Last hope

A short story by Xavier Alexander

Nearing two years of fighting, our supplies and patience were dangerously low. We split into two groups and allowed a day of travel between departures to get to the army’s rendezvous point. The contract with the army was simple; fight for us and we’ll come get you. But what we didn’t know was that the army was clearing a path and pushing the undead straight towards us.

The cool, concrete bunker felt nice when I came down from the hot, summer heat above. Rainfall was declining, few plants were surviving the poor soil conditions, and picking off undead stragglers silently was becoming a daily chore as the changing seasons were our general calendar. 

“What’s left?” Matthew asked as I came through the heavy door. He was rubbing his bandaged hand. 

“Nothing but a few potatoes and carrots. They destroyed all the surface crops.” I pushed passed him to the weapon rack and replaced my rifle and extra shells next to the various weapons. Ashley, my second mother, gave me a comforting hug. 

He swore and kicked a chair. “We have to leave now. We can get to the rendezvous early and set up a base there.” Everyone stared at the floor as the weight of the news settled on them.

“What about the others?” I asked. “They haven’t gotten here yet.”

“We can’t afford to wait on them. They’re probably dead anyway.” Matthew grabbed a shoulder pack and stuffed it with rations, ammo, bandages, and wrapped up a syringe of what we called, ‘The Last Pain.’ “I don’t care what you all do, I’m leaving.”

“If we wait for the others, we’ll stand a better chance of surviving.” My words fell on deaf ears.

I watched as everyone, even Ashley, leave hope on the floor and pack their bags, following Matthew out the bunker. No sooner had the door shut behind them did I hear gunshots. Matthew was an impatient fool and had been since joining the group. Not only that, but he was constantly changing a bandage on his hand that never seemed to heal. At least I get a break from him for a few days.

I stood alone in the bunker as a cricket kept the silence away and my only candle pushed against the corners of the room. 

‘Now you’re alone.’ an inner-voice said.

“Hush.” I wasn’t going to give up on the others. I still had a few days of rations and I would welcome the group with open arms before we pushed on.

Their pounding on the bunker came earlier tonight. ‘They’ve come for you!’ The voice broke my slumber. My eyes snapped open as I dashed to the rack in the dark. Die hungry, creeps.

Outside, I dropped three before the sun completely set. I recognized one as Debbie and another as Steven. ‘Keep shooting. Kill them all,’ the voice begged of me. My ammunition was precious, but I had to put them down before they attracted more attention. I wasn’t losing hope. Not tonight.

I waited, watching the tree line for movement and scanning the horizon with binoculars. For a world turning against the living, it was strangely quiet nearby. The war zone was clearly a few miles away as the constant booms and gunshots rattled the sky. I slipped back inside and secured the door. I hated that this bunker was only temporary, I felt so at home here. If the radio worked, it would have been.

Walking back to the rack, my dirt-smeared hands wouldn’t release the rifle. If hope was anything tangible, I was holding on to it now. I slept fitfully, cradling the rifle as a child does a stuffed animal, oblivious to the approaching army’s devastating war path.

It was a picnic with some friends. I knew this was a dream because I had witnessed most of them succumb to the changing years ago and here they were, smiling, laughing, and with color in their cheeks. As much as it pained me to see them, I didn’t want to admit that I was enjoying myself. 

Looking around, most of my friends and family were there again. Dad, Stephanie, Monica, Carl, and other kin I had lost long ago. It wasn’t until Matthew sat down and took a few bites of a sandwich did the clouds turn grey. I noticed a small cut on Matthew’s hand as he passed my dad a sandwich. My dad couldn’t resist a creamy peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took several large bites. A few minutes passed before Dad began choking as Stephanie looked on with a pained expression, keeping a hand on his arm. The color leeched from Dad’s face as he snarled and writhed, holding his stomach. My eyes blurred as Stephanie turned away but stayed near him. He turned and leapt on her, pinning his lover down and gorging on her soft neck flesh.

I backed away and watched as the group slowly turned on one another, tearing flesh and changing into the beasts that haunt my thoughts to this day. Matthew was able to stand his ground and defend himself, killing them all in front of me including my dad. It wasn’t much different than the real events that happened, except that now, I wish Matthew hadn’t joined our happy group. 

Matthew walked away from the dismembered bodies, heading in my direction. All I could get myself to do was backpedal in fear as the voice spoke to me for the first time. ‘You’re going to die.’

When I woke, I lit my stubby candle and noticed the large, full syringe left for me on the table. More than likely, Ashley left it for me. I hope it was an extra one. Changing was painful enough without the undead chewing on you as well. No sooner had the first surge of them appear did this ‘solution’ become available. Someone said it was designed to deaden your nervous system. Once injected, your motor skills became nearly useless making it difficult to even stand up on your own. It was no solution. It was just a tool to ease the pain. If someone is debating about injecting it, chances are they’re already dead.

I got up and repacked my bag for the day with rations, ammo, and a flare. Chewing the coarse protein bar, I held the syringe up to the candlelight and enjoyed for a brief moment the swirling, blue liquid inside. Then my eyes looked to the tip. That was one big needle. I carefully wrapped it in a shirt and went to the door with my gear. Gun in hand, I listened. I could hear nothing outside but the booming of artillery shells. The door slid open silently. My footsteps took me to the top of the grass-covered bunker. Looking out over the land, it was a writhing sea of bodies. The living pushing back the dead with every ounce of gunpowder known to man. The army had gained so much ground overnight.

I laughed out loud. “We’re finally winning.”

