C15 Rude awakening

The day had already started and its penetrating light was streaming through the little window, when Markus was jerked out of his dreams by the rattling sound of the shop’s entrance door. He was lying on his back blinking and trying to sort out his thoughts. With effort and with a bland taste in his mouth he crawled out of his night camp.

Neither Marie nor Nadja were visible, only their crumbled blankets, which were cold already, were lying on the ground. He was rubbing his eyes again, thus trying to see more clearly. Something was wrong, something was not right. It was simply too quiet. Then he spotted Nadja through the door, she was standing in the shop with her mouth open like a parked doll, staring outside.

She was not even wearing her shoes. Still searching for some orientation he left the office, entering the shop. Nadja did not even seem to notice him, but instead kept staring straight ahead through the large shop window. Then Markus knew what was going on. Like if there were a big sale going on, dozens of creatures were pushing in front of the smeared screen, pressing their noses flat against it.

They left behind long streams of pus and dark blood on the glass. More creatures were staggering around between the gas pumps. But, where the hell had they come from so suddenly? As if they had smelt the living beings. They looked horrible, their clothes were blood stained and torn apart, together with the waxen, oily, pale skin and the fallen in faces which seemed to be covered by a doughy film.

Buried deeply in their sockets their hungry eyes were burning with a strange dark glow. Because of the cold most of the miserable figures had blackish frost bites on their hands and faces, some even had black noses. Their hair was disheveled or stuck out in tufts. They were all marked by death, parading the signs of decay openly to the public.

Nadja’s mouth was forming the same word over and over again. As her gaze met his, he knew which one it was: zombies. Petrified they were trying to understand what they were witnessing. This name manifested those things into their world forever, making them part of their daily lives. In the same instant they knew that nothing would be like it was before.

Death had revealed itself and had become a real threat, a threat that was contradicting all the well-known laws of nature. And zombies was the most suitable name for those things outside of the door. Dead people which had been resurrected only to feast on the living. Dead people who probably could only be silenced for good by a shot in the head.

Following a certain pattern, all the key element scenes from all the movies dealing with this topic were streaming before Markus’ eyes, one after another, like so many times before during the last days. Scenes in which the humans were slowly comprehending what had to been done in order to finish those things off.

The name George A. Romero was closely linked to all of this. The American had been the first one to put those things on screen in that fashion. Markus saw before his inner eye how huge flocks of those unreal monsters were rushing after desperate people and how the distance kept decreasing slowly up to the bloody finale, where the horde is pouncing onto their pitiful victims.

There were snipers in other movies, killing one Zombie after another with well aimed shots to the head, joking while doing so. But that was exactly the problem. In a movie it was easy to kill a human and to eliminate the resurrected dead. Every shot a hit and every killed Zombie just another point for reaching the next level. It was comparable to skeet shooting, just bloodier and mixed with all sorts of bodily liquids.

Boundless fear was spreading in Markus’ mind of being stuck in a world where the living were constantly on the run, living in fear of being detected and eaten by those things.

No, it could not end like this. There had to be a safe zone somewhere, a border, behind which everything was still like it used to be. With difficulty he fought down the emerging panic, which had been caused by the overpowering fear and the sight of the creatures outside of the window.

Now was the time to keep a cool head, to come up with a plan and most importantly to get the hell out of there. In one piece, if possible. The bland taste in his mouth worsened, triggering nausea. He had to retch, tasting bitter stomach fluid in his mouth, when it suddenly came to him what had really attracted those things. It had been his mistake, his damned mistake. He had forgotten to blow out the candles before he fell asleep.

“Shit,” he murmured silently.

Presumably, those things had been attracted by the light, as weak as it may have been. He could not imagine anything else because they had been really cautious while outside at the gas pumps. He had been looking around all the time and had done all the other stuff one did when on the run.

At least the creatures had not yet made any real attempt to enter the building and instead were just flattening their noses to glimpse at the building’s interior through the smeared the screens. But the zombies were certainly not in a hurry to leave any time soon.

Markus gestured Nadja with a nod of his head to retreat back to the office with him. The Polish woman followed his request with slow movements, trying to avoid even the tiniest noise.

“Maybe they’ll just leave if we stay silent enough,” Nadja whispered hopefully, looking at him with big eyes.

