Lumbering up the ladder as if drunk, the first head rose into view.
Walter should"ve been relieved.
He knew that head-it belonged to Gibbs Higley, the afternoon station manager. But he wasn"t relieved. Not at all. Because it wasn"t Gibbs, not anymore. He could see that at a glance, even without the gaslamps that lit up a few blocks, far away.
Something was very, very wrong with Gibbs Higley.
The man drew nearer, shuffling in an exploratory fashion, sniffing the air like a dog. He was missing an ear. His skin looked like boiled lye. One of his eyes was ruined somehow, wet and gelatinous, and sliding down his cheek.
"Higley?" Walter croaked.
Higley didn"t respond. He only moaned and shuffled faster, homing in on Walter and raising the moan to a cry that was more of a horrible keening.
To Walter"s terror, the keening was answered. It came bouncing back from corner to corner, all around the open landing area and the footsteps that had been slowly incoming shifted gears, moving faster.
Maybe he should"ve thought about it. Maybe he should"ve tried again, trying to wake Higley up, shake some sense into him. There must"ve been something he could"ve done, other than lifting the Colt and putting a bullet through the man"s solitary good eye.
But that"s what he did.
Against a desert backdrop of dust-covered silence the footsteps and coughing grunts and the buzzing patter of the generators had seemed loud enough; but the Colt was something else entirely, fire and smoke and a kick against his elbows, and a lingering whiff of gunpowder curling and dissolving.
Gibbs Higley fell off the landing, flopping like a rag doll.
Walter rushed as fast as he could to the ladder, and kicked it away-marooning himself on the landing island, five or six feet above street level. Then he dragged himself back to Sweet Marie Sweet Marie and resumed his defensive position, the only one he had. "That was easy," he muttered, almost frantic to rea.s.sure himself. and resumed his defensive position, the only one he had. "That was easy," he muttered, almost frantic to rea.s.sure himself.
One down. More to go. You"re a good shot, but you"re standing next to the gas. Surrounded by it, almost.
He breathed. "I need to think."
You need to run.
"I need the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie. Won"t get far without her."
Hands appeared at the edge of the lifted landing pad. Gray hands, hands without enough fingers.
Left to right he swung his head, seeking some out. Knowing he didn"t have enough bullets for whatever this was-knowing it as sure as he knew he"d die if any of those hands caught him. Plague, is what it was. Nothing he"d ever seen before, but G.o.dd.a.m.n Gibbs Higley had been sick, hadn"t he?
"Gotta hold the landing pad," he said through gritted teeth.
No. You gotta to let "em take it-but that don"t mean you gotta to let "em keep it.
He swung his head again, side to side, and spotted only more hands-moving like a sea of clapping, an audience of death, pulling toward the lifted landing spot. He wished he had a light, and then he remembered that he did have one-he just hadn"t lit it. One wobbly dash back to the Majestic Majestic and he had the lantern in his hand again, thinking "to h.e.l.l with it-to h.e.l.l with and he had the lantern in his hand again, thinking "to h.e.l.l with it-to h.e.l.l with us us" and striking a match. What did it matter? They already knew where he was. That much was obvious from the rising wail that now rang from every quarter. Faces were leaning up now, lurching and lifting on elbows, rising and grabbing for purchase on the platform and soon they were going to find it.
Look.
"Where?" he asked the ghost of a memory, trying to avoid a full-blown panic. Panic never got anybody anywhere but dead. It got Stanley dead. On the far side of a broken, folded fence along a line that couldn"t have been held, not with a thousand Stanleys.
Ah. Above the hydrogen tanks, and behind them. A ladder in the back corner of the overhang that covered them.
He glanced at the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie and then his eyes swept the platform, where a woman was rising up onto the wooden deck-drawing herself up on her elbows. She"d be there soon, right there with him. When she looked up at him her mouth opened and she shouted, and blood or bile-something dark-spilled over her teeth to splash down on the boards. and then his eyes swept the platform, where a woman was rising up onto the wooden deck-drawing herself up on her elbows. She"d be there soon, right there with him. When she looked up at him her mouth opened and she shouted, and blood or bile-something dark-spilled over her teeth to splash down on the boards.
Whatever it was, he didn"t want it. He drew up the Colt, aimed carefully, and fired. She fell back.
The ladder behind the hydrogen tanks must lead to the roof of the overhang. Would the thin metal roof hold him?
Any port in a storm.
