Chapter 1 #2
They reached the back corner of the house and paused.
The yard behind was a narrow band of overgrown grass and flat dirt.
Recent thunderstorms had left it muddy and dimpled by tracks.
A generous line of trees—stunted oaks, catalpas, and a couple of hemlocks—pressed against the rusted and drooping chain-link fencing, a weak attempt years ago to fashion a yard.
In several spots the chain-link lay on the ground, the poles standing alone like rust-pitted markers. Branches creaked and soughed.
Neither of them spoke or used their flashlight. They stood side-by-side, studying the area.
A shadow shifted behind a fallen section of fence, moving against the press of wind.
Demetrius adjusted his grip on the wooden stake and lifted the spray bottle of garlic water. He met Cody’s eyes and tipped his head to the right. Cody nodded then mouthed be careful to him.
He mouthed back you too, before sliding away along the back of the house. A drip landed on his head from the gutter overhead, and he flinched. Hooking the trigger of the spray bottle into his pocket, he wiped away the water with a grimace.
Another shift within the trees. They’d grown close together on the other side of the fence, sucker branches protruding all up and down the trunks, making it difficult to see.
Several plastic bags fluttered and snapped, forever tangled.
Demetrius saw a figure move behind the bags, and he grabbed the spray bottle again.
Holding the stake low and ready to strike, he moved onto the mud.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Cody do the same, angling toward him.
Each squelching step sounded loud. The mud sticking to his soles made his feet feel heavier, clumsy.
He licked his lips and adjusted his grip on the stake, the rough wood solid and familiar against his skin.
When he was a few steps from the fallen section of fence, the moon came out again, lighting up small areas between the trees. He sensed more movement from within the trash trees until the figure stopped. Clouds stole the light once more, and the shape vanished into the darkness.
To his left, Cody swore under his breath.
Demetrius took another step closer, his boot sinking into the soft ground.
Branches snapped as their prey lurched out of the trees. Thin, bony hands reached for him as it moaned, a plastic bag fluttering around its scrawny throat. Demetrius raised the spray bottle and shot it in the eyes.
The thing kept coming, moaning louder, mouth a dark maw of jagged teeth, the bag rustling and snapping.
“Demmy!”
Demetrius tried to move back, but his foot slid in the mud and he stumbled. Hard, sharp fingers grabbed his upper arms and a gut-wrenching stench washed over him, making him gag.
“Zombie!” he choked out.
He had no room to maneuver within the zombie’s grasp, so he stabbed the stake into its stomach.
It had no effect, and an even worse smell enveloped him as it leaned closer.
Bile rose in the back of his throat, and he pulled his head back, turning his face away to evade the fetid mouth.
He pushed against the stake. It sank deeper into the body, providing no leverage. His boot slipped again.
Panic darkened the edges of his vision and his breathing was too fast and shallow. He turned side to side to break the thing’s grip, but it held on tight.
The crack of breaking bone sent a shudder through the zombie’s body, and Demetrius felt it travel up his arms. Something cold and wet splattered across his face, and he turned his head.
The fingers tightened briefly on his arms before going slack, and the zombie fell back.
It slid off the wooden stake Demetrius still held, leaving it dark and slick with foul-smelling gore in the moonlight.
“You all right?” Cody still held his own wooden stake, now caked with brain matter and dark blood. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and his eyes were wide as he looked him over. “Did it bite or scratch you?”
“I don’t think so.” Demetrius lifted each sleeve of his polo shirt, and Cody clicked the flashlight on, checking for broken skin.
“All clear.” Cody switched off the flashlight and pulled him in close, arms tightening around him like he would never let him go. “Demmy…”
“I know.” Demetrius pressed his face into the open V of Cody’s shirt and breathed in his smell. His body responded as it always did, but underneath the heat was something deeper, steadier.
“Thank you,” he said, then he placed a kiss in the soft hair, his lips brushing against one of the scars before he stepped back.
They stood close to each other, staring down at it.
Just over a year ago, a chemical spill had reawakened bodies prepped with formaldehyde and buried in one of Parson’s Hollow’s two cemeteries.
The outbreak had eventually been stopped, but containment was ongoing, and every now and then a zombie would shamble into someone’s yard or get hit while crossing a road, but it had been at least a couple of months since the last sighting.
In life, this zombie had been a man, and he’d been buried in a suit and tie.
The clothing was filthy and shredded after more than a year of exposure, the skin hanging off his frame.