“I think we‘re stuck with them now, they won’t just go away so easily. We need a plan, Nadja,” Markus said hushed and opened a cold coffee beverage to quench his thirst and more importantly to get rid of the horrible taste in his mouth.

He probably stank out of his mouth like a dog and preferred therefore to breathe through his nose. That was something he did not like at all. And he was amazed that he managed to get enough air through his nose at all because normally this was not the case. As long as those things stayed outside and they were separated from them by a solid wall they had enough time to figure out a plan for escape.

Just stay calm and think.

He had to figure out a plan, as crazy as it might turn out to be. Maybe there was the possibility to save themselves by climbing onto the roof. But he rejected this thought right away because it was a stupid idea to sit on the roof without anything in the middle of winter, hoping that the monsters would just move along.

No, they would stay because the dead had all the time in the world. With a clattering noise from the garage everything changed suddenly. The safety, perceived until now, burst like a bubble. Right away anxiety was spreading outside of the window. The beasts were alarmed.

Markus and Nadja exchanged frightened glances, and then both of them grabbed their weapons, running, still with no shoes on their feet, into the garage. There they found Marie. Unconcerned the little one was standing in front of a huge open tool box, and she was rummaging around in it, searching. A big greasy openend wrench was lying at her feet. The creatures were hungry and certainly not deaf because the first ones were now starting to drum against the garage’s sheet metal doors, producing strange sounds, something in between rattling, smacking and screaming.

Marie screamed with horror, scurrying from a hiding space into Markus’ arms, holding on to him tightly in fear. The child’s scream only spurred those things on even more. Some of them had grabbed the door handles, trying to open them up this way. “Now we are really screwed!“ Nadja screamed hysterically, looking at Marie angrily. Markus nodded hectically, wishing for shoes on his feet.

“We have to get out of here fast. And Nadja, don’t look at the little one like that, she didn‘t do it on purpose, okay?”

Marie looked at Nadja. “I’m sorry, Aunt Nadja!” her voice sounding hushed and whinny out of her mouth. Tiny tears were already running down her dirty cheeks.

But once again things had a manner of creating their own dynamic. Just as Nadja was about to slip into her shoes, grabbing the rest of their stuff while doing so and Markus was still thinking about how in the world they were supposed to get out of there, the front window burst under the pressure of the many bodies.

The push was so extreme that the first zombies were falling directly over the window sill into the shop, closely followed by the next row which stampeded over the others without regard in order to reach the fresh flesh even faster. Instantly, a horrid smell was spread inside the tiny room nearly robbing them of their minds.

A mix of full diapers and rotten flesh mixed with the smell of old cheese. Of course, everyone wanted to be the first at the big feast and it came to an insane skirmish.

“Nadja, move it, get out of there!” Markus screamed against the noise, throwing his shoes into the vehicle. There was simply no time left to put them on now. When the woman did not react fast enough Markus grabbed her arm hard, dragging her behind him back to the garage. He gave the kicking Marie to Nadja because he needed his hands free now.

In the nick of time he was able to slam the solid connecting door shut and bolt it in the face of the creatures. But that would not keep the monsters at bay for long.

“Throw the stuff in the car and put the little one in the backseat, come on, move it, damn it!”, Markus uttered between his clenched teeth, while he was holding himself against the door with all his might.

“And then get behind the wheel and start the damn car, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on here!” Markus was aware that he could only hold the door a few minutes longer. Nadja was only reacting on instinct now.

Put everything in order and then act on it. The most important thing always comes first.

First, she threw the life saving stuff in the Defender, and then she pressed the child roughly in the backseat and buckled her up.

“Sit still, damn it, otherwise I’ll put you over my knee!“ the woman hissed at the child because she had to prevent the child from getting out of the car again in order to cling to Markus once more. Nadja did not waste another minute with the child, who was now crying loudly and in full panic. Let her, as long as she stayed seated. In this regard, Nadja thought totally pragmatic. Like in all conflict situations her own rescue came first. Nadja was not about to kick the bucket here and end up as zombie food. Seconds later she had circled the vehicle, got behind the wheel and turned the keys.

The car‘s engine came to life right away and the garage filled up quickly with fumes smelling of gas. Markus saw from the corner of his eye how Nadja opened the passenger door with her foot. The pressure from the other side got stronger by the second. Time and time again his greasy socks slipped backwards when the door trembled under the assailants‘ enraged blows.