He scurried past the clamoring hands and scooted, still hauling that dead-weight foot, beneath the overhang and to the ladder. Scaling it required him to set the cane aside, and he wouldn"t do that, so he stuck it in his mouth where it stretched his cheeks and jaw until they ached with the strain. But it was that or leave it, or leave the lantern-which he held by the hot, uncomfortable means of shoving his wrist through the carrying loop. When it swung back and forth with his motion, it burned the cuff of his shirt and seared warmly against his chest.
So he climbed, good foot up with a grunt of effort, bad foot up with a grunt of pain, both grunts issued around the cane in his mouth. When he reached the top he jogged his neck to shift the cane so it"d fit through the square opening in the corrugated roof. He slipped, his heavy foot dragging him to a stop with an ear-splitting sc.r.a.pe.
He"d have to step softly.
From this vantage point, holding up the quivering black lantern he could see all of it, and he understood everything and nothing simultaneously. He watched the mostly men and sometimes women of Reluctance stagger and wail, shambling hideously from corners and corridors, from alleys and bas.e.m.e.nts, from broken-windowed stores and stables and saloons and the one wh.o.r.ehouse. They did not pour but they dripped and congealed down the uncobbled streets torn rough and rocky by horse"s hooves and the wheels of coaches and carts.
It couldn"t have been more than a hundred ragged bodies slinking forward, gagging on their own fluids and chasing toward the light he held over his head, over the town of Reluctance.
Walter stuffed a hand in his vest pockets and felt at the bottom of the bag he still wore over his chest. Bullets, yes. But not enough bullets for this. Not even if he was the best shot in Texas, and he wasn"t. He was a competent shot from New York City, orphaned and Irish, a few thousand miles from home, without even a sibling to mourn him if the drooling, simpering, snap-jawed dead were to catch him and tear him to pieces.
Bullets were not going to save him.
All the same, he liked having them.
The lantern drew the dead; he watched their gazes, watching it. Moths. Filthy, deadly moths. He could see it in their eyes, in the places where their souls ought to be. Most of the men he"d ever shot at were fellows like himself-boys mostly, lads born so late they didn"t know for certain what the fighting was about; just men, with faces full of fear and grit.
Nothing of that, not one shred of humanity showed on any of the faces below.
He could see it, and he was prepared to address it. But not until he had to.
Beneath him, the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie was filling. Down below the twisted residents of Reluctance were dragging themselves up and onto the platform, swarming like ants and shrieking for Walter-who went to the ladder and kicked it down against the generators, where it clattered and rested, and likely wouldn"t be climbed. was filling. Down below the twisted residents of Reluctance were dragging themselves up and onto the platform, swarming like ants and shrieking for Walter-who went to the ladder and kicked it down against the generators, where it clattered and rested, and likely wouldn"t be climbed.
He sat on the edge of the corrugated roof and turned the lantern light down. It wouldn"t fool them. It wouldn"t make them wander away. They smelled him, and they wanted him, and they"d stay until they got him. Or until he left.
He was leaving, all right. Soon.
Inside the satchel he rummaged, and he pulled out his tobacco and papers. He rolled himself a cigarette, lit it off the low-burning lamp, and he sat. And he watched below as the cranium-shaped crest of the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie slowly inflated; and the corpses of Reluctance gathered themselves on the landing pad beside it, ignoring it. slowly inflated; and the corpses of Reluctance gathered themselves on the landing pad beside it, ignoring it.
Finally the swelling dome was full enough that Walter figured, "I can make it. Maybe not all the way to Santa Fe, but close enough." He rose to his feet, the flesh and blood one and the one that pivoted painfully on a pin.
The lantern swung out from his fingertips, still lit but barely.
Below the lantern, beside the ship and around it, the men and women shambled.
But fire could consume anything, pretty much. It"d consume the hydrogen like it was starved for it. It"d gobble and suck and then the whole world would go up like h.e.l.l, wouldn"t it? All that gas, burning like the breath of G.o.d.
Well then. He"d have to move fast.
Retracting his arm as far as it"d go, and then adjusting for trajectory, he held the lantern and released it-tossing it in a great bright arc that cut across the star-speckled sky. It crashed to the far corner of the landing pad, blossoming into brilliance and heat, singeing his face. He blinked hard against the unexpected warmth, having never guessed how closely he would feel it.
The creatures below screamed and ran, clothing aflame. The air sizzled with the stench of burning hair and fire-puckered flesh. But some of them hovered near the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie, lingering where the fire had stayed clear, still howling.
Only a few of them.
The Colt took them down, one-two-three.
Walter crossed his fingers and prayed that the bullets would not bounce-would not clip or ding the hydrogen tubes or tanks, or the swollen bulb of the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie. His prayers were answered, or ignored. Either way, nothing ignited.
Soon the ship was clear. As clear as it was going to get.
And reaching it required a ten-foot drop.
