The Dead Will Walk - Part 2

Jenny stared in horror at what was happening, while Kathy ran behind the counter and stared from back there. The business man stepped backwards until he found himself pressed up against the wall. The only ones who seemed willing to react was Oliver, Jim, and the chef Donovan. Donavon hopped over the counter into the kitchen and came back out brandishing a meat cleaver. Oliver took the signal and although he looked very distraught, he pulled his pistol out from its holster. Jim unsheathed the small pocket knife that he kept in his shoe, ever since that night he got mugged.

"If it gets in we have to kill it before it gets the rest." Donovan says and twirls the cleaver.

Jim and Oliver nodded facing what used to be James. His steady assault had produced several more cracks in the window pane. Jim had no idea how the window was still holding. With that thought he seemed to curse everyone as the glass burst inwards and the crazed beast that used to be James toppled in. Donovan immediately threw the cleaver slicing the creature in the jugular. It screeched with fury as the black liquid poured out of the wound. Oliver found himself unable to move, but Jim took the initiative and rushed in for an attack. Circling it, he stabbed into its back through the lung. It made gurgling sounds but turned and pounced on Jim, pinning him to the floor. Abject terror flooded through Jim as the creature's open maw ebbed nearer. He could feel its breath on his face, but just as the beast lunged to bite, a gun shot rang out through the diner. The creature slouched and fell over, allowing Jim to see Oliver standing shakily at the other end of the room with his gun raised.

"Thanks..." Jim says and stares at James' once again lifeless body.

"Don't mention it," Oliver whispered.

Jim threw the corpse off of him and stood up.

Black liquid was slowly draining out of the creature's wounds as Jim and Donovan wiped the gunk off their weapons.

"Don't let any of that stuff get on you," Donovan ordered as he bent down towards the body.

Jenny seemed to recover from her shock as she asked, "Dad, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking this poor soul's gun. We'll probably need it more than he will."

Kathy crept slowly back towards the now broken window and Jim asked, "See any more out there?"

"It's dark, but I can see a few under the street lights... they look like they're headed this way."

Donovan stood up holding the dead officer's weapon. He had ejected the ammo and was counting the bullets. "The sound of the glass breaking must have alerted them," he said. "The gunfire probably didn't help much either." Donovan loaded the pistol. "I've got ten bullets." He gestured towards Oliver. "How much have you got?"

Oliver checked his gun. "Um... nine."

"We should probably keep the shooting to a minimal, to avoid any unwanted attention."

Jenny headed towards the kitchen and said, "I'll go get some more knives."

As she came back holding an assortment of large cutlery, Jim cleared his throat to get the group's attention. "Hey, if those... things are headed this way, we need to get somewhere safe. One of them wasn't that hard to take down, but a group of them could tear through us."

"We can head towards the roof, they shouldn't be able to reach us there. We'll hold our position there and wait for this whole thing to blow over," said Donovan.

"Alright, let's go," said Jim, but the man in the suit and tie stopped him, saying, "Wait, look at this." He bent down next to the corpse and pointed to the creature's wound along the back. The black liquid had divided and stretched across the gash, resembling a black spider web. Before their very eyes, they could see the strands forming into blood veins and skin tissue.

"It's rebuilding itself..." the business man said with a fascinated look.

Jim looked out the broken window and could see dark shapes shambling towards the diner. "That's great, guy, but we really should be leaving."

The group headed towards the back of the building. The business man went back to his seat and grabbed his briefcase before following. They climbed up a flight of stairs and through twin metal doors onto the flat roof of Donovan's Diner.

Jim went to the edge of the building and looked at the street below.

"Hey, is that a pawn shop across the street? I bet we could find some better weapons in there."

"It's too risky." Donovan shook his head. "Besides we've got all the defense we need."

"I understand about keeping the noise down, but with all due respect I'd feel a lot safer with a shotgun in my hand than a flimsy knife. I'll just sneak over there, grab some ammo and guns, and dart back over here, no problem."

Donovan threw his arms in the air in resign. "Fine, if you want to go get yourself killed, go ahead."

"Maybe one of us should go with him," said Jenny.

