Steampunk Zombie

Adrian and Rebecca spent the next few hours traveling on foot. They walked in silence, side by side, as their horses followed behind. They kept to the hidden paths of the forest, the dirt trails narrow and rough; but in a world suddenly so foreign, neither cousin wanted to be caught out in the open. The only part of the storm that had decided to follow them was the occasional rumble of thunder as lightning struck the earth several miles away. A drop of rain here and there had landed across their faces, but it wasn’t enough to cause them to hasten their pace. A muggy fog began to settle in from the clammy heat.

“What’s that?” Rebecca suddenly spoke.

Adrian, who had been a few paces ahead of her, stopped to turn towards his cousin. He looked over his right shoulder at the woman who had come to an abrupt halt. Her hand was gripping the reigns of her horse with a tight grasp. She cocked her head to the right and lowered her chin.

“I don’t hear anything, Rebecca,” Adrian stated. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

But Rebecca wasn’t moving. She ignored the few footsteps that the man took and instead dropped Gizmo’s reigns to veer off the trail. Adrian sighed, rolling his eyes. He left his own horse to silently follow behind his cousin. With pursed lips and a furrowed brow, he frustratingly trailed behind the woman with folded arms.

As they stepped through the moist piles of sticks and leaves, the noise became more audible. At first it was a high-pitched gurgle, followed by steady grunts. There was a struggle and some swearing. The noises drifted through the spaces of the trees and Adrian and Rebecca ventured forth. Rebecca paused near a large bush, just before the clearing where the noises were coming from.

“Oh my God,” she gasped.

Less than ten yards in front of them hovered a man. His pants were dropped, his clothes soiled in numerous liquids. Beneath him laid an infected woman. Her legs were gone from the kneecaps down, leaving flaps of decayed flesh to hang over the bone. Her arms were spread, tied to a tree standing on either side of her. The skin around her wrists was coming loose with each pull against the twine knotted against them. Her jaw looked cracked, the lower part of her lip to her chin split down the middle. Her nose was gone, leaving two slits in the middle of hear face. The creature hissed. The man chortled and continued to violate her.

“Adrian, do something!” Rebecca’s murmur was urgent but hushed.

Adrian stared expressionlessly at the scene before them. He stared out of disgust, but didn’t let that feeling show. He remained calm while his cousin went into a state of panic. While her chest heaved out of horror and repulsion, his remained steady. Rebecca’s hazel eyes jumped from her cousin to the man.

“She’s gone, Rebecca. She can’t feel what’s happening,” Adrian whispered.

Rebecca glared. “So that makes it okay? Damned or living, he is raping her, Adrian!”

Adrian gripped his cousin’s shoulder. “It’s better to walk away. There’s nothing we can do about it. Three days in, and I’m sure worse has happened.”

Rebecca tore from her cousin’s grasp. Her eyes were narrowed, her jaw locked. “Then walk away, Adrian,” she spat.

Before Adrian could say anything, the woman stepped from the shadows of the trees. She grabbed for the nearest chunk of rock and chucked it at the man. It hit his shoulder. The man stopped his erratic movements. He slowly turned his head, like an owl stalking movement in the night. His hair was long, falling below his square shoulders in dark, greasy strands. His nose was pointed and his lips were thin. A scar ran along his jaw. His eyes were brown and beady. And when a smirk began to creep across his mouth, a few gold teeth became visible.

“Jealous?” he snickered. “I could go for something real.”

The man pushed up from the ground, not bothering to pull up the brown suit pants that he wore. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand as he walked forward. He dragged his left leg behind him with a limp, but that didn’t stop him from lunging at Rebecca. He grabbed at her wrists as she tried to turn. Her eyes grew wide in horror. The man smelled foul, like piss and onions. Just the smell alone was enough to make her eyes water.

Adrian rushed from the trees. He grabbed the man’s neck with such force that the man instantly released Rebecca. With just his right hand, Adrian shoved the man against a tree. He kept a tight grasp around the grungy man’s neck. The man’s laugh came out in sporadic huffs.

“I’ll share,” he cackled.

Adrian’s grip loosened so that the man fell forward a bit. Then he clasped his fingers back around his neck and pushed the man back with such force that his greasy scalp caused bark to fly from the trunk. The man was shocked at first, but then continued to laugh. His lips soon glistened from spit.

