((posted for today's
Zombie Blog))
I can hear them outside. Funny how they’ll mill around the building but not step foot inside. That might have to do with the fact that a few of my coworkers and I keep blowing their heads off when they get too close.
But I think I’m getting ahead of myself.
I didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary this morning. Sure the morning commute was much lighter than normal but that does happen on occasion. Made it to work early and set up a job interview at my lunch time. We normally only take a half hour lunch but this time I planned to be a little late getting back. As soon as that clock hit 1:30 I was out the door in hopes of going to the interview, having it go well and then coming back to either demand more money or threatening to leave. (ha! Leave! That’s funny now.)
It did strike me as odd that the streets were a little deserted for lunchtime but as I was nervous about the coming interview I put it out of mind. I finally made it to the building and pulled into an empty spot. That wasn’t hard since there were quite a few of them. I double checked the address I had written down and sure enough this was the place. I made my way to the front door and tugged on the handle. It didn’t budge. Now I was truly perplexed. I pulled out my cell and called the office number. I could hear the phone inside ringing through the door but there was no answer and it seemed rather dark inside. I put the phone back in my bag and decided to knock this time.
Just as I had my first raised to knock there was a loud thump of something hitting the door. I actually yelped in fear and surprise and leapt backward. Through the smokey glass I could make out a person’s form, their face pressed against the glass and mouth moving with words I couldn’t hear. I whipped my phone back out to call 911 and froze when I saw a bloody hand grab the top of this person’s head. The second person came into view and now I was the one who was mouthing silent words. The head of the second person looked as though bites had been taken out of it. He was bloody and missing much of his skin. Then I saw his eyes. They were dull and sightless, much like my coworkers. What snapped me back into motion was when he pulled the first man’s head back and proceeded to take a bite out of his scalp.
That did it. No matter how miserable I was at work I wasn’t about to set foot in that place. I ran back to my car and got in while dialing 911. I flew back down the road to work and listened to the endless ringing. Then the line picked up.
“We’re sorry for the wait. All operators are busy at the moment....”
I swore and dialed Jacob’s number. No answer but I got his voicemail. Quickly, as I made the turn onto my office’s street, I gave him the news. “Jacob, listen. I need to you get over to my work right now. There’s something really weird happening out here. I think I just saw a zombie at my job interview. If you can load up on some weapons that would be great. I’ll explain when you get here.”
As soon as I hung up I caught the familiar sight of my office building. That’s when I noticed other things out of place. The parking lot was mainly empty except for our end of the building. I could hear the dogs that were kept by the pet store barking like mad. I jumped out of my car and ran inside. Nickey looked up from her desk as though I were insane.
“What’s gotten into you?” she asked, giving me a strange look.
I peered outside and turned back to her. “Has it been a slow day on the phones and fax?”
“Well, yeah. At least no one’s called for the past hour.”
“Damn,” I said. “It’s not just here.”
She continued to look at me askance. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I moved closer and spoke in a low tone. “I just saw a dead man take a bite out of another man’s head at a job interview.”
“You had a job interview?” she said, excited.
Shaking my head, I tried to get her to hear the other part. “I was going to but the door was locked. I saw someone inside do that.”
“Do what?”
I sighed and spoke loudly. “I think we have zombies.”
There was dead silence in the front office. Even the satellite radio had quit playing. Then Diane laughed. “Zombies? What gives you that idea?”
I walked over till I was closer. “I just saw one. And think about it. Traffic was too light today. The phones have been dead silent for over an hour. How many orders have come in? Does that seem normal for a regular day?”
Diane opened her mouth to say something when there was a loud thump and a scream from the office next door.
I grabbed the phone off Josh’s desk and hit the buttons to make an announcement.
“Alright everyone, we’ve got a Day of the Dead situation at the moment, I shit you not. If you own weapons and have them in your car please go out and grab them now. As soon as everyone’s inside, lock and bar the doors. Let’s get everyone in the warehouse near a roof access.”
I heard laughter from inside the warehouse. I hung up the phone and stalked into the back. “I’m not kidding guys. I just saw one and I think we’ve got them as neighbors.” They stared at me the same way Nickey had. “Come on, weapons guys. And let’s get all the food we can up on the roof as well as all the water we can carry. We need to get to high ground.”
“Why?” asked Andrew, obviously thinking I was nuts.
“Something I read once,” I muttered wishing that I had my Zombie Handbook with me. That’s when we heard the scream from the front office. I turned and ran back toward the sound and ended up colliding with Diane, Nickey, Jan, Josh and Jennifer. The ran behind me and pointed toward the door. I glanced through the small window and saw Marilyn shambling toward us.
“What?” I asked. “She looks normal.”
Jennifer shook her head. “You didn’t hear the way she said ‘Brainsssss’.”
I nodded. “Ah, that would be a good way to tell.” I motioned them back and looked around for something that would work as a weapon of sorts. Darhonda ran over and handed me a long length of heavy pipe. I hefted it with both hands and swung it carefully. “Thanks. This ought to work.” I glance behind me. “You guys ought to get everything up to the roof. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Nope,” Nickey said.
“Why?” I asked, keeping my eye on Marilyn as she got closer to the door.
It was Jan who answered. “Because this is something we’ve wanted to see for a long time.” I heard murmurs of agreement behind me.
“Fine, just stay back so I don’t hit one of you by accident. And remember, if she bites me or anyone else, shot them or beat the head in. Just remember to destroy their brains. Otherwise they’ll turn too.” I saw the doorknob rattle and then slowly start to turn. I got a good grip on the pipe in preparation. Marilyn pushed open the door and I saw her look at me in the same way she had every day. There wasn’t much difference. Then she spoke with the same rattle I’d always heard in the movies I’d hated. That was enough for me. Without a word or second thought I swung the pipe at her head. The crack as it connected was louder than I expected and she staggered sideways into a metal shelf. Boxes fell all around us but I saw her turn her head back toward me, now sporting a large dent in her skull.
“Brainsssssss…” she croaked and took a step through the mess of samples. I swung again, quickly and felt the pipe connect solidly once more. This time she went down but didn’t stop moving. I lifted the pipe above my head and brought it down on her skull again and again until there was nothing left above her neck besides splattered bits of brain matter and strands of hair.
I stood there for a moment, panting and leaning on the pipe for support. Then I head the cheers break out behind me. I turned in confusion.
“Why all the excitement?” I asked still not comprehending.
Jan walked over to pat me on the back, managing to kick Marilyn’s body as she did so. “You did what we’d all been thinking about.”
“What? Kill a zombie?”
“Nope. Beat some sense into her skull.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it.
It’s about an hour after all that happened. Some people left for home. Jacob is on his way and then we’ll make our way for supplies and such afterwards. Luckily we found some shotguns and pistols in the trunks of some cars parked out back. Those of us who are holding down the fort until we can fight our way out are rather relaxed. No one has seen Greg at all. I privately think that Marilyn got to him first. Funny how none of us noticed.
The zombies below are starting to move toward the road. Must be Jacob coming. Time to pack it up and get through this mess.
