Resurrection (A zombie novel) #wattys2016

Chapter Eight (Re-updated)

Perhaps it is the end
Perhaps it is not
Perhaps it is the beginning
Of the world that's yet to come.

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"Bob! Bob! Bob!", Shawn threw all his emotions into his voice; anger, sorrow, pain.
He half-begged, half-yelled at Bob
to get up.

Blackish ooze poured out of the side of Bob's mouth, apart from the movement of his right hand, his whole body was as rigid as Michelangelo's statue of david.

Shawn swung hard and slapped Bob's face, it left a reddish mark but almost immediately flushed again to a pale color.

"BOB!". Another slap.

"BOB!". He landed a hard punch that should have threatened to separate his skull from spine but Bob's head merely turned and settled back.

Someone grasped his arm, called his name as if from afar.

Shawn, we've got to move.

The tugging was much stronger and the voice louder. A man's.

       In the darkness of the coming night, Shawn could barely see Bob's face anymore. His heart tore apart with frustration. No not Bob.

Then Bob groaned. Not the dry- throated sound that was emitted from other infected people instead a cry of pain, one that was still vaguely human.

Shawn looked up sharply, a prayer forming on his lips. Bob's second arm had begun to move too.

"We've got to move now!", Kevin
yelled in Shawn's ear, "...you've still
got a wife and son to protect."

Shawn's reasoning came back to him, he realized what he had to do. Bob wasn't beyond salvation.

"Get in", he ordered.

Kevin opened his mouth to protest but the wave of people rushing towards them changed his mind.
Annie and Jo, who was now crying, jumped in the front passenger seat unhesitatingly, leaving Kevin to sit beside Bob.

"God, I love you, please love me back", he clasped his hands for a fraction of a second and prayed
before jumping in beside Bob.

Shawn threw the jeep into reverse immediately with no time to do a full turn, he moved the jeep onto the sidewalk, careless now whether there was anybody there or not. He kept his foot on the pedal and his hand on the horn.

The sound was a magnet for the infected people and more than half of them seemed to be headed for it.

One suddenly launched himself onto the windscreen, his face looked macabre; eyes deep red, scalp ripped open in places, leaving his hair in patches of dark brown, he had somehow lost his lower jaw; chin and lower set of teeth inclusive.

There were only a few seconds to take in details.

Shawn pulled out the gun and raised it, poised to shoot but his arm shook so badly he was sure he could end up shooting his wife instead so he dropped the gun and hit the brakes sharply.

The sudden stop threw the infected man forward before he rolled down the hood. Jo was crying loudly now and Annie buried his face in her bosom, her own eyes tear-filled.

Although she looked like a rag doll after a three year old's temper tantrum, she looked fine.

At least, at that moment.

With no time to waste, he fired the jeep up again, taking it well past sixty five.

      Shawn saw the child a little too late, it was a boy, probably two or three years old, his hands were clasped together, tears pouring out of his eyes, his clothes were stained and torn, having been jostled by the fleeing crowd.

He just there, in the middle of the sidewalk with tears flowing over every crevice in his chubby face, looking around wildly, probably for his mum or whoever left him behind.

So innocent. This one didn't count as anybody.

Shawn hit the brakes immediately and swung the jeep to the right, the highway.

It hit a car that had been abandoned in the middle of the road and spun wildly, out of control, swinging this way and that.

Annie screamed and pressed Jo tightly to herself. Bob couldn't care and Kevin held onto the seat as if his life depended on it.

The jeep did a one eighty onto the road and continued spinning in circles.

In a clumsy attempt to control the jeep, Shawn mistakenly floored the accelerator and swung the jeep to the left. It somersaulted once, twice before coming to rest on its roof with a final, shattering bang. Then Silence.

      Shawn could barely feel anything except the warm liquid flowing across his face and a copperish taste in his mouth.

Blood, he thought. His head throbbed although it didn't feel as if it was connected to his shoulders anymore.

The world moved farther and farther away as a welcome darkness enveloped him and blanked his mind.

His hand dropped limp and eyes fluttered shut as he slipped into blessed unconsciousness.

-----+++++----

        The man stood at the top floor of the sixty-storey skyscraper watching the chaos unfold below through the floor-to-ceiling window.
His three-piece suit was as ironed as his emotions were.

So smooth, so polished.

Smoke rose and screams rent the air but he watched, unmoved with a glass of wine in his hand and the other in his pockets. You would be forgiven if you had mistaken him for a statue.

Someone burst into his office but he still stood unmoving, knowing who it was. Normally, no one could enter into his office unannounced even in emergencies but he had a more unofficial relationship with this one.

"Copter's ready, we have to leave now", the man that just entered the room said through heavy breathing.

The man at the window still did not move, instead,

"We failed, didn't we?" he said as calmly as a man on his deathbed who had already seen angels waiting to welcome him into Heaven would slip into death's embrace.

"Not really, just a yarn that didn't spin in the right direction", the second man replied and tried to grin, his lips turning downwards instead of upwards.

The man at the window turned, "we failed, didn't we?".

Cold, calm, collected. Not betraying any emotion. His wrinkled face barely moved as he spoke through clenched teeth.
The second man fidgeted. The first always having that effect, making others cower to his authority effortlessly. He could bend you anyway he wanted without breaking sweat.

"Err....If you...", he was saying.

The first man hammered his fist on the black oak table with an orange logo engraved upon it making the other man jump.

"We failed, didn't we?"

"Yes", the other man answered soberly.

He set the wine on the table and hit the button for the roof access elevator. He watched it slide open with a 'whoosh' sound and stepped in, the second man in tow.

The helicopter was already beating the air furiously when they arrived on the rooftop. He walked up casually and boarded it.

As the helicopter took off into the air, he looked out the window, shaking his head not quite sadly, not quite emotionlessly.

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Hey Awesome Readers, If you're reading this chapter it means you really like the book or you really like me...So which is it?

If Mister Ironed Suit has anything to do with the apocalypse, I'll wring his
scruffy neck °_°...

So many questions, will Shawn survive? Will Bob? What about Kevin, Annie and Jo? Who is mister ironed suit?

Vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter...