Experiment Undead

James pulls the truck over and flicks on his torch as he approaches the back of the truck. I unzip my duffel bag, grab my two torches and pass one to Emma. We turn them on, and I pull scary faces with the torch light shining on my face. Nancy and Emma giggle at my silliness. Nate gets down from Dreamer.

James leans against the truck and looks at Nate, ‘I was thinking it might be too risky to drive through town in the dark. We don’t know if there will be soldiers, gangs, or survivors, as well as soulless, waiting to attack to rob or kill us. I think there’s a lake off there,’ he says, pointing over a field to the right. I saw the moon reflecting on the ground, so it must be water. We can camp there for the night, and at first, light see if we can find somewhere to stay; otherwise, we will have to keep driving to the next town, plus we’re running out of fuel as well,’ he adds.

‘All right, sounds like a plan,’ Nate says and climbs back onto Dreamer.

James turns at Green Hill Lake Road to reveal a vast lake. There’s a playground sign, to Emma’s delight. We park next to the playground, and there’re toilet cubicles, to Carrie’s delight. James gets the tent out of his truck and starts assembling it.

Oscar bounces on the spot, ‘The ground is soft, and Uncle Todd loved fishing. I think here, by the lake, would be the perfect area to bury him. We can use our hands to dig,’ he says to me.

‘If this is where you want to bury him, then I’m happy to help,’ I reply.

Emma and Nancy follow us. Then Nate helps Oscar carry Todd’s body over to the grave. They lower him, and we push the dirt mounts back over him. Nancy places a dandelion on the grave, and we stand in silence as we stare at Todd’s grave.

Carrie comes over once it’s all done, of course. After all, it would be disastrous for her to ruin her nails.

Oscar’s face is etched with sadness, his eyes misty with unshed tears. He looks at me. His expression is solemn, and his body is tense with emotion, ‘I don’t know what to say,’ he says, holding back tears.

Carrie’s body language is one of defeat and helplessness as she shrugs and shakes her head, indicating that she doesn’t know what to say or do.

‘I can help you if you wish?’ I say as I reach out and take Oscar’s, offering comfort and support in his time of need. His grip on my hand tightens as he nods, appreciative of my offer to help him through his grief.

As we stand there in silence, I take in our surroundings and the memories Oscar told me about the old times with his uncle.

’The moonlight shimmers on the still lake,

The stars above twinkle and quake,

I’ll miss your stories, your jokes, and your smile,

But most of all, I’ll miss your company all the while.

Knowing that though you’re no longer here,

Our memories of fishing will always be dear.’

‘Thank Penny, that was really nice,’ Oscar says, managing a small smile.

Oscar then gets onto his knees and captures a photo of his uncle’s grave with the moon shining above, which adds a glistening sparkle to the water in the background. He looks at the photo on the camera’s screen and nods to himself, satisfied with the photo.

Nate gestures to Kate to follow him. I watch as he tells Kate there’s a bounty for me and to not say anything to Carrie about it. He unfolds the poster with my face on it and shows Kate. She covers her mouth with her hands, flicks her head to glance at me, and gives me an empathetic look before nodding at Nate.

‘Tents ready. Time for everyone to get some rest,’ James shouts.

As James takes the first shift to keep watch, the rest of us crawl into the tent, snuggle up, and try to get some sleep. The air inside the tent is cool and crisp, a sharp contrast to the warmth of our sleeping bags.

As I fall asleep, I hope we make it through the night unscathed.

Nate was supposed to wake me up to keep post through the second half of the night with him, but he decided to let me sleep.

As we wake early and crawl out of the tent, we’re greeted with a stunning view of the big lake in the daylight. The shimmering waters are almost too beautiful to believe, but then my stomach rumbles, and the reality of our situation hits me. We’re all hungry, and we need to approach the streets of Ararat cautiously and hopefully find some food.

