Martin
(© Michael W. Bailey)
Page 3
Jesse and Dale left the common area of the compound where people were engaged in quiet card games, or staring at snowy television screens praying for a broadcast. The older man reassuringly placed his arm around Dales shoulder and led him down a hall towards a door. "You know Dale," Jesse began, "the boys really like you here. They say you seem to be the kind of guy who can get along with pretty much anyone." Jesse opened the door before them and daylight flooded the hall casting long shadows of the two men on the floor. The audible sounds of an army of zombies filled the common room behind the men causing each person to look up.Outside Dale lost his breath at the site that greeted him. Jesse only smiled, and he seemed to breathe deeply the decay in the air. They clawed frantically at the fence. The site of the two humans so close caused many to moan louder and double their futile efforts. Dale's breaths began to come quick and deep. Jesse sensed his fear. "Hell on earth son," the old man whispered, "pure hell on earth." The air was alive with a chorus of agony. The notes were sung from decayed throats in a language known only to death. Dale tried not to concentrate on any specific ghoul, but they were hard to ignore. Each face shone a different color of a rotted prism, but the looks of agony were the same. Dale now turned away revealing his weakness and fear to Jesse."What's the matter son?" Dale said nothing. He shifted his limbs to mask his trembling."Come on Dale, a guy like you surviving as long as you did…surely this is nothing you haven't dealt with before?" Jesse's smile indicated he could sense Dale's embarrassing deception. "You really wowed us these past few days with your tales of survival." Al emerged from the open door and took a place beside Dale.Jesse continued his probing. "Tell us about that time you drove the truck into the graveyard and hid in the tomb." "I love that one!" Al barked, "Right into the belly of the beast. Damn you got balls!" "Or what about the woman and her baby you led to that island. You ever get back there to see how they're doing?" Dale, now reeling with fear, attempted to step back into the safety of the compound. Al quickly seized him."Take a walk with me Dale." Jesse said moving towards the fence. Dale fought for a moment to struggle in Al's grip, but the former punched Dale in the stomach knocking the wind and fight from him. Two walked and one was dragged closer to the fence. The ghouls pressed against it with newfound strength. Dale could now look into their confused and pained faces. The fence seemed to almost collapse against the weight, yet Jesse and Al acted calmly as if nothing could break the barrier. The men each grabbed one of Dale's arms and forced him to his knees on the ground. His face was pushed just short of the fence so prying fingers could caress the flesh they so desperately ached to consume. The moaning and whaling of the dead was so loud now that Dale's own screams were lost among the noise. Sweat mixed with tears on his face but was quickly licked away by rotting tongues that protruded from blood-dried mouths. Jesse moved his lips to Dale's ear so each word that would pour from his mouth could be heard."People like you you son of a bitch aren't worth shit now. Your money, your brains, your damn college, all that just about means crap doesn't it?" Jesse pulled a handful of Dale's hair and turned his face up exposing his neck. Al now stood up and began to kick the fence further stirring the frenzy of the creatures. "The only way you get stay here dipshit is if you do what Martin says. You wanna live?" Dale could not speak. He only moaned like the ghouls around him and shook his head."First off no more damn lies!" Jesse pushed Dale against the fence quickly and threw him back. Upon first hitting the fence Dale came face to face with a creature who bit too slowly to have secured a piece of flesh. The teeth did for a moment rest on Dale's cheek but only scraped him, not even hard enough to draw blood. The cries of the dead began to warble and finally fade. "Pick him up" were the last words Dale recalled.
His eyes opened again to a familiar site. Dale was again on the mattress with Jesse beside him and Al at the door. Had it all been a dream? Of course not, for how then could he know the names of the two before him? How could he explain the agony in his soul having been exposed as being the coward he always had been? Dale for the first time wished he had met his fate before ever having met the people who now knew the truth of his character he fought to hide. Jesse noticed the tears rolling from Dale's cheeks and shook his head. [ Continue to page 4 ] | 
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