Wake Up Dead - an Undead Anthology Read online

  Copyright © Crowded Quarantine Publications 2011

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ISBN 978-0-9571033-2-0

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  WAKE

  UP

  DEAD

  CONTENTS

  SEE YOU NEXT YEAR – Suzanne Robb 7

  EUTHANASIA – Chantal Boudreau 60

  SUGAR SKULLS – Rebecca Snow 83

  RANDY'S NIGHT OUT – Douglas Vance Castagna 101

  VOODOO CHILD – Caitlin Gunn 122

  SUICIDE SOLUTION – R.D.Teun 134

  OUTBREAK ON THE COMMONS – Guy James 183

  ANNIVERSARY – Mia Darien 197

  FLORENCE'S DIARY – Adam Millard 209

  SEE YOU NEXT YEAR

  Suzanne Robb

  Clare Jones worked a double shift at a local restaurant to help pay her tuition and rent. Tired and ready for a break, she felt her heart stop when she walked in, the girl of her dreams beautiful with perfect breasts. Dana, she overheard it while eavesdropping, her smile made Clare weak in the knees.

  As usual Dana sat in Clare’s section with some girl. Dana came in at least three times a week that Clare knew of, and always sat in her section. She wondered if perhaps this was some sort of torture.

  She braced herself as she walked towards the table to give them their menus. Their fingers grazed one another and all thought left Clare’s head, she was fairly certain she was going to pass out.

  “Hi, my name’s, Clare, and I’ll be your waitress. Can I start you with something to drink?”

  “I’ll have my usual. You remember what it is right?” Dana laughed sweetly, and Clare didn’t even care she was laughing at her.

  She was about to walk away and get Dana’s order when the other girl cleared her throat.

  “I’ll take a strawberry milkshake.”

  Clare hated her immediately. Who likes strawberry milkshakes? She thought to herself.

  “I’ll be right back with those.” Walking away from the table Clare headed for the back room.

  Clare took several deep breaths in the safety of the supply closet. After a moment she left the room and prepared for what was to come.

  “Here you go ladies.” She placed their drinks on the table. “Our specials today are pea soup and glazed chicken breasts with garlic sauce.”

  Dana looked at Clare and smiled. “Are the breasts good?”

  Clare knew she was doomed to say something stupid if she opened her mouth, but couldn’t help herself.

  “Your breasts are fantastic…I mean the chicken breasts are good. Yes, they’re tasty, you’ll like them.”

  “We’ll get the special then,” Dana said.

  “Great, I’ll be back with your breasts in a few minutes.”

  What is wrong with me? Am I terminally stupid in the presence of Dana?

  Clare walked away from the table begging God to strike her down, send in a team of commando lesbians to revoke her dating card. Anything so she didn’t have to show her face at the table again.

  Clare decided to ask Lisa, the other waitress if she would switch tables with her.

  “Lisa, you need to help me.”

  “Let me guess, she’s, here, you said something stupid and want to switch tables.”

  Apparently this happened a lot more than Clare realized.

  “Yes.”

  “Nope, last time she got all huffy when I refused to let her talk to you.”

  “She wanted to talk to me? Why didn’t you tell me?” Clare got flustered at the news.

  “Of course not, you make a fool of yourself when you get within ten feet of her.”

  “Right, point taken.”

  Clare needed to bring them their food at some point. She couldn’t toss it, or slide it to them in order to stay out of the ten foot idiot zone. She would have to do it herself. Clare needed to be a waitress.

  A ringing bell roused Clare from her musings, their order ready. Grabbing the two plates Clare walked to their table as if she was about to face a firing squad. Eyes focused on the food, she placed the plates on the table. She began to turn around when she felt a hand on her arm forcing her to turn around.

  Looking at the hand Clare realized it was Dana, and almost tripped in her haste to turn and face her. Dana wore a hopeful, but slightly guarded expression on her face.

  “Hi, for the last few of months I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to talk to you, so I’m just going to put it out there and ask if you would like to go out sometime.”

  Clare almost laughed, sure it was a joke. Dana couldn’t really be asking her out. Then again, she came in here with a different girl each week. Perhaps Clare was the only one left she hadn’t tried, and if that was the case she was totally okay with it.

  “Hello…would you like to go out?”

  Clare nodded, remembering if she spoke within ten feet of Dana it was bad. She watched Dana write something on a piece of paper and hand it to her. Looking down Clare saw a number, it even consisted of seven numbers. Clare smiled, walked into the kitchen and fell to her knees pumping her fists in the air, “Yes!”

  On the second pump she realized a date meant conversation, which was bad, Clare was doomed.

  *

  “Go check on the bodies, we’ll stay here in the observation room, just in case,” Colonel Ryan Myers said. “Wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened last year.”

  Doctor Henry Theodore nodded, and then turned to exit the room. He entered a large chamber with armed guards manning the exit. In the center of the room were ten gurneys, on top of them were ten men, more specifically ten dead men.