As we approach the streets, the destruction and debris everywhere is overwhelming, and my heart sinks at the sight of so much devastation. Like back home in Colac, the streets are filled with cars, the dead and the soulless. Car and house fires blaze throughout the town, while many houses have already been burnt down over the previous months. People camp on rooftops with help signs and look just as malnourished as we do. Some have ladders as they climb to the roof to pass items up, while others climb down to scavenge for food. As the soulless have taken over the streets, we can see through the broken windows and doors as they wander through the houses. The roof is their last resort as they wait to be saved. There are soulless climbing up the sides of houses, using their claws, but the moment they reach the roof, they are met with a shovel or baseball bat to the head, sending them flying back. Most of the survivors appear glum as if they know no one is coming to save them, but then one family stares at us and the truck. They quickly talk before climbing down from the roof, hoping to outrun the soulless and make it to us.

Soulless turn away from the stray animals on the street and comes toward Nate on Dreamer as another group of soulless chases the family running toward the front of the truck.

Oscar, Kate and I shoot the soulless coming towards Nate. A soulless grabs his leg, and another grabs at Dreamer’s neck. The family scream for us to help them. There’s a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes around my age and two little boys a few years younger with the same blonde and brown eyes as their sister. The father shouts, pleading to help them. He has dark hair, while the mother cries heavily, trying to push the soulless away from grabbing her children, who all look like her. Two dozen soulless are closing in on Nate. He pulls a handgun out and shoots the closest ones—Dreamer panics from the gunshot and bucks in the air, making Nate fall off.

We have to make an immediate choice, save the family or Nate!

Emma and Nancy scream, hugging each other as they watch the soulless catching up to the family. In contrast, Carrie is in the front screaming at James to drive over all the soulless, even if it means driving over the family. James yells back at Carrie as he speeds around in circles, hitting as many soulless as possible.

Nate continues to shoot the soulless as he sits up until he runs out of bullets and wrestles with a soulless that tries to bite his face. The family trying to get to us could have easily been Liam and me, with Jane and our Dad. The young girl looks me in the eyes. I can see the desperation in them and the fear she feels, but Nate will surely get bit if I help her and her family, and the thought of losing him isn’t an option for me.

‘What do we do? Who do we help?’ Kate asks as she looks between Nate and the family distressingly.

I close my eyes and shake my head apologetically at the girl as I turn back to shoot the soulless attacking Nate.

‘Nate! Save Nate! We need him,’ I shout.

Without arguing, Kate and Oscar nod and follow my direction. Dreamer runs off down a main road. Half the soulless around Nate follow her. We hear the children’s and parents’ screams as they are attacked and devoured by the soulless three houses down. They had almost made it to us. Tears drip down all our faces as we refuse to look or watch as they meet their fate. Nate also looks scared, fearing for his life, as he wrestles the last soulless near him to the ground.

As it snaps its teeth, splattering gunk at him. I aim carefully before James swerves the car. I pull the trigger, blowing its brains out. Nate stares at me with relief, but then a horde of soulless runs from around the corner. They have come here following the sounds of the gunshots and screams.

‘Oh shit!’ Nate shouts as he scrambles to his feet.

I lean over the back of the ute, reaching my hand out to take his as he runs for his life toward the truck. Our hands grip each other, and I help pull him in as he jumps. The truck screeches as we fall and bang our foreheads together. We lay on our backs and stay there, trying to catch our breaths while James speeds away from the horde.

We feel the bumps of each body James runs over, and we slightly skid across the metal floor as James swerves the truck. But I don’t move. I stare at the clouds crying silently to myself as tears pool and flood my face. I pray that saving Nate over the family was the right choice. I pray that the family forgive me for not saving them. Nate sits up and stares at me. He knows we saved him over the three children and their parents. I can tell he wants to say something, but I’m unsure if he’s in shock or has no idea what to say or how to respond.

I sit up, facing him. Over his shoulder, Kate cries into her hands while Oscar stares quietly into the distance as tears drip down his face. Nancy and Emma rub Kate’s arm and leg as they cry into her lap.

My eyes lock with Nate’s. I can see the gratefulness that he’s still alive, but I can also see the guilt. Our eyes water even more before we both wrap our arms around each other and cry.

After a while, James pulls over and siphons fuel from random cars as Nate and I stand back-to-back with our rifles, keeping watch for any danger. No one has been able to speak, but I don’t know what to say either. The guilt of not being able to help the family has consumed us. I had to make a choice. I knew no one else could, and not choosing meant Nate and the family being killed.