His bronchia began to burn, contracting because of the stress, getting even tighter. Nothing could be saved here anymore, now he had to see to it that he reached his car fast enough. He turned around hastily and reached the car with two long strides. He nearly slipped, imagining himself already in the pit underneath the vehicle, but luckily he was able to catch himself.

The instant he slammed the passenger door shut the garage door lost the battle against the pressure from the beasts and crashed open nosily. The bolt flew through the room and slammed into the opposite wall. The beasts were pouring into the room like from a bottle foaming over.

“Damn it, hit the gas pedal already!” he screamed at Nadja, who was still looking at the closed garage door with uncertainty.

Markus saw the first grimaces appearing already at his door and greasy fingers touching the window. “Just floor it, this damned piece of chunk can handle it!”

He shook her shoulder hard, pulling her out of her stasis by doing so. Nadja pushed the pedal down all the way, finally the engine roared and the off-road vehicle rushed forward like a rocket towards the door. The piercing sound of fingernails scratching the car‘s paint, then the deafening bang when the hood drilled into the garage door.

The rusty bolt broke as well and the big wings opened up with a clattering sound, brutally throwing things aside by doing so. Outside, everything had gathered for the grand finale, ready for the big feast. There were just so many of them, an uncountable horde of hunger.

The vehicle literally jumped into freedom and over countless bodies, simply flattening them. The creatures were flying through the air like large meat puppets as the Defender‘s sturdy radiator grill caught them. There was nothing they could muster against the car‘s power.

Nadja brushed against a gas pump with the right fender, losing control of the steering wheel. The vehicle lurched from side to side dangerously and slid onto the road sideways. One of the dead who had held on to the driver‘s door vanished underneath the vehicle.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Nadja screamed and kept on accelerating, she just wanted to get away from those monsters as fast as possible. Finally, the heavy off-road vehicle turned onto the road. The Polish woman floored it, just get away from the gas station and the horror with it.

The zombies were staggering after them, but they were to slow to pose a real threat as long as they kept on moving. They also met some of those things on the road, on their way to the gas station. The candle light had attracted them from a long way off, an impossiblty long way it seemed.

Baffled, the voracious dead stopped, looking after the vehicle with empty eyes, robbed of their food and not knowing where to go next. Markus fished for his shoes under the seat, finally found them and slipped into them with his oily and greasy socks.

After they had driven for awhile already and had lost the gas station from their sight, Marie spoke up with a whinny voice. “I have lost my unicorn, we have to go back fast and save it.”

Damn it, the unicorn, Markus thought.

“Please, we have to go back, it needs us!” Marie kept on whining. One could put a bullet directly in one‘s head just the same because going back to this slaughterhouse would have the same effect for sure. The child was moving back and forth anxiously on the backseat and continued whining. Markus‘ bronchia were shutting down again. He was searching for his spray, when Nadja unexpectedly pulled the unicorn out of the jacket and handed it back to the child. He had certainly not expected that.

Marie laughed happily, hugging the stuffed animal tightly. “My unicorn! Thanks, Aunt Nadja, now everything is just fine again.”

Markus nodded, running his hand over his eyes, exhausted. Meanwhile, he had found his spray and had given himself the usual three portions. Quickly he felt better.

“Yes Marie, everything is just the way it should be again. We made it.”

How simple things could be in the eyes of children. Especially the little one‘s laughter was contagious and shortly after Markus and Nadja had to laugh as well, hesitant and compressed at first, then louder and almost liberating. To just have cheated death, they laughed so hard that they soon had tears in their eyes.

When the town sign of Rosslau appeared on the side of the road, Nadja let off the gas and stopped the vehicle. This village seemed to be slightly bigger than the last one, but met the Eastern German standards as well: garden gnomes and neatly trimmed rose bushes.

“I really don‘t feel like driving directly into a city I don‘t know. I really have a bad feeling about this.” Nadja looked at Markus, her eyes as frightened as her voice.

“I know, Nadja, but what is the other option, going back directly into the arms of those things? I certainly won‘t. If we keep on driving left of the Elbe at some point we might find an intact bridge, a ferry or something like that.”

He sighed thoughtfully. “A boat would be enough really. And if we have to drive through this shitty town to find it, that‘s fine by me.”

Nadja nodded reluctantly, even if she did not completely agree with him. Markus was right. They had to keep on moving if they wanted to survive and, if possible, they had to bring a natural border between them and the monsters with the help of the river.