Walter threw his cane down and watched it roll against the ship, then he dropped to his knees and swung himself off the edge to hang by his fingertips. He curled the good leg up, lifting his knee. Better a busted pin than a busted ankle.
And before he had time to reconsider, he let go.
The pain of his landing was a sun of white light. His leg buckled and sc.r.a.ped inside the sheath that clasped the false limb; he heard his bone piercing and rubbing through the bunched and st.i.tched skin, and into the leather and metal.
But he was down. Down beside the Sweet Marie Sweet Marie. Down inside the fire, inside the ticking clock with a deadly alarm and only moments-maybe seconds, probably only seconds-before the whole town went up in flames.
At the last moment he remembered the clasp that anch.o.r.ed the ship. He unhitched it. He limped bloodily to the back port and ripped the hydrogen hose out of the back, and shut it up tight because otherwise he"d just leak his fuel all over North Mexico.
He fumbled for the latch and found it.
Pulled it.
Opened the door and hauled himself inside, feeling around for the controls and seeing them awash with the yellow-gold light of the fire just outside the window. The starter was a lever on the dash. He pulled that too and the ship began to rise. He grasped for the thrusters and his shaking, searching fingers found them, and pressed them-giving the engines all the gas they"d take. Anything to get him up and away. Anything to push him past the hydrogen before the fire took it.
Anything.
Reluctance slipped away below, and behind. It shimmered and the whole world froze, and gasped, and shook like a star being born.
The desert floor melted into gla.s.s.
Arlene Schabowski of the Undead By Mark McLaughlin & Kyra M. Schon
Mark McLaughlin"s fiction, poetry, and articles have appeared in hundreds of magazines and anthologies, including Cemetery Dance Cemetery Dance, Midnight Premiere Midnight Premiere, and The Year"s Best Horror Stories The Year"s Best Horror Stories. His most recent story collections are Raising Demons for Fun and Profit Raising Demons for Fun and Profit and and Twisted Tales for Sick Puppies Twisted Tales for Sick Puppies. His first novel, Monster Behind the Wheel Monster Behind the Wheel (coauth.o.r.ed with Michael McCarty), was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. His next book will be (coauth.o.r.ed with Michael McCarty), was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. His next book will be Vampires & s.e.x Kittens Vampires & s.e.x Kittens, a collection of essays.
Kyra M. Schon is the actress who played Karen Cooper, the trowel-wielding zombie girl in the bas.e.m.e.nt in the original Night of the Living Dead Night of the Living Dead. Since 1985, she has made her living teaching pottery and sculpture, and she also sells unique zombie memorabilia through her website, www.ghoulnextdoor.com.
In 1939, audiences at The Wizard of Oz The Wizard of Oz were dazzled to see a black-and-white movie burst out into full Technicolor, when Dorothy departs gray Kansas and arrives in the magical land of Oz, and black-and-white has been battling it out with color ever since. In the 1998 film were dazzled to see a black-and-white movie burst out into full Technicolor, when Dorothy departs gray Kansas and arrives in the magical land of Oz, and black-and-white has been battling it out with color ever since. In the 1998 film Pleasantville, Pleasantville, twins are transported into a black-and-white 1950s-era sitcom, and as they slowly liberate the town from its oppressive staidness, residents who have broken the mold become fully colorized. In the recent video game twins are transported into a black-and-white 1950s-era sitcom, and as they slowly liberate the town from its oppressive staidness, residents who have broken the mold become fully colorized. In the recent video game The Saboteur The Saboteur, the hero moves through black-and-white cityscapes in World War II-era occupied France attempting to disrupt n.a.z.i plans-if he"s successful, color is restored to liberated areas.
In the world of zombies, of course, the most epic confrontation of black-and-white versus color is the showdown between George Romero"s original 1968 black-and-white cla.s.sic Night of the Living Dead Night of the Living Dead and the 1990 full-color remake directed by makeup man Tom Savini. Devotees of the original will emphasize its cla.s.sic status and the haunting quality of its stark black-and-white look, whereas advocates for the remake will point to its sophisticated makeup effects and stronger female characters. and the 1990 full-color remake directed by makeup man Tom Savini. Devotees of the original will emphasize its cla.s.sic status and the haunting quality of its stark black-and-white look, whereas advocates for the remake will point to its sophisticated makeup effects and stronger female characters.
Like zombies themselves, the debate just keeps on going, relentless. Our next story also features a clash between black-and-white and color. Child stars often seem to grow up to lead troubled lives, but seldom as troubled as this.
Really? Right now?
Okay.
Let me tell you about a nice lady, who lives not too far from here. She was in the movie. And still is, in a way.
