Experiment Undead

My heart races as the flock of sheep stampede towards me, their once gentle bleats replaced by terrifying growls that send shivers down my spine. Saliva and blood drip from their snarling mouths. Their sharp teeth bared like weapons.

I hesitate and contemplate whether standing here is a stupid move. Maybe I should be running to safety too? If I run now, I can catch up with the others. I turn quickly to see if they have made it to the farmhouse.

Emma trips over and cries. Oscar and Nancy are trying to stand Emma up, but she’s being difficult and refusing to move as she screams and cries for her mother.

Nancy and Oscar stare back at me with worry before Oscar forcibly lifts Emma onto Dreamer and leads the horses quickly toward the house. The horses neigh nervously, sensing the danger that surrounds us. I have no choice but to stay and fight off as many sheep and soulless as possible to give my friends enough time to escape.

My hands shake with fear. I grip the knives, I hold tighter and stab the first sheep in the head, rip the knife out and stab the next. I alternate my strikes to the left and then the right. I’ve killed at least ten, but dozens more are now closer. I know I won’t be able to kill them all on my own. I look around for a way to escape. My only hope is a nearby tree, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to reach the branches to climb up.

The first soulless person sways his arms toward me. I lean back, dodging the attack and observe his nails are more like claws. The fingernails have thickened and curved toward the end, leaving sharp tips. He swings his arms again to swipe me. As soon as he misses, I stab him in the head. He falls back to the ground, but my knife is still lodged in his skull.

One of the infected sheep knocks me over. I stab it in the head and push it off of me. I look up to see three sheep are about to attack me at once. As I stab one in the head, I realise I’m about to die. Suddenly a gunshot sounds behind me, and then another, and another. The sheep fall to the ground limp. More gunshots fire as I try to stand. Bullets fly past me and kill the soulless about to swipe his clawed hand across my neck. I fall back and turn onto my stomach. I look up to see Nate on the porch shooting them.

‘Hurry!’ Todd shouts.

I crawl forward a few metres before standing and running toward the house.

Kate runs outside with Nancy, Oscar and Emma.

Kate lifts Nancy onto Buddy, then crouches for Emma to piggyback her. Kate then hops on behind Nancy with Emma holding tight.

Oscar gets on Tillie while Todd runs inside, returning with backpacks a moment later. He puts one on and climbs on behind Todd.

‘Get going. We’ll catch up,’ Nate shouts at them.

I finally reach the porch and try to catch my breath.

‘Penny, get on the horse,’ he shouts.

I nod, climb on and hold Dreamer’s reigns. Nate swings a bag over his shoulder, passes my duffel bag, and hops on the horse, sitting behind me. He takes the reigns from my grip and heels Dreamer. She races forward. I grab onto Nate’s arms, scared I will fall off. It’s my first time on a horse. We then notice many more infected sheep and people spread over the fields.

‘There’s too many for us to fight off on our own. Our only option is to leave,’ Nate says.

The others are just a few yards in front. We ride for half an hour until Nate whistles to get Todd and Kate’s attention. We hop down from the horses’ mid-way up a big hill and look towards the farm, now completely overrun with soulless.

‘Where did they all come from?’ Todd asks.

‘I’m not sure. We know Inverleigh, Winchelsea, and other areas were bombed, so they possibly can’t be from there,’ Nate says, pulling his map out from his backpack. ‘Meredith is North of here, and that’s the direction they’re coming from.’ Lowering his map, he looks around, ‘Soulless are heading toward us from the north. The closest towns to the east and west have been bombed. Leaving us with the only choice to head east for a while,’ he says.

‘But we need to get to Lederberg. I need to know that my family is okay,’ I shout, holding my tears back. I bite my trembling lips to keep them still.

Nate steps toward me with a bleak stare, ‘I know, Penny. This wasn’t my plan. I assure you, but we have no other choice. They wouldn’t be there anyway. After a few days of waiting, they would have most likely assumed we didn’t make it and that we are all dead and have gone to find themselves refuge.’

I fall to my knees and hug myself in despair. Nancy sits beside me and rests her head sympathetically on my shoulder.

Kate hears something behind her. She turns and screams when a soulless teenager walks through the shrubbery toward her. Todd pushes Kate behind him and stabs the soulless dead, ‘We should keep going and get as far east as we can then,’ he says, staring at the sunken eyes of the teen he just killed.

‘Nancy, quickly now,’ Kate says frantically as she crouches down for Emma to piggyback her again.

Nancy rushes to Buddy, and her mother lifts her onto his saddle.

