Experiment Undead

It’s been ten months since we’ve been at the motel. We’ve just finished our daily training with James. Nate has been training with us and having extra sessions with James, learning how to fight without weapons and box.

James had found a boxing bag in someone’s shed as we were scavenging through houses for food and clothes. James set it up, hanging from a tree outside our lodgings.

I sit on the lush green grass, my legs crossed and my chin resting on my palm as I quietly observe James and Nate’s sparring match. They’re both dressed in dark cargo pants and black singlet tops, their dog tags glinting in the sunlight as they dart around each other. Nate’s agility has improved significantly over the past few months, and he’s now able to land some impressive blows on James.

I leap to my feet and cheer as Nate lands a sharp uppercut on James, sending him staggering backward. James rubs his chin, a proud grin spreading across his face. ‘You’re getting good, boy,’ James says, beaming with admiration.

‘When will you teach me how to box?’ I ask, unable to contain my curiosity.

James chuckles, shaking his head. ‘When you stop asking me every day,’ he replies.

‘You know I can’t help it,’ I retort with a playful grin.

Nate chimes in, ‘Give her a chance, James. Maybe if she sees how hard it is, she’ll stop asking every day?’

My eyes narrow as I clench my fists, and I take a step towards Nate. Without hesitation, I punch him hard in the stomach. He doubles over, choking on his laugh as he holds his aching midsection. I stand over him, tilt my chin up, and smile, ‘I bet I could whoop your ass, boy,’ I smirk, perfectly imitating James’s voice. I cross my arms, feeling confident in my abilities.

Nate looks up at me with a daring glint in his eye, ‘Wanna bet?’ he says, grinning mischievously as he sits up.

James grabs my arm and pulls me back, ‘All right, that’s enough of you two. You’re both lucky I have patience. Penny, hold your hands up high like this. I want you to practice your jabs and your cross punches. I want you to alternate between them and do one hundred of each and go,’ he says, blowing his whistle.

I nod and begin to punch the heavy bag repetitively. James circles me, shouting instructions and corrections as I go. My arms ache, and my breathing becomes laboured, but I keep going. I need to prove to James and myself that I can do this.

I’m landing blow after blow at the boxing bag, ‘Chin up, elbows in more,’ James shouts.

The next day James has me repeat the same punches, but now he has me practice a hundred uppercuts and hooks afterwards. After a week of this routine, we practise with each other. James shows me how to bob and weave, and I quickly learn how to dodge his punches. Me being thirteen and James, thirty-eight, at almost six feet tall with hulk-like, bulky muscles, he thankfully uses less strength and force toward me.

‘All right, Penny. I’m going to teach you how to get me on the ground,’ James says.

‘Yes!’ I reply a little too excitedly.

‘Okay, listen and watch carefully. I’m going to throw a punch toward you slowly. You’re going to grab my arm like this, pull me toward you, and quickly use your leg behind me like this to trip me to the ground.’

James shows me the movements a few more times, and I follow the steps, practising the moves I need to do.

‘Alright, I will attempt to punch you this time, so please, get this right. I don’t want to explain how you got a bruised face to Kate. She’d grind my nuts and eat them for dinner, and I’d rather keep them intact,’ he says.

I find it hilarious this humungous oaf is frightened of Kate. She’s tall but also quite slim and has a soft demeanour, but her tongue is as sharp as a tack when Scary Carrie is around.

I stand there, my heart racing as James’s fist swings towards my face. I remember the steps he taught me, grabbing his arm with both hands and pulling him towards me. I swiftly place my foot behind him, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground with a thud.

For a moment, we both just stare at each other, him lying on his back and me standing over him with a mix of pride and disbelief on my face.

You did it!′ James grins, his eyes shining with pride.

‘I did it!’ I cheer, my heart soaring with excitement.

James stands up, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, ‘Now for the fun part,’ he says, knocking on the door where Oscar, Nate, and I sleep. Nate answers and follows James.

‘Penny, now you’re going to try it on, Nate,’ James says, winking at me.

