anyone found outside may be shot on sight."

I gasped.  "How can they do that?!"  Who the hell was the enemy here? 

Max shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time the army has followed a 'shoot first and ask questions later' policy."

Emma and Ken joined us on the verandah, outrage on their faces as they listened to the message.  "It feels like we're fighting our own army as well as zombies."  Ken muttered, rubbing his glasses furiously.

Max sighed, popping a fresh stick of gum in his mouth.   "At night, it will be difficult for soldiers to distinguish living from dead, folks.  This way, they know everyone they see is the enemy and can take 'em down before they get too close for comfort."

I scowled at him.  "Yeah well, goodie for them.  Too bad for anyone trying to escape zombies!"

He inclined his close-shaven head in acknowledgement.

As the noise of the truck faded, we listened to the sounds of battle in the distance.  It was continuous and clear now. I noticed Emma slip her hand into Ken's.  He squeezed it reassuringly.  It made my heart ache with a sudden yearning for my  Joe.  He had  been my rock for the last twenty years, ever since we met as carefree students.  I wondered if he was okay, if he was still at sea - literally and figuratively.  Was he happily fishing with his friends, completely unaware of the struggle his family was enduring?  And Charlie.  Here I was, completely focused on my own dramas, without sparing a thought for my sister and what she must be going through.

We stood in silence for a few minutes with our own thoughts.  Sighing, Emma turned away.  "I'm going to try and get some sleep while I can.  I have a feeling it is going to be a long night."

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.