‘Come on, Penny. We all got to go together,’ Nate frowns as he notices I’m not following. I turn and stare into the distance, contemplating whether I should separate from the group to go to find Jane and Liam.

Nate sighs as he runs his hand down his face, ’This isn’t what Jane or Liam would want. They would want you to survive, Penny, whether they are still alive or dead. They wouldn’t want you to give up on them or yourself. Staying here alone is you giving up. It is you welcoming death. Do you really want that fate? Or will you stand up, hold your head damn, bloody high, kill these mofos by my side, and survive in hopes of one day finding them again? It’s your choice, Penny. I’m not going to force you to come with us, but we are your family too, and I know we would like you to join us on this journey of survival together.

Besides, you’re brave, Penny. You risked your life today, so your friends had enough time to escape. They need you, and without you, they won’t have much chance of surviving. When you killed that soulless kid in the wardrobe and today, taking on all the soulless on your own, like that in the field. They’re alive because you saved them. But I want you to decide your own fate, Penny. As I said, I won’t force you to come with us, but it would mean a lot to me and the others to have you with us,’ he says.

As he walks away, I feel a heaviness in my heart. I look around at my friends, their expressions a mixture of sadness, empathy, and pleading.

Nancy and Emma’s brown eyes are filled with sorrow, and I know they’re hoping I’ll come with them. Oscar’s ocean-blue eyes are intense, his gaze locked onto mine, silently begging me to come. Kate and Todd’s eyes are filled with empathy, and I know they understand the weight of my decision.

I can’t help but wonder if they’ve all been bitten. Who in their right mind would miss me? I don’t even know if Liam and Jane miss me. Probably not. Liam was angry at me when we last spoke, and Jane was upset. After I hurt them like that, they are probably glad we became separated and hope never to see me again.

I look at the group again. Their eyes glisten. I can’t help but feel a warm fuzzy feeling of happiness. I stand and nod proudly as a tear escapes and rolls down my cheek.

I walk toward, Dreamer and step up, sitting behind Nate.

He has the biggest grin on his face.

I roll my eyes, ‘I’m only coming because none of you could survive without me,’ I tell him.

‘Yeah, you’re probably right, Penny,’ he smiles and nudges Dreamer.

She races forward, making me cling my arms tightly around Nate’s waist.

‘And you know, even if I stayed alone, I’d still survive. I am Penny Toughin, after all,’ I squeal as the horse bolts forward.

Nate laughs, Yeah, yeah,’ he says.

***

It’s almost dark. We have ridden passed Shelford and are now in the middle of nowhere. Nate said sometime tomorrow, we should be able to reach Rokewood. There’s nothing but vast fields in all directions. We only have one tent with us. Todd and Nate work together to set it up while Nancy, Oscar and Emma collect sticks and random pieces of bark and wood with me to make a fire.

I take the lighter from my duffel bag, and Oscar takes a book from his backpack.

Nancy stares at him bewildered, ‘It’s going to be too dark to read, don’t you think?’ she asks him.

‘It’s not for me to read, Nancy. It’s to help light the fire,’ he says, ripping a few pages out.

He scrunches them up and hands them to me to light. I place them under the sticks. The tent is also now set up.

‘Did anyone manage to pack any food?’ Kate asks.

We unzip our bags and place any food content out in front of us. I have three packets of biscuits, one packet of chips, and half a bottle of water. Todd has two packets of noodles, and oscar has two bottles of water and four snack bars.

‘Is this it?’ Kate frowns.

We nod.

‘I have the little pot still strung to my duffel bag.’ I tell them and untie it, handing it to Kate with half a bottle of water. ‘Put the noodles and water in here and heat it over the fire,’ I tell her.

Kate smiles and nods. Taking the items, she opens the noodles and pours the water over them. We take turns holding the pot above the fire until it’s cooked. Nate carefully drains the hot water, then rips the seasoning sachets and tips them onto the noodles. We pass the pot around, grabbing a small amount with our fingers each time and dangle it high above our faces to eat the long strands. We can’t help but giggle and laugh as each of us try to catch the noodles in our mouths. We then share a bottle of water, each taking a few sips.

‘We’ll keep the other bottle of water for tomorrow,’ Nate says.

I yawn and rub my eyes.

‘You kids should sleep. Kate and Todd will go with you. I’ll take the first shift to watch for soulless, and then Todd can take over so I can sleep.’

Todd nods, and we follow them into the tent. We only just fit inside. Emma and Nancy snuggle to the right of Kate. Then Todd lies next to Kate on her left side. Oscar crawls beside Todd, leaving me on end next to Oscar.

