Dead Meat | Day 8

Dead Meat: Day 8
Nick Clausen
Editor: Diana Cox
First Edition 2021
Copyright © 2021 Nick Clausen
Kindle Edition
The author asserts his moral rights to this work.
Please respect the hard work of the author.
No zombies were harmed in the making of this book.


The following takes place on
Saturday, August 2


ONE
—then he freezes.
William just sits there for several seconds. Staring at the object in his hand.
He’s sure he’s hallucinating. That he’s actually holding a lighter, yet seeing it as something else. Probably because the decision to end his life was more than his brain could handle. So it decided to conjure up one last fake glimmer of hope.
It makes him see the lighter as a key.
A key for a car.
This car.
Finally, William is able to blink, terrified that closing his eyes for just a heartbeat will make the key disappear.
It doesn’t. It’s still there, resting on his palm.
Slowly, he closes his fingers around it. Feels it. Squeezes it firmly.
“Holy shit,” he breathes. “It’s real.”
He looks at Ozzy, who’s eyeing him with a certain amount of worry, his head tilted slightly.
William breaks into laughter. “It’s real! I found the key, buddy! I found it! Look! It was in her damn pocket! Of course it was!” He smacks his forehead, still laughing. “Why the fuck didn’t I check her pockets right away? Jesus Christ, I’m a moron!”
The laughter turns into crying, and William makes an effort to stop, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
Ozzy is now whimpering with genuine concern.
“It’s okay, buddy,” William tells him. “I didn’t lose it—not yet. I’m just really relieved. Hell, that doesn’t begin to explain how I feel. But we’re getting out of here. You get it? We can drive our way out of—”
His phone rings.
William picks it up. The display says Mom.
“Shit,” he mutters, then answers the call. “Hi, Mom.”
A couple of seconds of silence. “William?” Her voice is far away, yet he can clearly hear the fear. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mom. Perfectly fine.”
Another short delay. “You sure? Why did you send me that text all of a sudden?”
William smiles. “What, I can’t tell you I love you?”
“It’s not funny, William. You have to tell me if anything happened to you.”
“Nothing happened, Mom. Promise.”
“You didn’t get … you didn’t get yourself …?”
“No.”
A deep sigh of relief from his mom. “Good God, you scared the living daylight out of me.”
“Sorry, Mom. But I’m fine, really. Guess I just had … an emotional moment, that’s all.”
He gets why his mom reacts this way; they only rarely talk about their feelings openly, much less tell the other person they love them.
“Well, I guess that’s not unusual,” his mom goes on. “I’m sure we all feel that way right now, under these circumstances.”
“I guess so,” William says, still smiling with relief as he glances out at the dead folks clawing at the car from all angles, thinking for a moment what his mom would say if she could see the situation he’s in. She’d probably drop dead from a heart attack. “You still on the plane?”
“No, we landed two hours ago. We’re on a bus right now that’ll take us to the complex.”
“That’s good,” William says, when his phone beeps in his ear. “Listen, Mom, my phone is dying. Can I call you back when I get to a charger?”
“Sure. You take care of yourself, all right?”
“I will.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“Good. And William?”
“Uh-huh?”
“I love you too.”
William can’t help but smile despite the awkwardness in his mom’s voice. “I know, Mom. Talk later.” He disconnects and puts his phone away. Then he takes a deep breath and turns to the steering wheel. “Okay, buddy, here we go …”
And it finally dawns on him, that the key might not work. It might not be their salvation. Questions begin shooting through his mind.
What if there’s no gas in the car? What if the engine is busted? What if it’s not even the right key? Then again, why would she have a key for another car in her pocket? Still, even if it’s the right key, he can think of a million reasons why the car won’t start.
His hand trembles so much it takes him three tries to even get the key to slip into the ignition. Once it does, he turns it slowly.
It clicks and the lights in the dashboard come on.
William’s heart leaps.
So far, so good … the key fits. Now let’s see if we can actually turn this thing on.
He closes his eyes, bites down hard, then twists the key all the way.


TWO
To Iver, time seems to stop.
He’s just standing there, the rifle in his hand, staring at the zombies staggering across the floor towards him. Next to him are Chris and Leif.
Chris is the first one to react, and his actions seem to jump-start time once again.
“You guys stay here,” he says, shoving Leif back, then making for the door to the house. “Buy me some time.”
“The door!” Leif shouts, pointing. “He’s going to lock it!”
Iver sees Chris rush by him, and he can tell in an instant that Leif is right; Chris is going to slam the door, turn the key and let the zombies eat them both alive.
Iver reacts before he has time to think, stepping sideways and thrusting the rifle out. It goes between Chris’s legs, tripping him, and he tumbles over with a roar. Iver loses his grip on the weapon and it falls to the floor with a metallic clamber.
“Come on!” Iver shouts, waving at Leif, who’s begun knocking the zombies over using his bare fists. “Let’s go, Leif!”
Leif turns and runs, passing by Chris who’s made it back up to his hands and knees. He sees Leif coming and grabs for his leg, but Leif avoids his hand, instead sacrificing two seconds to stop and deliver a crushing soccer kick to Chris’s ribs, audibly knocking the air from his lungs and sending him onto his back.
Iver runs through the opening, and Leif follows