My smile widens in excitement.

‘What’s going on?’ Nate asks.

James pats Nate on the shoulder, ‘You’re going to punch Penny,’ he says nonchalantly.

‘What? Are you crazy, James? I’m not punching a girl,’ Nate protests.

‘It’s not like you’re quick enough to actually hit her anyway,’ James taunts.

‘I know what you’re doing, James. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going to hurt Penny,’ Nate insists.

‘You wouldn’t be able to keep up with me anyway,’ I tell him, fluttering my eyes playfully.

‘Oh, you think so?’ Nate says, readying himself.

‘Oh, I think so, boy,’ I reply, mimicking James’s voice and riling Nate up.

As Nate throws a punch, I notice it’s slow and lacks power, making it easier to execute the move James taught me.

Before Nate can react, he’s on the ground. This time it’s James cheering me on. I high-five James and smile at Nate, who stares at me in disbelief, and then glares at James. ‘You never taught me that move!’ he exclaims in frustration.

James shrugs, smiles, and walks away into his room, leaving Nate to grumble in defeat. ‘Penny, bloody Toughin,’ he mutters.

I skip away to find Nancy, leaving Nate there to sulk.

I find Nancy sitting by the lake, her feet swirling around in the water, and I join her.

‘Penny Toughin,’ she laughs, ‘I swear I plaited your hair an hour ago, and it’s already messed up,’ she says, undoing my long blonde hair and using her fingers to comb through the knots before restoring my two neat plaits. ‘That’s much better, although you look just as pretty when you leave it out,’ she says.

I blush, ‘I’m not pretty, and I prefer my hair in plaits,’ I reply, feeling awkward at her compliment. I change the subject quickly, ‘Nate mentioned we’re out of coffee. I was thinking we could sneak away from the motel and scavenge for some?’

‘Mum would be livid,’ Nancy says, thinking it over. ‘But why not? Want to go now?’ she suggests.

I laugh, ‘You’re so much more fun when you break the rules, Nancy,’ I reply.

As we approach my room, Nancy stays outside. I enter and casually pick up my rifle.

‘What are you up to?’ Nate asks.

‘I saw some rabbits on the other side of the lake,’ I lie.

‘Want me to come with you?’ he offers, starting to get up.

‘No thanks, I’m good,’ I reply and dash out before he can say anything else.

The coast is clear, but we decide to go a different way, so we are less likely to be seen, and it’s the best decision I made as we come across a little farmhouse with a quad bike parked under the veranda.

‘Woah! Hop on,’ I say to Nancy.

She grabs the two helmets, and we put them on.

I turn the key, press the start button, and slowly release the clutch. The quad bike moves forward. I squeeze the brake on the handles, and the quad bike jolts to a halt, making Nancy’s helmet bump into mine.

‘At least we know the breaks are working,’ I laugh.

It only takes a few minutes to reach the main shopping district in Stawell.

We park outside a restaurant, ‘Let’s check in here,’ I say to Nancy.

We place our helmets on the quad bike and enter the restaurant through the large floor-to-ceiling window that has since been shattered. We step over the broken glass. The dark furniture and décor in the dining area are in disarray, with broken plates and glasses scattered around the tables.

The lighting inside the restaurant is dim, with the only source of light being the ray of sunlight shining through cracks in the walls or ceiling. The air is stale and musty, with a faint scent of rotting food lingering in the air.

The kitchen is also in a state of disarray, with pots and pans scattered around and the stovetops and ovens no longer functioning. A rat runs passed my feet.

Nancy shrieks and stands on a chair, ‘Oh, please, Nancy. Are you for real? We have infected flesh-eating monsters roaming the world, but you’re terrified of a rat….’

Nancy frowns at me but also gets my point. She steps down from the chair.

‘Oh, I know!’ I say to Nancy and run over the debris to her. I take her arm and escort her to the closest table. I make her sit, then grab an apron with a notepad and pen from behind the counter. I return wearing it and shove the broken items off the table and onto the ground.