We face each other and quietly stare at each other, resting our heads on our arms.

’Oscar smiles and whispers, ‘Thanks for today, Penny. I guess I owe you again. I was worried that Emma wouldn’t come with us. We needed that time to get her to the house,’ he says.

My lips press into a thin line, ‘I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to any of you. I did what I had to,’ I mumble and yawn, closing my eyes.

Oscar stares at the tent’s roof as his cheeks slightly flush with a tinge of red, ‘You’re awesome, Penny. In fact, I kind of like you a lot,’ he smiles, turning his head to face me again.

But I respond, unaware of his confession, with snoring.

***

I wake through the night to Nate waking Todd, ‘It’s your turn to keep watch,’ he says.

Todd nods with his eyes still closed and sits up. He stretches his arms and crawls out of the tent to take over the watch for the remainder of the night.

Nate crawls into sleep where Todd was. I sit up to face him and smile.

He frowns and whispers, ‘You should be asleep.’

‘You woke me,’ I whisper back.

He smiles, ‘It’s probably a good thing you’re a light sleeper. Better chance of hearing soulless approach.’

‘I guess,’ I say, closing my eyes, ‘sweet dreams Nate,’ I mumble

‘Sweet dreams, Penny,’ he whispers.

I’m back in the supermarket, pointing the gun at my father. His eyes are glazed over and pale. I know Doug is no longer inside him. I know his soul has left, but it still hurts that I shot him. The moment replays in slow motion as I pull the trigger and watch his brain splatter as he drops to the ground. Then Officer Kip appears before me. His eyes bore into mine. I’m witnessing the last moment of this man’s life, and it’s me who’s ending it.

Even though Doug was my dad when I shot him, he was soulless, but Officer Kip was still human. His soul hadn’t left him yet. Not only did I shoot my dad’s soulless form dead, but I also shot and killed a man, a human being dead. I look down at my hands. Blood forms in my palms and drips through my fingers, splashing onto my shoes.

I jolt awake, gasping for air. My eyes widen as I try to shake off the remnants of the nightmare. Nate’s face looms over me, his eyes filled with concern, and his brows creased in worry. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, but my heart continues to race, and my hands tremble uncontrollably.

Nate gently shakes my shoulders, trying to get my attention, but my mind is still reeling from my dream’s horrific images. My hands fly to my chest to hold my racing heart in place. I glance down at them, half-expecting to see them stained with blood, like in the nightmare.

Oscar’s voice cuts through my panic, and I see him looking at me with concern. My breathing becomes shallower, and my body shakes with anxiety.

‘It’s okay, Penny. Just breathe,’ Nate says, his voice soothing and calming.

I push Nate out of the way, grabbing the last bottle of water.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Oscar says, worried.

‘I think she’s having a panic attack,’ Nate replies.

Their conversation doesn’t register with me. I run outside the tent, still struggling to breathe and covered in sweat.

Nancy and Emma are already outside with Todd.

They watch me curiously as I open the water, shaking profusely, and tip it onto one hand. ‘I need to wash it all off. I need to get it off me,’ I tell them, then pour the rest onto my other hand and scrub them together.

‘Penny, no!’ Todd shouts, picking up the empty bottle, and frowns at it.

Nate and Oscar rush to me, ‘Get what off you, Penny? There’s nothing there,’ Nate says, inspecting my hands.

‘The blood, the blood. I need to wash it off!’ I say frantically.

Nate grabs me by the shoulders again, but this time more roughly, forcing me to look into his eyes, ‘Penny, look at me. There’s nothing on your hands. There’s no blood. You’re okay. It was just a dream,’ he says.

I burst into tears, ‘But it wasn’t a dream. It happened,’ I cry.

‘What happened?’ he asks with a serious but concerned tone.

The words won’t come out. I can’t say it, but even if I did. What would they think of me? I shot my father and then an officer who was still human. I’ve been too afraid to even tell Liam and Jane I had shot Doug.

When Nate sees, I’m struggling to speak. He pulls me into his chest and hugs me instead.

Oscar stands beside me and rubs my back, ‘It will be okay, Penny. You have us, and we are here for you,’ he says gently.

Being hugged and having my back rubbed is helping me calm down. My hyperventilating dissipates to the odd deep breath.

‘Oscar is right. You have all of us, and we have your back, Penny. Whatever it is that happened. You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. But we are always here to listen if you ever want to share it with us,’ he says.

I clutch his shirt tighter and nod.