Experiment Undead

Nate, Oscar and I get up and run towards our room. Nancy and Emma run inside the main building to alert their mother.

We sling our bags over our shoulders and grab our rifles before climbing out the bedroom window. Our door is smashed open just as we climb out. Nate turns and starts shooting at the soldiers.

We race to the main building and break through the back door to find Kate holding her rifle with Nancy and Emma behind her.

‘What do we do?’ Kate sobs, ‘We’re surrounded,’ she says, terrified for her daughter’s lives.

I feel a heavy sadness in my heart as I look downcast. ‘It’s me they want,’ I tell her, my voice low and mournful. ‘I’ll lead them away towards the bush. Then you take Nancy and Emma and get out of here,’ I say to Kate, trying to keep my voice steady despite the tears in my eyes.

‘No, Penny. You’re my best friend. I’m not going anywhere without you,’ Nancy cries.

‘We’ll find each other again. I promise,’ I tell Nancy.

Nancy drops to the ground, hugs her knees and cries. ‘I’ll miss you,’ she sobs.

‘I’ll miss you all too,’ I say, closing my eyes to stop the tears.

Emma taps my thigh, holding her doll up, ‘Molly will keep you safe, then when you find us again, you can return her to me,’ Emma says.

There’s an explosion in one of the suites. I grab Molly and stuff her in my duffel bag to reassure Emma we will see each other again.

’I’m going with you, Nate says with determination, his eyes reflecting the same courage and resolve I have always admired in him.

‘Me too,’ Oscar adds, grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards the exit, not giving me a chance to contest.

We sprint as fast as possible around the side of the motel and hide behind a low wall, ‘My quad bike is just over there. If I can get to it, I can get away,’ I say to Nate and Oscar.

‘We can’t all fit on it, only two of us,’ Nate says.

‘Coming with me only puts your lives in danger. I should go alone so you can escape with Kate and the others,’ I reply.

‘No, not happening,’ Nate says.

Suddenly we hear James shout profanities as he speeds towards the soldiers, shooting at them with his handgun.

As we’re about to take this chance to run, we hear the sounds of rifles cocking behind us.

‘We only want the girl,’ a soldier says in a serious tone, ‘but if you give us any trouble, then we won’t hesitate in killing the rest of you,’ he warns.

We turn around slowly, our hearts beating fast with fear and anticipation. Nine soldiers stand before us. Their rifles pointed directly at us. We can’t see their faces; they’re all covered in scarves that only reveal their eyes.

As I study them more closely, I notice something that chills me to the bone. Their sleeves are rolled up to their elbows, revealing matching tattoos of angel wings on their forearms. These are the archangels, and there’s no mistaking it.

The soldier with the name TEMPLE on the front of his shirt talks into his radio, ‘We have the target over,’ he says.

A cryptic voice replies, ‘Is she alone?’

‘No, two males, one is eighteen, maybe nineteen years old, and the other around fifteen, sir, over.’

‘Take them to the camps, and I want you to escort the girl to the main base personally.’

‘You heard the orders!’ Temple says to his comrades, ‘tie them up and get them in the truck,’ he orders.

We lower our rifles, knowing we’re outnumbered. Oscar and Nate are pushed to the ground and searched before having their wrists tied.

The other soldiers surrounding the complex continue to fire at James, and more grenades are thrown into the suites.

The soldiers lift Oscar and Nate by the scruff of their shirts while two soldiers roughly grab my arms and hold my wrists together, ‘Let me go, you bastards!’ I shout and fight them off, but I’m quickly struck. My lips part as the pain stings across my face.

‘You fucker!’ Nate yells and lunges towards the soldier to hit me, only to be held back by three soldiers, punched hard in the gut, and much harder than I’ve ever hit him.

‘Nate!’ I cry out and glare at the asshole soldier. I note the name on his shirt VERNER.

Nate falls back in pain, ‘We don’t have room for heroes around here,’ Verner smirks at him, ‘Only villains,’ he laughs.

Oscar kicks the back of his boot into the shin of the soldier restraining him, then elbows the soldier in the face, causing his nose to bleed. Verner flicks a knife out and stabs Oscar in the leg above the knee. Oscar cries out in pain again as Verner yanks the knife out.

‘Oscar!’ I try to run over to him, but temple grabs me from behind and holds me, ‘Tie her wrists now!’ he shouts.

I try to wriggle and fight free, but it’s no use. My wrists are tied together tightly.

‘Do you even know the shit we’ve been through to try and track you down all this time?’ Temple snaps in my ear.

‘No,’ I reply.

‘Well, you’re about to find out,’ he sneers, ‘but thanks to that red-headed number, we can now reap our rewards once I personally hand you over to Commander Bryant myself,’ he smirks.