Except...I was too far away for help and surrounded by a wash of stumbling corpses.

A barrage of gunfire erupted from the nearby treeline as a small group came blasting their way across the clearing towards me. They made it! War had painted them with blood, gore, and mud enough to camouflage their clothing.

“Move! Move! Move!” An older man yelled at the group as they spearheaded themselves straight for me. Bodies dropped all around them without a wasted shot. “Inside the bunker!”

The group filed in as I brought up the rear. Inside, they collapsed on the floor.

“How long have you been here?” The older man asked between breaths.

“Just a few days.”

“Rations? Ammo?”

“Only what is on the rack and in my pack.” I went to the weapon rack and placed my rifle and bag.

“What about the blue stuff? Got any left?” A woman with red hair asked.

“Just one the group left behind for me if I need it.” I pulled it out of my bag.

“For you? No, honey. It’s to use against them. You’ve been using it on the living?”

“No wonder there are so many of them. So your group hasn’t used a single syringe on them? That’s crazy.” A man with a black beard said. “Who told you to use it on yourself? That’s not what it’s for.”

As I thought about it, we didn’t start using it on ourselves until Matthew joined the group. When Serene got scratched, he waited a few days before stabbing her with one to see what would happen. She laid on a cot motionless for another day staring blankly as we watched her slowly change. When she rose again, a different kind of life animated her body. Matthew was prompt to shoot her and drag her body outside. That was also when he said that he scratched his hand on a bush trying to hide her body.

I looked up at everyone.

“So it’s not our last pain?” I asked.

The group shook their heads. “It’s our last hope.” Someone said.

The older man stepped to me. “We don’t know what’s in it, but we do know that if you inject it in one of them, it makes the others turn on it. Once they tear it to shreds and eat some of it, it spreads to them as well. It’s a slow but effective weapon.”

“I thought it was so you couldn’t feel them...” My voice trailed off as the redheaded woman comforted me.

“Listen, we’re not dead yet and the army is getting closer by the hour. If we can signal them somehow, they could work their way to us and save us.” The older man said.

‘You’re such a fool,’ the inner-voice said to me.

“I’ll deal with you later.” I answered softly.

“What?” She asked, pulling back to look at my wet eyes.

“I said I know how we can signal them.” I gave her a thankful smile and dried my eyes. “There is a tower close by and I’ve got a flare. I’ll climb it and signal the army from there.”

“That would also attract a lot of attention from them as well.” The guy with the black beard had a hardened look about him. “No way in hell I’m helping with it. I’ll stay here and starve than be a meal for them.”

“I can do it.” I said.

“I don’t feel right asking you to do it.” The older man said.

“I’ve lost my family and friends anyway. My group left me behind yesterday.”

“Do you know which direction they went?”

“No. It doesn’t matter anyway. Look, just let me do it. You’ve been fighting for your lives just to get here. Maybe my group will see the flare and come back.”

The discussion went on for another hour, each of us trying to find the best solution without losing another life to the undead. In the end, I knew what I would do.

I was thankful for the well-greased hinges of the door as I slipped out the bunker. My rifle was ready and the syringe was in my front shirt pocket within easy reach. I made my way through the sparse trees towards the tower. It was an old fire-watch tower for the long gone forest. At the top, before opening the hatch, I heard someone crying.

Knocking the hatch open with my elbow, I raised my rifle to sight in the only form there. A whimpering cluster of clothing in the corner. Keeping my aim, I stepped up onto the platform. It was pained and I could see the muscles near cramping under the tight-pulled clothing. Not until it raised its head did I recognize him.

Matthew.

His deep, sunken eyes looked at me as he clenched his stomach the same way my dad did. He blurred in my vision as I blinked away the resemblance.

“Kill me, please.” His words came through gnashed teeth.

‘Do it.’ The voice said.

The moments passed as I kept my rifle targeting his head.

“Where is your ‘last hope’?” I asked.

“It got broke. They were everywhere. Please, kill me.”

“What about the group? Where are they?” My finger touched the trigger.

“Left them behind. I ran away and got up here.” Matthew grunted in pain. “Please...”

“You left them to save your own ass?”

“You would have done the same.” He turned and crawled towards me until his forehead rested against the end of my barrel. “I know you hate me.”

“No. You’re my last hope.”

His body relaxed and slumped to his side.

Rolling him over, I watched the last color fade from his face. His staring eyes reflecting the clouds rolling across the sky. I stepped back until I bumped the railing. Looking down, I got the syringe out of my pocket and popped the cap off. Revenge was going to stab this needle straight into his heart.

Raising my eyes brought me face-to-face with his just before he collided with me.

My rifle got between us as he grabbed me and slammed me down to the ground. It felt as if the world were pressing down on me as his hands gripped the grate flooring and inched his face closer, encasing me between metal and teeth. Saliva dripped from his open mouth landing on my neck leaving a slick trail behind. I turned my head and pushed until my muscles begged for mercy. I screamed as his hot breath tickled my ear.

A gunshot ripped the air as Matthew’s body went limp, burying me underneath. A moment later the rush of air filled my lungs again as his carcass was lifted off me and thrown over the railing.

“Did he get you?” It was the older man from the bunker.

“I don’t think so. How did you find me?”

“Wasn’t that hard. Where’s the flare?” 

“In my bag. I didn’t inject him though.”

“Look around, there will be another chance.”

The undulating waves of undead bodies made me nauseous. But the army was so close.

The flare came to life in my hand and the thick smoke created a crawling snake in the sky.