‘Welcome. Can I take your order, please?’ I say, holding the pen to the notepad.

Nancy laughs, ‘Um, yes. I’m ready to order. My husband insists I stick to salads, but I think I’m going to divorce him and order a burger with the lot. Could you put the bill on his tab?’ she giggles.

‘Most certainly, ma’am. Would you like a beverage with your meal?’ I ask.

‘Yes, I’ll have a Chardon- Chardoneer?’ she says, trying to think of the word.

‘Chardonnay it is,’ I scribble down and walk to the kitchen.

I find a plate that has a chip, but not broken. I crumble some little rocks and dirt onto the plate and place the silver dish cover over the top. There’re empty bottles of wine strewn about. As I pick one up, I notice the rat. I smile, throw a cloth over it and stick it under the dish cover. The rat didn’t even try to run away. Nancy will probably kill me for this, but the look on her face will be worth it. I carry the covered plate and wine bottle to her table and place them down. I pretend to lay a napkin across her lap, hold the wine bottle and pour the non-existent contents into an imaginary glass.

Nancy pretends to sip it, ‘The finest Chardonnay I’ve ever tasted,’ she smiles.

‘Your burger with the lot, Madam,’ I say, lifting the lid with a grin.

Nancy screams as she falls back in her chair, hitting the ground.

‘Penny!’ she shouts.

‘It’s just a rat, Nancy,’ I laugh.

‘Not. The. Point!’ she says, standing up.

The rat wanders around the table and jumps down.

‘Okay, we’re done here,’ she shrieks, taking my hand and running from the restaurant.

We cross the road and enter the milk bar, ‘Yes!’ I shout, unzip my duffel bag and place a large tin of coffee inside. Nancy adds a pile of chocolate bars, ‘Promise not to tell Mum?’ she says.

Only if you share them with me?’ I reply.

‘Deal,’ she says, only to grab more chocolate.

We sit on the quad bike and eat four chocolate bars each.

‘This is so good!’ Nancy says.

‘Imagine the look on your mother’s face if she saw you were eating all this right now,’ I laugh.

‘She’d probably say you put me up to it,’ Nancy laughs.

‘Yeah, probably,’ I reply, agreeing with her.

We better get back. I think we’ve been gone much longer than we think,’ Nancy says.

We put our helmets on and return to the motel.

I park outside my room. I can hear Carrie arguing with James and Nate in our room, but before I can go in there, Kate storms out of the main dining room, ‘Where have you been?’ she growls.

‘It was my fault,’ I tell her, taking the large tin of coffee out of my bag. ‘Nancy didn’t want to come with me to find coffee for Nate, but I talked her into it,’ I lie.

‘I see,’ she says, taking the coffee. ‘Nancy, go to your room,’ she says.

‘But,’

‘Now!’ she shouts.

Nancy runs into her room and shuts the door.

Kate is trying to be mad at me, but I can see she’s struggling, ‘Penny, I treat you no different to my own daughters. I wish you would at least take James or Nate with you. I could never forgive myself if Nancy were to become infected or ended up in the hands of the archangels, and I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you either,’ she says, the last part surprising me.

‘Just promise not to scare me like that again. Promise to take one of the men next time?’ she pleads.

‘Yes, Kate. I’m really sorry,’ I say genuinely and now feeling guilty risking Nancy’s life.

She nods and makes her way to the kitchen with the tin of coffee.

I stand outside my door; Oscar can hear the shouting too, and stands beside me.

We listen together, ‘No, I’ve had enough. We’ve been here for almost a year. We should have left weeks after we first got here to get to a Safe Hold, but you all insist we’re safer here, and I’m not buying your shit anymore. You’ve never given me a valid reason as to why we should remain here,’ Carrie shouts.

‘We’ve told you the army has been split into two and fighting against each other. We can’t approach any army without knowing which side they’re on. Not to mention the hordes of soulless roaming the entire country. Have you forgotten we’re near the bottom of Australia, and Ayr is near the top of Australia? It could take us months to get to Ayr,’ James tells her.