My eyes widen along with Nate’s. We realise in that moment the cryptic voice on the radio is that of Commander Bryant himself. My heart races with a sense of dread and fear consuming me.

As we’re forced toward the trucks, Oscar is shoved into the back first. Then suddenly, James’s truck flips over from a grenade, ‘James!’ Nate and I shout together. A dozen soldiers approach his vehicle and drag him out, disarming him.

‘He’s alive!’ I say to Oscar and Nate.

James has blood dripping down his arms and face but still tries to put up a fight, throwing punches as he is dragged from the truck. They tie his wrists together and shove him into a different truck. He groans in pain.

As two soldiers forcefully drag Nate towards the truck, I sprint towards him, tears streaming down my face. He breaks free from their grip for a moment, and we reach out to each other, calling out each other’s names with a sense of urgency and desperation. I manage to grasp his chest, but the soldiers quickly pull him away from me, their hold stronger than mine.

As they drag him away, I feel something hard and metallic in my hand. It’s Nate’s army tag, a silver chain with a rectangular plate dangling from it. I turn it over to see his real name engraved on it - Nathan Louis Barlow, with a string of numbers etched underneath. I never knew this whole time that Nathan was his real name.

I spit in Verner’s face as he tries to lift me into the truck. He drops me to the ground, his rough hands gripping my shoulders tightly, and with a sadistic smirk, he smacks me hard across the face, causing my head to whip to the side.

‘Asshole!’ I yell at him, the taste of blood in my mouth from where my teeth have cut my lip.

He yanks me up again, pressing a knife to my throat with a sickeningly gentle touch. His eyes, filled with a twisted pleasure, lock onto mine as he speaks, his words laced with a sinister warning. ‘Don’t make me use this against that pretty little neck of yours,’ he says, the cold steel of the blade gliding softly across my skin and shoving me into the waiting truck, leaving me trembling with fear and anger.

As the sound of the helicopters fades away into the distance, I am left alone with my captors. All the soldiers but two, who Nate managed to shoot dead, return to the trucks. Verner climbs up to monitor us with two other soldiers.

I notice Nate pale as a soldier on the truck before him unravels the scarf around his face. He must know him. Could it be Clive or Greg? Maybe someone he trained with when he first signed up for the army. I can’t tell from only seeing the back of the person.

I look down at the army tag in my hand and clench it tightly. Tears blur my vision as I clutch the tag tightly, feeling a strange mix of comfort and sorrow at having this small piece of him with me. I gaze up and lock eyes with Nate. Tears flood my face, knowing this might be the last time I see him again. I tuck his tag in my pocket, hoping and praying we will one day reunite again.

Nate doesn’t take his eyes off me and nods solemnly as his lips form a straight line, showing his sadness. I realise he’s saying goodbye to me. The truck moves forward. I feel as though I’m sinking in water, that I’m drowning. The further away the truck gets. I can feel a panic attack forming.

The trucks are long gone in the distance, with ours being the last to follow, but then I remember the soldiers never checked me for weapons. The two soldiers talk to Verner as they tell him how hard it was to restrain James.

I discreetly feel around in my right boot, pull a small knife out, and spend the next minute cutting through the rope. My wrists are free, but I can’t move until Verner looks the other way. I wait patiently, breathing slowly and calmly, as adrenaline races through me. The soldier to his left points at the sheep in the field.

As he looks, I quickly ram my knife into Verner’s neck, pull it out as he falls to the side, wrap my arm around the next soldier’s neck with his back to me, and stab him multiple times in the front and side. The soldier aims his rifle at his comrade and me, but I shove the dying soldier into him, knocking him over. I kick the rifle towards Oscar and repeatedly stab the soldier in the back. Oscar scuffles closer, ‘Penny, stop. We have to jump off the truck before the soldiers in the front notice,’ he says.

My face and clothing are covered in blood splatter. I look at Oscar’s bleeding leg. ‘It’s fine,’ he assures me. I grab the rifle from Verner’s body. We crawl to the edge of the truck, look over and count to three as we roll off together.

The force makes us roll violently about eight metres down the road. Oscar takes my hand, and we run into the field with the high grass, covered in cuts, bruises and blood.

‘What do we do now?’ Oscar asks me as we stop to catch our breaths quickly.

‘We need to get back to the motel. It won’t take long. Then we take the quad bike and get out of here,’ I tell Oscar.

‘What about the others?’ he asks.

‘We can’t help them,’ I sob.

‘It will be okay, Penny. They will be okay; they’re soldiers, after all. They will escape, I know it,’ he says assuringly.

‘Kate, Emma and Nancy might still be at the motel.’