“Then you keep on driving,” she replied curtly and got out of the car. She needed a cigarette urgently or at least something to drink. Something alcoholic of course. Preferably, she would like to drink until she was completely numb. Until every feeling, every emotion had vanished underneath a thick layer of cotton.

But that was not possible of course, so she spat out the bitter stuff that had gathered inside her mouth on the ground and moved along in order to walk around the car. Markus watched the woman in the rear view mirror, especially her ass which was sitting firm in her pants.

The moment she reached the rear of the vehicle she stopped dead in her tracks, stared at the ground and started screaming. Then she covered her face with her hands. Something was really wrong. He was wide awake right away, quickly fumbled his safety belt open and jumped out of the car, weapon in one hand. He found the woman bent over and vomiting behind the Defender and knew right away why.

One of those things apparently had been holding on to the bumper and had been dragged along the whole way. But that was not enough, it was the miserable shape it was in. Its legs were completely crushed, hanging onto the body in a pulpy mass. Bone splinters were standing pointedly out from the torn flesh. The right arm was missing completely, only a brown skin rag, hanging uselessly from the body, was left, like a ripped away epaulet of a leather jacket.

Markus recognized him again. It was the guy from the driver‘s side, which they had driven over during their escape from the gas station. He had these distinctive piercings in his right eyebrow. Three in total, the outermost made of silver, the one in the middle was black.

The thing slipped from the bumper and started right away to crawl in Nadja‘s direction. Markus had seen a lot already those last few days but that was just the last straw. The whole situation was just too surreal. But still he was so spellbound by the sight that he was completely incapable of action and could only gape hollowly.

What was this devilish force inside those creatures which let them follow only one desire like machines? The thing could hardly move with only one arm left, crawling like a maggot towards the desired flesh only to devour it, although it was totally senseless to keep on eating being a dead organism already. Apparently, those things knew exactly who was still alive and who was dead already. Although they were acting spiritless they were still able to make this assessment.

Markus summoned all his courage and crouched down to take a closer look at the beast. Nadja was still vomiting her guts out. The thing emitted a virtually horrid smell. A mix of feces, blood and decay. A purulent yellowish substance was welling out of its mouth and nose, leaving long threads on the road. Why was this beast moving, why was it crawling, even though it was dead?

Markus was searching for an explanation in vain and found none which could at least calm his rational mind down a little bit. Either this alien force came directly from hell or the corpse was possessed by a demon or, and Markus preferred this option by far, it was some kind of microorganism which had nested inside the dead human‘s brain and from there had taken over the most trivial body functions.

“I don‘t understand how this is possible. I simple don‘t have any explanation for this,” Markus murmured.

Nadja shrugged, wiping her smeared mouth with her sleeve. She had lost all color and was still convulsing. “I have no idea, to be honest, I don‘t give a shit. I just know that they do it and that‘s enough for me.”

Markus stood up and looked around, but he could not see any more dead in the front yards or between the bushes. Everything gave the impression of a peaceful, ideal world. Even the gnomes were smiling in the front yards and grouped silently around a kneeling red riding hood, a bottle of wine made of clay sticking out of her basket.

Markus went to Nadja and took her in his arms carefully. She laid her head on his chest totally exhausted. The woman‘s whole body was shaking and she needed a few minutes to calm down again.

“Hey, we‘ll make it somehow, don‘t worry. Soon we‘ll find a gathering point or at least other humans. It can‘t be like this everywhere,” he tried to calm her down, stroking her hair carefully.

She nodded sobbing, wiping her tears from her face. He was a bad liar and Nadja noticed it at once. But still, she was glad to hear his words and to not be alone in this kind of situation. Something was broken inside her and it would never heal again. Nothing would be as it used to be ever again. Whoever survived this shit would not only carry the scars on the outside but on the inside as well. And those were even worse.

“Please, just drive on quickly, I just want to leave.”

Markus just nodded. He understood her just too well.

Everything was just so far off from any kind of logical explanation, so that he finally had to question his theory of a terror attack. Something resurrected the dead and the more he thought about it, the more he had to adjust his previous assumption about the parasites as well. When a body was destroyed so much that the basic body functions were not possible any more, even a parasite could not do anything about that anymore.

Completely drained, he accelerated and stopped himself from thinking about it any further.

Answers were of no help right now.

Only distance would do.