We return to the truck, and we all silently watch James as he fills the truck with fuel he has siphoned.

He shakes his head at us, ’Look, I know what happened was horrific, but I want you all to know that I think you all made the right decision-saving, Nate. If Nate had died and the family survived, it would have been more mouths to feed, and we don’t even have food for ourselves. We would have dropped them off somewhere outside of town to fend for themselves, and the likelihood of them surviving with no food, water, transport, or weapons would have given them zero chance of survival.

We may not have food, but we have this truck, we have some water, and we have weapons and have military training or are being trained by the military, aka me,’ he says, pointing to himself. ‘So, grieve, cry your eyes out, scream, punch a wall. Do whatever you must do to get it out of your mind. This is a dog-eat-dog world now, and we will see messed up shit and make messed up choices every day for the rest of our lives but don’t feel guilty for their deaths when their deaths were imminent. Nate plays a big part in our survival. Losing him reduces our chances of survival. It was a tough and horrible decision you made, but it was the right one,’ he says, staring intently at us.

Although we still feel horrible, his words and reassurance that I made the right choice help ease my heart and mind. I walk to him and hug him. Emma does the same, then Oscar and Nancy.

‘Thank you,’ I say to him.

He pats my head and nods, ‘It is what it is now. Don’t regret the right choices you made, Penny, even if it was at the expense of others. Now we need to find some food,’ he adds as his stomach rumbles.

We find a small area of bushland and shoot five rabbits before James chucks them into the back of the truck, ‘Looking forward to some of this grub tonight,’ he says merrily, rubbing his hands together.

As we continue driving through the desolate town, I can’t help but feel a sense of despair. The storefronts had been boarded up but then broken into at some point. We pass more houses with broken windows and overgrown lawns. There’s less soulless roaming toward the outskirts of town. I realise they are waiting closer to the inner suburbs and streets for the remaining survivors to come down from their roofs or barricaded houses. Waiting for the moment, they can feed off the fresh flesh of humans and infect them. I can’t help but think the soulless are much more intelligent than we all realise.

‘Hey,’ James finally says, pointing to a sign.

‘Welcome to the Ararat Lunatic Asylum,’ I read for everyone to hear.

James pulls over, steps out of the car and faces us, ‘It looks deserted from here,’ James says.

‘You’re not suggesting we camp here tonight?’ I ask him.

‘We should at least search the facility,’ he replies.

‘There might be a reason no one goes in there,’ I state, pointing at the ghost tour sign.

‘Awesome!’ Nate and Oscar say simultaneously.

‘I don’t like ghosts,’ Emma says, staring at Kate.

‘Ghosts don’t exist, honey. Just like the tooth fairy doesn’t exist, remember?’ Kate tells her.

‘The tooth fairy isn’t real?’ Emma asks, and her eyes water.

‘Mum, it was me you told, not Emma,’ Nancy says, face-palming herself at her mother’s mistake.

‘Oh… right,’ Kate says.

‘She may as well know now that Santa and the Easter Bunny also don’t exist,’ Carrie chimes in.

Emma bursts into tears. Kate quickly kneels to console Emma while everyone faces Carrie and glares at her.

‘Well, it is true!’ she says in her defence.

‘Unbelievable, Carrie,’ I say, throwing my hands up.

We stare up in awe and fascination at the sprawling campus of the asylum. It’s comprised of several buildings, including dormitories and wards, for patients. The principal edifice, an imposing structure with neo-gothic turrets, a central clock tower, and a high-pitched roof, is the centrepiece of the compound. From the outside, it gives the impression of an elite private boarding school, but once we step inside, it changes from impressive to eerie.

As we cautiously enter the asylum. James, Nate and I stand at the front with rifles as we scour the many rooms and hallways. Kate and Oscar are at the back of the group with their rifles, while Nancy, Emma and Carrie are in the middle to be kept safe. Nancy has a knife I gave her, hidden in her pocket if she ever needs it.

The air is thick with the stench of decay, and it’s hard to believe that people used to live here. We only encounter a few dead bodies of the soulless throughout the facility, where the stench emits.