Her name is Lorraine Tyler...and also Arlene Schabowski. Lorraine is in her early forties, though you couldn"t tell by looking at her. She has long, wavy blonde hair. Arlene is nine years old, and she has long, wavy blonde hair, too. Most people would agree that she looks quite dead.
Lorraine played Arlene, all those years ago. Lorraine stopped, but Arlene kept right on playing.
After the zombies swarmed the building, Arlene devoured most of her parents...they were hers, so she certainly deserved the best parts...and then simply wandered off into the night. And the night was filled with shambling, ravenous corpses, feasting upon the flesh of the living. But the undead knew she was one of them, so she was safe from their hunger. Her body held no warmth, no nourishing spark of life to entice the other zombies. That was the last the viewers ever saw of her.
But she needed food, for she was... and still is... always hungry. Deliriously hungry. For there is a deep black coldness within her that constantly needs filling. Sometimes, right after she has eaten, she actually feels alive again. Perhaps even better than alive. She felt that way after she ate her parents, and she wanted to feel it again. So she wandered through the woods, through the darkness, until she came to another farmhouse.
Now at this point, one might ask, "They never showed what happened to the little girl after she wandered off. Didn"t the police get her when they came and shot all the zombies" brains out?"
Obviously not.
One might also wonder: "Fear-Farm of the Undead was only a movie, wasn"t it?" was only a movie, wasn"t it?"
Well, yes and no.
Lorraine Tyler"s father was one of the producers and stars of the movie, which was made on a shoe-string budget. The money her family put into that movie back then wouldn"t even buy a decent new car these days. Her father, mother and some of their friends wanted to make a movie, so they pooled their resources, found a few more investors and did it. And Lorraine got to play a little girl who gets bitten, turns into a zombie and eats her parents.
Lorraine went on to become a school teacher with a cool website selling Fear-Farm Fear-Farm memorabilia. Teachers get time off during the summer, so she started going to conventions, meeting fans, doing a lot more to promote her memorabilia sideline. She did that for years. Made good money, too. Last year she made enough to buy a nice little vacation in Mexico. memorabilia. Teachers get time off during the summer, so she started going to conventions, meeting fans, doing a lot more to promote her memorabilia sideline. She did that for years. Made good money, too. Last year she made enough to buy a nice little vacation in Mexico.
People still watch that movie all the time. Still think about it. Fear-Farm of the Undead Fear-Farm of the Undead has sp.a.w.ned hundreds of knock-off versions, most of them released direct-to-video. And Lorraine has watched every one of them. Because she is also Arlene Schabowski, and wants to know what other zombies are doing. has sp.a.w.ned hundreds of knock-off versions, most of them released direct-to-video. And Lorraine has watched every one of them. Because she is also Arlene Schabowski, and wants to know what other zombies are doing.
Somewhere out there, it is always night, and a little dead girl who is also a living school teacher is always hungry.
Anyway. Back to that other farmhouse.
Arlene could hear cows mooing in the distance. The sound made her hungry. She crept up to the house and looked in the window, into a quaint, tidy living room, with knickknacks on little cherrywood tables and furniture draped with lace doilies. An old woman was sitting at her desk, reading some papers. She had long white hair and wore a dark gray housecoat. Of course, everything in that world is black and white or shades of gray, just like in the movie. The old woman must not have turned on the radio or the TV that day or night... she looked so peaceful, it was clear she had no idea what was going on.
The little dead girl went to the front door and knocked. The old woman called out, as cheery as can be, "Who is it?"
Now, none of the other zombies in that movie were able to talk. All they ever did was grunt and roar and squeal. But Arlene was able to think really hard and call upon the abilities of her other self, Lorraine. And she managed to rasp out the three-word phrase from the movie for which she is best known. She also says a four-word phrase early in the movie, but most folks don"t remember that. No, they only remember what she says just before she turns into a zombie: "Help me, Mommy."
"Mommy? I"m n.o.body"s mommy!" the old woman cried. "Who"s out there? Is this some kind of a joke?" So saying, she threw open the door. "My G.o.d! Little girl, are you hurt? There"s blood all over you!"
Arlene held out her arms, just like she did before she killed her movie-mommy, who was played by her real-life mother. Again, she said, "Help me, Mommy."
"Of course I"ll help you, you poor thing." The old woman knelt before her. She must have had something wrong with her knees, because she winced with pain. "So tell me, who did this to you? Who?"
Her next few words were lost in a thick gurgle of black blood, because by then Arlene had her little teeth embedded in the old woman"s throat. And even though the dear old thing was past her prime, she was still full of warm, delicious, intoxicating life.