‘I don’t care how long it takes, but I’m bored of being here, and I honestly don’t give a shit which side of the army I approach. The promise of a cure, joining the Archangels, sounds like a pretty good deal to me, and we should all be jumping at that opportunity, and for all we know, the cure may already be available for us right now! I don’t understand why you idiots are desperate to stay here,’ she says, swinging the door open angrily to find me standing there. ‘Just another reason I want to get away,’ she snaps, staring at me.

‘Then piss off, Carrie. No one wants you here anyway,’ I shout at her.

‘You know what. Maybe I should leave on my own after all,’ Carrie says, storming off to her room.

‘Damn it,’ James says. ‘We can’t let her leave,’ he scowls.

‘What?’ Oscar and I say simultaneously.

Nate and James pull us inside the room and shut the door behind us.

‘Penny,’ Nate says, ‘If Carrie leaves and successfully makes it to an army base. Your picture might be there. We can’t risk her telling them where you’re hiding,’ he says.

Oscar and I stare at each other. This hadn’t crossed either of our minds and let’s face it, Carrie hates me and would be the first to turn me in if she found out Commander Bryant was hunting me down.

‘Maybe we should talk to her and tell her. Besides seeing me suffer and probably die, what more would she get out of it?’ I say to them.

‘Knowing Carrie,’ Oscar says, ‘She could use her knowledge of you to her advantage and refuse to give your location till she’s given the cure?’ he says.

‘Damn it,’ I reply, ‘I didn’t think of that either. What do we do then?’

Nate and James stare at each other before staring at me again, ‘We have two options. Option one, persuade her to stay,’ Nate says.

‘What’s option two?’ I ask.

‘Option two is to kill her,’ Nate replies.

‘What! I know none of us like her, but we can’t murder her because of that. It’s not right,’ I tell them.

‘Then you better persuade her to stay,’ James says.

Without wasting time, I run to Carrie’s room and bang on her door. She opens it, ‘What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy packing?’ she shouts.

‘I don’t want you to go,’ I blurt out.

Carrie looks at me surprised, ‘You need to work on your jokes. This one is terrible,’ she says, closing her door on my face, but I quickly wedge my foot inside. ‘Penny, for fuck’s sake. If anything, you should be helping me pack so you can get rid of me quicker,’ she says.

‘Look, Carrie. I mean it. I don’t want you to go. Please stay with us. I’ll work on my attitude, and I’ll be nice to you, and you can continue to be a bitch to me if you want to. I promise I’ll be nice, and then you won’t have to risk your life going out on your own.’

Carrie looks me up and down, ‘I’m no fool, Penny. Tell me, what’s going on? I’ve known for some time there are things you all know that you’re keeping from me. Why do you really want me to stay?’ she asks.

I stare at my feet, trying to think of an answer, ‘Todd, loved you. He would want you to be safe. I couldn’t handle the guilt if something happened to you because I was never nice. Todd wouldn’t want this. So, please stay, and I’ll be better,’ I say, trying to use Emma’s tactic of appearing sad.

Carrie grabs my face with one hand, scrunching it, and pushes me back, ‘Nice acting, but Todd didn’t love me, and I didn’t love him, as I said. I’m not a fool. Something is up, and if you don’t tell me what it is, then I will find out myself,’ she warns.

I don’t reply. I storm off with clenched fists.

Nate and James stick their heads out of the room. I shake my head no. Their shoulders slump, but then James walks up to her room and knocks.

‘I swear if that’s you again, Penny,’ she shouts as she opens the door. ‘Oh, it’s you. What do you want?’ she asks James.

A helicopter flies high above the motel towards the airport. This is the first aircraft we’ve seen in two months. Before that, it’s always been the odd jet.

James looks back at Carrie, ‘I was thinking it will be dark soon, so maybe stay tonight and to make it easier for you, I’ll drive you part of the way towards the next town?’ he says in a friendly manner.

Carrie gives him a dubious glance, ‘Okay,’ she replies.