Cody kept a hand on his arm, seemingly not yet ready to release him. “What do we do with this?”
“We should call Lucia, let her know it needs to be picked up.”
“Right. Or…”
Demetrius frowned. “Are you really thinking what I’m afraid you’re thinking?”
“Probably.”
“Ugh. Why do you want us to do it?”
“So we don’t have to call Lucia about it.” He held up a hand when Demetrius opened his mouth. “And I know you’ll call her so I don’t have to deal with it, but first of all, she and I are getting along better now.”
Demetrius crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.
“Fine. We’re tolerating each other more often, how’s that?”
“Yeah, all right. But—”
“And,” Cody said over him. “You know this body will lie out here for days until Harriettville DPW can come out and haul it back to Eternal Rest. If we lived next door to this place, I wouldn’t want it rotting in the August heat that long. That woman who called us about this wouldn’t be too happy.”
Demetrius groaned. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“And when we get back home, we can shower together.”
“We’re still conserving water, huh?”
“It’s not my fault we’re in a drought.”
“We had rain this afternoon.”
“One thunderstorm does not resolve a dry month.” Cody lifted one shoulder. “Therefore, we shower together.”
Despite the circumstances, Demetrius chuckled. “Fine. Do you have a plan for getting this…gentleman into the back of the truck?”
It turned out Cody did have a plan. He backed the truck up the driveway and partially into the yard, avoiding the worst of the mud.
The truck was still about ten feet away, so they pulled on gloves.
Cody volunteered to take the shoulders. Demetrius slid his hands under the knees, and Cody counted to three.
It was lighter than expected, and Demetrius shuddered as he felt the bones shifting within the loose skin.
A dirt-caked wing tip dropped off as they carried it across the yard, almost causing Demetrius to trip.
A black sock hung off the withered foot, and it swung disturbingly close to touching him.
After some maneuvering, they laid the body inside the bed and Cody closed the tailgate. Demetrius retrieved the shoe and dropped it next to the body, then they tossed their gloves in a bucket secured near the toolbox and climbed into the cab.
Demetrius lowered the visor and flipped open the mirror. When he saw the dark splatters across his face and neck, the hamburger Cody had grilled back home for dinner flopped inside him. “So gross.”
Cody passed him a couple of antibacterial wipes. “Use these for now. When we get home, I’ll scrub you down good.”
“So romantic,” Demetrius said as he wiped at the spots.
Once they’d wiped off as much as possible, Demetrius looked out at the abandoned house.
“What?” Cody asked.
“I don’t know. Something feels off.”
“About that house or our chosen profession?”
Demetrius chuckled. “Both, I guess.”
“Well, let’s leave that for now. We caught our critter. Our client will be happy.”
The Hollow of Eternal Rest cemetery was off Route 118 on the way out of town to Harriettville.
They passed through Parson’s Hollow’s downtown business district, the storefronts all dark and the sidewalks empty this late on a weeknight.
Demetrius was still scrubbing at his face, working on a particularly stubborn spot, and he glanced out the window at the heavily shadowed alleys and doorways.
How many other zombies might be stumbling around in the dark? And what else was out there?
Cody pulled into the cemetery’s gravel drive and stopped outside the cattle gate.
It was padlocked, like usual, but a small car sat on the other side facing them.
The round, bearded face of a security guard was illuminated by the truck’s headlights as he squinted into the glare.
Cody killed the lights, and the man blinked and rubbed his eyes, visible now by the glow of his phone’s screen.
“Think he’s watching porn and jerking off?” Cody said.
“God, I hope not.”
They got out of the truck, and Cody lifted a hand in greeting as the guard stepped out.
“Evening,” Cody said.
“Yeah?” The guard’s tone was uncertain and edged with suspicion. “What do you need?”
“We have a drop off.”
“Flowers can be delivered to the office in the morning.”
“Oh, no, not that kind of drop off,” Demetrius said. “We have a body.”
“What?” The guard reached for his gun.
“No, no, no!” Demetrius and Cody shouted at the same time, holding out their hands.
“It’s a zombie!” Demetrius shouted. “Just a zombie. We stopped it over in the Stone Hill area.”
“Zombie?” The man relaxed his stance but kept his hand on the butt of his gun. “Like, a real zombie?”
“Well, it’s a dead zombie now,” Cody said. “But, yeah.”
The guard scowled. “Bullshit.”