Before Donovan could forbid her from getting any ideas, the man in the suit interrupted. "I'll go with you." He gave his suitcase to Jenny. "Take care of this, will you?" Jenny gave the man a sour look but held onto the bag.

The man approached Jim. "The name's Luke by the way," he said holding out his hand.

"I'm Jim," said Jim, as he awkwardly shook the man's hand. Something, probably just adrenalin, seemed to give Luke a new-found energy that was slightly unnerving.

"There's a dumpster on the side of the diner in the alley," said Jenny. "You can use it to get down."

"Thanks, and don't worry, we'll be right back."

Jim and Luke gave a few more parting words before heading towards the other side of the diner. There didn't seem to be any of those things in the alley. Jim gave a signal that he would go first. He hopped down, hoping the sounds he was making in his descent were quiet enough. He looked up and motioned for Luke to join him. After he was down, they checked out the situation on the street. Jim could see about three dark figures shambling towards the diner. Jim heard a small noise behind him and turned around to see Luke picking up a couple of empty beer bottles. At Jim's confused look, Luke approached the exit of the alleyway and tossed the bottles one at a time in the direction of the creatures. They both shattered halfway down the block attracting the infected's attention. Not wasting any time, Jim and Luke made a mad dash for the pawn shop, while Donovan, Kathy, and Jenny watched from the roof with bated breath. Jim grabbed the doorknob and twisted. It was locked.

"Dammit, what are we gonna do?" Jim growled looking for another entrance.

"Let's try the window." Luke suggested walking quickly towards it. He expected the window to make more resistance, so it made a loud slamming noise when it quickly slid upwards. They didn't look back as they climbed inside the building.

"Alright, lets mainly grab some armaments but keep a look out for medical supplies and anything else that might be useful." Luke suggested and they began searching.

"Oh, shit!" Came Jim's loud cry as he opened a door behind the counter.

Luke was busy examining the different assault weapons on display in the pawn shop when he heard Jim's cry from the other room. Rushing to join his looting partner, he ran through the door behind the counter into the office where, looking over Jim's shoulder, he witnessed a scene that churned his stomach. The owner of the pawn shop was sitting slouched in the corner in a terrible condition. The sickening black goo was covering him, spilling out of every orifice. His mouth, streaming the blackness, was wide open, and his eyes were clenched tight, his face the frozen picture of a silent scream. Large black pustules covered his cheeks, forehead, and arms. Looking closely, Jim could barely make out slight movement inside.

Luke said in a soft voice, "He's... different than our cop friend."

Jim scrunched up his face in disgust and covered his nose with his arm. "He smells disgusting!"

"What do you think happened to him? What was different?"

Jim had no answer for him and looked around the office for anything useful. The room was sparsely decorated, with a single painting, a desk, and a lamp. There was also a small safe behind the desk and a first aid kit attached to the wall.

"That looks promising," said Jim, but when he pulled the small handle on the red box, the metal door refused to open. It was only then that Jim noticed the key hole next to the handle.

"Damn, it's locked. Hey, Luke, help me find the key."

Jim began to search through the desk's mostly empty drawers, when Luke suddenly said, "I think I found the keys." and pointed to the owner in the corner. Jim walked over to see a ring of keys on the dead man's belt loop.

"Go for it." said Luke, smiling.

Jim gave a sigh of resignation and bent down towards the body. He held his breath, refusing to make a sound, as he leaned forward to grab the keys. Jim tried not to think about how close his face was to the owner's. After what seemed like hours to Jim but could only have been seconds, Jim felt his hand close around the keys. He unhooked them from around the belt and let himself relax a little as he leaned back away from the body, when suddenly the corpse's eyes flew open, and the owner's hand darted towards Jim, grabbing him on the shoulder. Jim tried to struggle free, but the man's grip was relentless.

The owner let out a horrible gasp as he inhaled deeply and said, "The p-pain... it h-hurts so m-much..."

Jim was finally able to throw the man's arm off his shoulder and backed quickly away.

Tears were streaming down the owner's face as he reached towards Jim and Luke and said, "P-please....k-kill me!"