  They volunteered for the mission by avoiding a death row sentence. They were filled in on the probability of death, after all the proper forms were signed, in triplicate.

  Doctor Theodore approached the bodies step by step. When he reached the first one, he looked down and lifted its hand to check for a pulse. He noticed his own hand shook, and hoped those in the observation room didn’t see it.

  All the monitors had gone flat three hours ago, the volunteers were clinically dead. Though the first body he examined had no pulse, no heartbeat, no brain waves, he thrashed around. Doctor Theodore stared the body in front of him as it broke free of its restraints and sat up. Henry began to yell to the others watching him.

  “We’ve done it, he’s alive.”

  A moment later he felt his neck being ripped out and warm blood was pouring down his chest. He looked into the eyes of the test subject; they were devoid of all color. Henry caught a glimpse of hell in those eyes, and knew where he would be going for what he’d created.

  “Lock it down, dump enough cement to bury this place.”

  “But, Sir, what about the others?” Private Frank Williams asked.

  Colonel Myers looked at him. “That’s an order Private, not a question.”

  As the private ran out of the room to do as ordered the colonel used a key to open a hidden panel. He jabbed a stubby thumb into a red button. Lights started to flash, and sirens sounded. As he watched doors shut, he made his way out of the underground compound.

  This had been their second attempt, and it would not be their last.
All the data had been backed up in an off site server. There was a lab ready to start examining the results from here, and begin a new phase of testing within a few years.

  He would create a serum for his soldiers; there would be no more loss of life on his watch. Come hell or high water, the serum would work.

  *

  Clare and Dana were sprawled out on their bed relaxing, when Clare’s head perked up.

  “Hey, Dana, can you turn up the volume on the television? Looks like something’s going on,” Clare asked.

  “According to military scientists, the recent outbreaks are due to some sort of virus. They, along with the Center of Disease Control have created a list of things for people to watch out for. The infected appear dead and attack unprovoked. Avoid contact with any fluids, since this is how the infection spreads.”

  Images were flashing on the screen behind the reporter as he spoke. Places like Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and a multitude of other states were reporting problems. The military was trying to calm people, but the utter chaos was shocking to see. Clare developed a bad feeling as the newscast continued.

  “If you are infected, you are to turn yourself into a military outpost immediately for treatment. That is all we have for now, we’ll leave you with the horrific footage that has come in from over twelve different states thus far. Be warned, the images are quite graphic.”

  Clare watched the screen in morbid fascination. Images of people covered in blood ran to and fro. Bodies were strewn about, and the so-called infected seemed to be feasting on them. When she heard Dana make a shocked noise at a rather graphic image of a child holding a teddy bear in one hand, while gnawing on a hand it held with the other, she turned the television off.

  “Do you think we’re safe?” Dana asked.

  Clare didn’t know how to answer. She’d never lied to her and had no intention of starting now.

  “I don’t know. I bet the military will have it under control soon.”

  She could feel some of the tension leave the body next to her, but it wasn’t enough. Clare laid her head on Dana’s chest, needing to feel close to her, and also in an effort to try and reassure her.

  “Dana, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine why?” Dana readjusted herself to look at Clare.

  “What, I can’t ask my wife who is eight and half month’s pregnant if she’s okay?”

  “Yes, but you ask every twenty minutes.”

  “But your stomach just made a noise.” Clare pointed at the protruding belly to prove her point.

  “Stomachs do that on occasion.” Dana pretended to be exasperated, but in reality Clare knew she loved her playful nature, and it was a welcome distraction from the scenes they’d just watched.

  Clare disappeared under the covers and started talking to Dana’s belly. Lifting the covers Dana raised an eyebrow.

  “Excuse me, I’m having an important talk with our future daughter, Sydney, about what your stomach is up to.”

  Dana laughed and threw down the covers.

  “We’re not calling her that. Her name is going to be Lily.”

  Clare lifted the covers and pouted.

  “Sydney, doesn’t like that name at all, and naming your kid after a flower is not cool anymore. The sixties are gone my friend.”

  “Ugh, I can never win with you.” Dana slowly removed the t-shirt she was wearing.

  Clare watched every move.

  “Would you mind rubbing my back, it’s killing me,” Dana said as seductively as possible.

  “I know what this is, you think by being all naked and sexy I’ll give in and let you name our child Thistle or Root berry, but it isn’t going to work.”

  Dana turned over so her bare breasts were exposed to Clare. All rational thought left her mind as she stared down at them.

  “If I remember right, you’re a breast girl.”

  “Yes, your breasts are fantastic; in fact at times I think they have super powers.”

  “Hmm they do, now come here and kiss me.”

  Clare leaned in, and with a hand gently placed on her wife’s belly, she started to kiss her.

