Dead Hunt

CHAPTER 7 – Big Ben

Wade swerved around as many of them as he could. He knew if the van took too many hits, it could crack the radiator or they could get hung up on one of them. Being outside on foot with those zombie things was not something any of them wanted to experience. Within minutes, they had passed the last of them. Michael looked out the back window and watched them slowly follow the van.

“Just like before,” Michael said to no one in particular, though everyone was listening. “They’re following us.”

The van crawled up the steep, rocky road as the sun fell behind the mountains, blanketing them in darkness.

“For Christ’s sake!” Wade said shaking his head.

“What is it?” Paul asked.

“We left the esky back at the cabin.”

“We left the what?” Paul asked.

“The esky.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

“Doesn’t anyone in Canada speak English?” Wade asked sarcastically. “The cooler. We left the bloody cooler of beer back at the cabin.”

“Smooth move, Exlax,” Paul snickered. “Want to go back for it?”

Wade slammed on the brakes.

“Jesus Wade, I was kidding!”

“Shut up!” Wade whispered. “I thought I saw something.”

Everyone looked. Wade flicked on the high beams, and that’s when they saw it: a huge, black bear coming towards them.

“Holy shit!” Emma squealed, too loud for everyone’s liking.

“Shhh!” Lauren warned her.

The bear stopped in front of the van, staring directly at Wade. Wade’s heart pounded in his ears and his arms started to shake uncontrollably when the bear stood on its hind legs directly in front of him. A cold sensation raced down the back of Wade’s neck and shoulders. His breath came in short bursts.

Wade saw two giant paws with terrifying claws thud down on the hood of the van. Wade froze, too afraid to even look away. He could not speak. The claws lifted and thudded down again. Its roaring breath blew spit on the windshield.

“Now what do we do?” Michael yelled over the girls’ screams.

Paul looked at Michael. “You distract him so we can drive around him.”

“Yeah, right. I’ll get right on that.”

“No, seriously, Mikey,” Paul told him, “slide open the door and lean out. When it sees you, it will go to the side of the van. Then we can drive past him. I’ll pull you back in.”

Michael looked at Paul doubtfully, “Pull me in? You’ll probably throw me out.”

“Listen,” Paul snapped back in an irritated voice, “this is fuckin’ serious, man. You said those zombie things are following us and Big Ben there is blocking the road. We can’t wait for him to move, so we have to lure him out of the way.”

The bear stood on his hind legs again and roared.

“His eyes are all fucked up,” Wade said. “He’s a goddamn zombie bear.”

“Why me?” Michael asked timidly.

“Would you prefer I hang one of the girls out the door instead?”

“No,” Michael replied uncomfortably.

“Wade is driving, and I’m stronger than you. I can pull you back in quicker,” Paul told him. “So that leaves you.”

Michael swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Michael,” Paul said, placing his hand on Michael’s shaking shoulder, “it’s no big secret that you get on my nerves, and sometimes I’d like to kick the shit out of you, but, like you said, we got bigger problems right now. And right now, our biggest problem is that bear. You have to trust me.”

Michael looked at Lucy. Lucy looked at Paul, then back to Michael and nodded.

“Somebody do something!” Wade’s voice cracked.

“Give me your belt!” Michael said to Lucy.

Michael looped her belt around his wrist and offered the other end to Paul.

He forced a smile, “Paul, if you let go, I will kick the shit out of you.”

Paul smirked and wrapped the belt around his own wrist.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Paul promised.

Lucy slid the door open and Michael hung out of the side of the van, holding on to the belt for dear life. Michael yelled at the bear. It looked at Michael for a brief moment then turned his attention back to Wade.

Michael picked up a rock and threw it. The rock bounced at the bear’s feet, but the bear still didn’t move.

“Big Ben doesn’t like your plan.” Michael tried to sound brave but his shaky voice told the truth.

He threw another rock, and it hit the bear in the head. The huge bear dropped to all fours, let out a blood curdling growl and started to move towards Michael. Paul pulled Michael back in as Lucy slammed the door closed. The bear stopped, then turned its attention back to Wade.

“Umm, guys,” sweat was running down Wade’s forehead, “he looks really pissed now, like he wants to come through the windscreen. Do something!”

The bear opened his mouth and roared. Wade could see the bear’s giant, yellow teeth stained with blood. Wade’s hands continued to shake uncontrollably. Michael slid the door open again, yelling at the bear and throwing more rocks. The bear moved towards the side of the van as Paul pulled Michael back in so forcefully he almost dislocated Michael’s shoulder. Lucy slammed the door shut just as the bear slammed itself into the side of the van. The impact lifted two wheels off the ground. Everyone screamed in panic and Wade floored the accelerator.

The van bounced the teens around like rag dolls as Wade raced to get away from the monstrous killer. They screamed for Wade to slow down, but he was driving like a mad man, like a man possessed. He was possessed, with fear. Shear panic had grabbed Wade and wasn’t letting go. The van bounced around another sharp corner as it raced up the mountain. The rear tire slammed hard into a large boulder, throwing the van into an uncontrollable turn. The van raced off the road, slamming hard into a giant tree.