The asylum’s interior has various wards and treatment rooms. We find a hydrotherapy suite, electroconvulsive therapy suite, and padded cells. James stares at a table with leather restraints, ‘The patients must have endured a lot of inhumane treatments here. I can see why it’s perfect for ghost hunting,’ he says, staring at the autopsy table in the mortuary.

We all quiver as we stare at the open steel draw where bodies are kept. Thankfully it’s empty.

‘Ok, I’m ready to leave now!’ Carrie squeals, frightened.

‘Okay, bye,’ James smiles and waves at her.

We all laugh.

‘That’s not funny! This place is creepy. We should leave,’ she says.

‘We will leave when we are ready to, Carrie. You can either stay with us or find your way out of here and wait for us outside,’ James replies.

‘I’m not going alone!’ she snaps.

‘Then you better be quiet and keep following us then,’ he tells her.

Carrie crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at James but remains quiet.

The once grand structure has now become a worn-down shell. The walls are vandalized, the windows are broken, and graffiti covers the walls. Similarly, the well-maintained gardens have been left to overgrow with weeds and vines, adding to the bleak atmosphere.

We enter the kitchen, which has enormous silver pots and metal cupboards.

‘If some of this stuff works, maybe we can cook the rabbits here?’ Emma bumps into a table. A steel lid falls to the ground causing a loud clang to echo. We all run and scream, not realising Emma knocked it. We don’t stop running until we’re back outside.

We all slump to the ground, panting for air. Emma giggles, ‘Bunch of scaredy cats. I knocked the lid down. You’re all silly billies,’ she laughs.

All our shoulders slump with relief, and we look at one another before we all burst into laughter.

‘Okay, that is pretty funny,’ I tell them.

James points to a large hexagon-shaped gazebo with an old wooden picnic table. The roof is full of rust and corroded in other areas, ‘I am not going back into that kitchen. So, let’s make a fire under the gazebo and cook the rabbits here,’ he says.

We all agree and follow him.

After skinning, gutting, and cooking the rabbits in the fire pit, it’s now night. We grab our torches from the truck along with our sleeping bags and return inside the asylum to sleep. We use our flashlights to navigate the dark hallways. The place is even creepier at night. We enter a room with old medical equipment and strange contraptions scattered around. I shudder as I see the leather restraints on the beds and chairs, imagining the horrors that took place here.

Nancy and I decide to play a prank on the others. We sneak off and hide in one of the rooms, waiting for them to come by. When they do, we jump out, shouting and waving our arms. Oscar nearly jumps out of his skin, and Emma screams, but James chuckles and shakes his head.

As we continue to explore, we find a room filled with surgical instruments. We pick them up, examining them under the torchlight. I can’t help but feel a sense of fascination mixed with horror as I imagine the procedures that were performed here. We find old records and patient files, which fascinate us, as we flick through them.

There’s a communal bathroom full of rusty bathtubs. The floors and walls are concrete, ‘Can you believe people were made to bath here?’ Nancy says.

‘I’d rather smell for the rest of my life than soak in one of these,’ I reply.

Nancy laughs, ‘Me too!’ she says.

‘All right, this room should do,’ James says from down the hall.

We catch up to him to find a carpeted room with no furnishings, get into our sleeping bags and fall asleep.

I’m gently shaken awake by Nate. I jolt up, covered in sweat. I was dreaming, having flashbacks of my dad, officer Kip, Patricia, of the family we had to let die to save Nate, but the last face I saw before Nate woke me was Commander Bryant’s. He was smiling at me, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. It was a wicked smile that sends a shiver down my spine.

Nate wipes the sweat from my face, passes me water and fans my face with his hands to help cool me down.

‘Thank you,’ I smile, appreciating his help.

I lie on the floor beside Nate and manage to sleep through the rest of the night without having the repetitive nightmare.

We don’t waste any time as we wake in the morning. We place our sleeping bags back in the truck, and as we’re about to leave, a small charter plane flies over us.

James starts the engine, ‘Let’s follow the plane?’ he says.

Nate pulls his map out and stares at the plane, ‘It’s flying north,’ he tells James.

‘Hold on, ladies and gentlemen. Where in for a bumpy ride,’ James says, putting his sunglasses on and playing a CD. Loud heavy rock music blasts as we hold on for dear life as James speeds off, chasing after the plane.