Oscar nods, ‘Let’s keep going.’

I rip part of my shirt and tie it around Oscar’s leg to slow the bleeding, and

we run toward the motel. I grab my duffel bag from behind the little wall where we had been caught and enter the kitchen.

‘Kate, Nancy, Emma,’ I shout, but I don’t get a response.

‘We have to go, Penny,’ Oscar says, looking out the window. ‘The Archangels could be back any moment.’

He’s right. We have to go. We run outside, put the helmets on, and ride in a different direction.

I’m relieved Kate, Nancy and Emma have gotten away and confident they’ll be okay, knowing Kate has a rifle.

***

Over the following week, we make it through St Arnaud, Wedderburn, and finally, arrive at the tiny town of Serpentine. We siphoned fuel, hunted rabbits, and slept under the stars with a blanket we scavenged along the way and shared each night, sleeping beside each other so we wouldn’t freeze to death. We stayed off the main roads as much as possible to avoid hordes of soulless and armies.

As we enter the small town of Serpentine, we notice everything is covered in different coloured paint splats, with chalk in the mix. Everything is covered with paint, from rubbish bins and letter boxes to the roads and houses. Even the few roaming soulless are covered in it.

We cautiously enter the road, observing our surroundings for any signs of danger. ‘A rainbow zombie. Well, now I’ve seen everything,’ I say to Oscar over my shoulder.

I stop the quad bike, and we hop down to inspect the colours.

Oscar bends down and picks up a tiny yellow ball, ‘A paintball for a paintball gun,’ he says.

We step back and aim our rifles as six people wearing balaclavas run out from the nearby house. They charge towards us, shouting and strangely pointing paintball guns loaded with paintballs and slingshots at us with chalk bombs ready to be released at us.

‘Um, are they for real?’ Oscar asks.

‘let’s find out,’ I smile and shoot a bullet near their feet.

The group come to an abrupt halt, look at one another, quickly turn around and charge back toward the house they came from, shouting, ‘Retreat! Retreat!’ and slam the door.

Oscar and I share an amused glance.

The group poke their heads against the windows a moment later to see if we are still here.

‘Let me try something,’ I say to Oscar. ‘Wait by the quad bike,’ I tell him.

He nods, sits on the bike and crosses his arms as he watches me approach closer to the window.

I raise my rifle with both hands for them to see and lower it to the ground, placing it by my feet, ‘Hello, there. I come in peace,’ I smile.

They swap glances, elbow each other, and the front door slowly creaks open. A person, I think is male, cautiously steps out and places his paintball gun at his feet.

‘Where are you from?’ he asks.

‘Colac,’ I answer.

‘You have a real gun?’ he says.

‘Yes, I have a rifle. It’s perfect for shooting the soulless and the archangels,’ I shrug.

He removes his balaclava and has a confused look on his face. His friends appear behind him, and all remove theirs too. They must not be any older than sixteen, I look back at Oscar, and he returns the surprised stare.

‘I see you are all quite the artists,’ I say, gesturing to the paint and chalk everywhere. ‘How did you get so many paintballs and chalk bombs?’ I ask.

The teenage boy smirks, ‘Well, just before the virus, I may have maxed out my dad’s credit card from purchasing them. He was furious and had organised them to be sent back and to get a refund, but then everyone started eating each other’s intestines and biting each other. My shed out the back still has tons left over,’ he beams.

‘I see. Are you the only survivors left here?’ I ask.

‘No, that’s my Dad over there,’ he says, pointing to the rainbow zombie.

‘Oh, how nice…’ I reply, trying my hardest to keep a straight face.

The boy laughs, ‘Oh. I’m just kidding you. That’s not my dad. That’s my uncle.’

I remain silent. My poker face doesn’t change as the wind blows my hair around as I process this awkward conversation.

The teenage boy tilts his head and smiles, ‘You guys hungry?’ he asks, stepping aside and opening his door for us to join him and his friends.

‘You’re not afraid that Oscar and I will hurt you?’ I ask him, surprised at his hospitality.

‘No, you would have shot us the first time if you meant us harm,’ he smiles.

‘What’s your name?’ I ask him.

‘Bilby, and these here, are my friends, Sarah, Vix, Nigel, Bobbie and Tessa,’ they smile and wave at us, excited to see new faces. ‘What’s your name?’ he asks.

‘Penny,’ I smile, ‘and this is Oscar.’

‘Nice,’ Bilby replies. ‘So, care to share with us who the soulless and Archangels are,’ he says with interest.

‘That depends. You got any potato chips to eat?’ I ask.

They all smile and nod, ‘Heaps!’ Tessa replies.

End of Book 1.