The impact threw Lucy so hard against the front seat that it punched her breath away, then instantly slammed her back into her own seat as the van crunched to a stop. The impossibly loud screams of terror and shattering glass shrieked in her ears as something heavy slammed into the back of her head, pushing her to the hard, metal floor. Complete silence followed except for the faint but steady hissing sound of steam escaping into the still, night air.

Lucy tried to get up but something heavy pinned her down. Was Lauren on top of her? Lucy’s mind, numb with fear and shock, struggled to form a single thought. It wasn’t Lauren on top of her, it was Lauren and Emma.

“Get off me,” Lucy exhaled as she awkwardly tried to push them away.

They didn’t move; their combined weight was too heavy.

“Get off me!” she pleaded in a shaky voice.

A claustrophobic feeling of being trapped raced through her aching body. With one last adrenaline-fueled push, she broke free of the web of tangled teens. She shook them violently.

“Wake up,” she tried to yell, but it sounded more like a whisper as a buzzing sound built in her ears.

She steadied herself and took a few slow, deep breaths to keep from passing out. She heard the girls make a soft moaning sound, so she crawled to the front of the van, first shaking Michael and then Paul. The hissing sound grew faint as the last of the steam was released from the crumbled radiator that hugged the giant tree.

Lucy’s eyes widened with terror when she looked at Wade. The windshield directly in front of Wade was shattered. It looked like a million tiny spider webs weaved and crawled away from a large, crimson rimmed hole. The top of Wade’s head disappeared into that hole. It only took a few seconds for Lucy’s still numb brain to put the pieces together. Wade’s head did not disappear into the hole; his head made that hole.

Panicked, she tried to pull Wade free from the tiny spider webs. The windshield released its grip on him with a wet, sucking sound as Wade’s head popped free. As he fell back into the driver’s seat, his head slumped to the right. His eyes, wide with shock and pain, looked directly at Lucy. His hair clung to his forehead, matted down with glistening red. Tiny speckles of glass dotted his bloodied face like glitter.

“Lu…cy?” Something liquid and gurgling roughened his voice.

Lucy felt another stab of panic. She mouthed his name but she could not squeeze out enough air to make an actual sound. Tears raced down her cheeks in a stream of sadness and fear.

“L-Lucy,” Wade repeated in a fragile voice.

Globs of blood gurgled over his quivering lips. Lucy took his hand and held it to her wet cheek. His eyes looked glassy; unfocused. She choked out a pathetic sound that resembled his name, but her tears were too strong, her breath too weak, for any coherent language.

She gently squeezed his hand. He did not squeeze back. As the rest of the teens groaned painfully back into consciousness, Lucy was kneeling quietly by Wade’s seat, still holding his hand to her tear-soaked cheek.

“Wade!” Paul yelled, panicked, scrambling towards his friend when he saw his blood-soaked face.

“Wake up! Wake up, buddy!” he tried to shake him awake but Wade did not move.

“He’s…he’s gone,” Lucy sobbed, still kneeling on the floor holding Wade’s hand.

Paul shook him again and yelled, “Fuck!”

Lauren let out a piercing scream. Emma threw up.

Michael wiped a tear away with the back of his hand and slid the door open. “C’mon,” he told them. “We gotta go.”

“Go? Go where?” Paul yelled. “We’re not going anywhere without Wade. We can’t leave him here. We can’t leave him like…like this!”

Michael grabbed Paul by the arm. “Paul, listen to me. That bear will be here any minute. Those zombie things are on their way. We have to go. Now!”

“Not without Wade,” Paul yelled as he jerked his arm from Michael’s grip and started dragging Wade out of the van. “We can’t leave him here for… for them! He’s not a piece of meat!”

Michael laid his hand gently on Paul’s shoulder and in soft, gentle voice whispered, “He was my friend too.”

Paul stared blankly at Michael.

“We’ll close up the van,” Michael told him, “so nothing can get in. When we get the guns and get help, we’ll come back for him.”

Michael’s voice deepened as it took on a more commanding tone. “But right now Paul, we need to man-the-fuck-up and get the hell out of here.”

Paul didn’t say a word as he inhaled deeply and stared at Michael. A few deep breaths later, Paul nodded and set Wade back into the driver’s seat as gently as if placing a baby in a car seat, then stepped out of the van to join his friends. He slammed the door shut, scanning the faces of his companions. Michael had watery eyes, the girls were still crying.

Paul took a slow and deliberate breath then said in a dry, matter-of-fact voice, “ Ok, boys and girls, let’s get this walking feast moving.”

A loud crack echoed in the still night. The girls screamed and an instant later, the rain came. It pounded the group, drenching them instantly.

Paul looked skyward and yelled, “Can you please give us a fuckin’ break?”