James wasn’t expecting her to agree so easily, ‘Great. I’ll see you in the morning then,’ he says.

Carrie shuts the door and returns to packing.

‘Okay,’ James says, approaching us, ‘This means we have to kill her tonight, or I will drive her out of town like promised and either shoot her or feed to her the soulless,’ he says.

‘There has to be another way?’ I say to him.

‘Remember how I told you we are always going to have to make shitty choices, even at the expense of others,’ he says.

‘Yes, I remember,’ I reply, thinking of the family who became soulless because we chose to save Nate.

‘Well, this is one of those choices we have to make. This time the choice is either you live Penny or Carrie lives. You made the decision to save Nate that day. So, Nate and I are making the decision to save you, Penny. Just like Nate, you’re part of the reason why we have been able to survive this long. You’re brave, trained to hunt and shoot, and a kick-ass little soldier. Carrie still refuses to learn how to hunt or shoot. She doesn’t even help Kate with basic cleaning duties. We need you, Penny.’

I nod but feel terrible about the situation.

‘Let me worry about Carrie. I’ll take her away from here in the morning and do what I must to protect this group. I don’t want you to worry about or think about it, so let’s make a fire by the lake and have some fun, hey?’ he says.

‘Okay,’ I mumble.

We leave Carrie alone in her room as we sit around the fire telling each other the lamest jokes we can come up with, which made the jokes even funnier. We see helicopter lights descending into the night sky in the distance. We all assume it landed to refuel.

As we return to our rooms, we find our door slightly ajar, ‘Hello?’ Nate says as he steps in.

He walks across the room and opens the door to where my bed is. ‘There’s no one here. I must not have shut the door properly,’ he says.

‘Goodnight Oscar, Goodnight Nate,’ I say to them and jump into bed.

I hug the spare pillow and fall asleep.

Nate wakes me from my night terror. Nate always has a fresh bottle of water ready to help cool me down each time. Oscar sometimes hears I’m having a bad dream and comes to help, but Nate always tells him to go back to sleep.

It’s early in the morning, and James bangs on everyone’s door, but instead of waking us for training, he has woken us looking for Carrie.

‘You don’t think she’s left already, do you?’ I ask him.

‘I’ve checked everywhere around here, and she’s not here. The truck and quad bike are still here, so she mustn’t have gotten far. I’ll deal with her when I find her,’ James says.

Unfortunately, when he says he’ll deal with her, we know the dire meaning of his words.

James doesn’t return with the truck until lunchtime, ‘I couldn’t find Carrie. I drove at least an hour each way out of Stawell. She must have found a ride or taken an abandoned car from town,’ he says.

‘Wait, what about the helicopter last night? We all saw it. Maybe the pilot let her on?’ I suggest.

‘It’s plausible. I’ll head there now and see if I find anything,’ James says.

It’s been thirty minutes since James left. Nate enters our room and notices his mattress isn’t centred. He lifts it to see the picture of me has been taken and races outside to find all of us lying on the grass, except for Kate, who’s inside the main kitchen.

‘We have a major problem,’ he says, distressed.

We sit up and stare at him. ‘We have to pack and leave as soon as James returns. Our door was open last night because Carrie came and searched our room. She found the picture of you, Penny!’ he says.

‘That’s why she left so early. She’s gone to tell of my location, so none of us could stop her!’ I say franticly.

I jolt as I hear a sound. The others stare at me, ‘What is it?’ Oscar asks.

‘Do you guys hear that?’ I ask, my senses picking up on a strange buzzing noise. Though I initially dismissed it as a mere insect flying nearby, my gut tells me otherwise. The hum grows louder and stronger, and I can sense a subtle vibration emanating from the ground beneath us. ‘Do you feel that?’ I add, my voice laced with unease.

‘Something’s approaching,’ Nate declares, his words confirming my fears. Suddenly, three helicopters whirr overhead, and a handful of armoured trucks converge on us from various directions.

‘Grab your rifles and move!’ Nate commands urgently, knowing all too well the danger we’re about to face.