  *

  Clare almost fell out of bed by the sound of blaring alarms, flashing lights, and screams of people outside. She ran to the window to see what was going on. The street lights were off, police cruisers were everywhere, and people were running around. She realized people were chasing others, and when they caught them, it ended with the pursuer gorging on their prey

  “What is it?” Dana asked.

  The people, the infected Clare thought, moved with purpose. The urgency of sirens and emergency lights only added to the bizarre nature of the situation. Clare tried to make out more details, but the strobe effect of the lights was making it difficult for her to focus.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Clare felt Dana behind her and reached back for her hand. At that moment, a figure appeared in the window, both women screamed. The thing raised a hand pounded on the window, a trail of blood left behind. Clare looked into the milky eyes and felt a chill take hold of her soul. She forced Dana to back up as the glass cracked.

  Clare stood frozen in fear, the flesh on the things face fell off in large bits. The worst was the blood and gore around its mouth. She swore she saw a bit of skin stuck in its teeth, and a strand of what might have been intestine hung out of the left side of its mouth.

  “Dana, get dressed.”

  “I’m calling nine-one-one.”

  Clare turned away from the window.

  “We don’t have time, that thing is breaking through the window, and I don’t think we want to be here when it comes in.”

  The window shattered and with a speed belying its corpse like appearance it rushed towards Clare. The thing tackled her, knocking her to the ground. In the background somewhere she heard Dana scream.

  The thing pinned her down and snapped at her face, spittle flying all over the place. Instinctively, she turned her face away. She used every bit of strength she possessed to flip them over; once she was no longer pinned she jumped to her feet and looked for a weapon.

  “Dana, get the hell out of here!” she yelled.

  The thing was on its feet and ran towards her once again; she picked up a pair of scissors from the vanity and stabbed it in the stomach. Clare watched in morbid fascination as nothing happened, in fact it appeared as if the wound started to heal itself.

  “Go for the head, you always have to go for the head,” Dana yelled.

  Clare flashed an annoyed look at Dana, then grabbed a statue from the dresser and whacked it across the face of the infected thing. Unfazed, it continued to come at her. In the corner she saw a baseball bat, and leapt for it. She hefted it, and as soon as the thing was within swinging distance she struck it in the head.

  The blow stopped it for a moment, and Clare took advantage of its disorientation. She lifted the bat above her head and swung down, hitting it in the direct center of its skull. The force of the impact ran all the way up her arms and into her shoulders.

  Christ, what the hell are these things made of?

  As the infected fell to the ground Clare looked over and saw Dana. With an irritated glare she pounded the thing’s head into a dark pulpy mess.

  Clare watched more things break windows on other houses. Neighbours who went outside were swarmed, their screams for help went unanswered. A few cars tore out of their drive ways, and Clare knew she needed to get them the hell out of there.

  “Dana, we need to get the hell out of here now.”

  “Already on it.”

  Clare looked and saw Dana holding a change of clothes and boots for the both of them. As another one of the infected approached their window, Clare ushered them out of the room.

  Dana let out a scream and Clare saw another one pounding on the front door, the hinges coming loose from the wall.

  Clare got behind Dana and led her to the garage door grabbing the car keys from the hook on the way out. She led Dana to the passenger
side and handed her the keys.

  “Wait for me in the car.”

  “But--”

  “Just go, I’ll be right back,” Clare insisted.

  Looking into sleepy eyes so trusting and full of love, Clare leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips.

  “Love you.”

  Tilting her head, Dana looked at her and replied. “Love you too.”

  Clare, went into the kitchen and grabbed anything and everything, shoving it into a bag. The sound of multiple windows shattering made her move quicker.

  She ran back into the garage, closing the door behind her. She pulled a small workbench over to block the door, to at least try and buy them some time.

  In the car she tossed the bag into the back.

  “What do you say we blow this pop stand?” Clare tried to sound hopeful, but her heart pounded with fear.

  “What about the garage door?” Dana asked.

  “Damn, power's out, I need to open it manually.”

  “Have you lost your mind? Do you know what’s out there?” Dana exclaimed.

  “Things, they’re in the house now too. Start the car as soon as I get the door up.”

  Clare got out of the car and opened the garage door. The noises of metal protesting would attract the things, but she had to do it.

  She felt something grab her leg, as she looked down to see on of the infected crawling on the ground, its lower half missing. It leaned in to take a bite.

  “To hell with this, damn door is open enough.”

  Running to the car she got in, shut the door, and peeled out of the garage.

  People covered in blood milled around, others ran. To Clare it was like watching a child learn to walk. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground, and she knew they would rise, it was a matter of when. Groups of people knelt over fallen bodies, eating them, tearing them apart.

  Zombies weren’t real; it was much easier to call them things. The joke about the zombie apocalypse was here, and she didn’t think it was funny anymore. Her job now was to get her and Dana the hell out of here.