“A southern crusader,” the man gargled. “How admirable.”

Flabs of dirty skin pressed through Adrian’s fingers as he squeezed the man’s neck. With all the dirt and grime that covered his flesh, it was hard to see the color begin to leave from his face. The man tried prying Adrian’s fingers from his throat. His nostrils flared as he tried gasping for air. Even though he struggled, he still found the ability to laugh.

“Wanna know w-why?” the man stammered. “Dead bitches d-don’t talk b-back.”

The man’s amused expression was soon replaced by one of shock and pain as Adrian thrust his dagger deep into the man’s gut. His staggered gasps were soon accompanied by the bright blood that fell from his cracked lips. The man fell to a crumpled ball once Adrian pulled out the dagger. He then turned back towards the infected woman that lie tied between two trees. He looked down at her. She hissed, trying to fight back for reasons different than if it had been a living woman. Adrian crouched so that he could pull the muddied and torn scraps of her pink petticoat back over her torso. He then pierced her in the forehead with the blade. The creature grew still.

Adrian waited a moment before standing. He walked towards his cousin who was standing with her head bowed and rubbing her bruised wrist. Adrian waited until she lifted her eyes before wiping the blade on his sleeve and tucking it back in his belt. “No more stops,” he said. “Is that understood?”

Rebecca shook her head like a small child who had just been disciplined. Adrian sighed before walking past her and back into the forest. Rebecca followed behind. The horses were still where they had been left, nuzzling each other like an old pair of friends. Gizmo nipped at a patch of weeds along the trail. He let out a huff of snot as a leaf tickled his nose.

“Whoa, boy,” Adrian clucked as his thoroughbred let out a long winnie.

“Adrian, look,” Rebecca said, nodding down the trail.

Adrian turned his attention towards the direction that his cousin was gazing at. A single infected being was making its way down the trail. At first its pace was slow, his body trudging informally down the road. Its neck was broken, leaving his head bobbing against its left shoulder. The fingers on its right hand looked as though they had been chewed off. It let out a tyrannical war cry before charging towards the cousins.

“He’s all yours,” Adrian said.

Rebecca looked at the man with wide eyes. Her lips parted as fear began to creep up her skin with every jumbled footstep that the creature took towards them. Adrian lightly swung his right fist, encouraging his cousin to use the hidden blade that their grandfather had given her. Rebecca looked down at it. She flexed her fingers a few times.

“Swing hard,” Adrian instructed.

Rebecca took a step forward. The creature drew near, his gargles drowning it in its own spit. Rebecca reared back her hand, balling her first up in a sudden manner. The blade sprung forward and Rebecca thrust it into the creature’s forehead. It’s arms swung forward and Rebecca let out a light cry. The creature went limp, almost pulling down Rebecca with it. She tugged the blade free from its scalp, stumbling in the process.

Adrian hid his amused grin from his cousin. Her clumsiness and lack of assurance entertained him. “We’ll work on that,” he snickered.

Adrian took his cousin’s wrist in his hand and wiped the blade across the sleeve of his cavalry bib shirt. She relaxed her fingers so that the blade retracted back into the gold case. They took the reigns of their horses and continued on their way.

“We should make camp soon,” Adrian said. “It’s starting to grow dark.”

The gray clouds from the storm had made the sky grow dark long before the sun had set, but now that the big orange ball of fire was begin to fall behind the mountain horizon, the cool and darkness of the night was nearing. The cousins continued to walk in search of another clearing, not wanting to make camp in the one where such devastation had conspired. It wasn’t long before Adrian was leading his cousin and their horses off the trail and through a patch of widely spaced trees. There was a pile of ash in the middle. Adrian reached down to touch the remaining pieces of burned wood. It was cool to the touch. Someone hadn’t been there in a while.

“We’ll rest here,” Adrian decided. “You work on a fire and I’ll find something for us to eat.”

“I can take first watch,” Rebecca muttered, softly.

“You need rest; I’ll watch first,” stated Adrian.

Rebecca frowned. “That just means you’ll stay up all night and not wake me like you did last time.”

“I don’t think you’re ready to take any on your own just yet,” admitted Adrian. “So with all due respect, I’d rather continue to keep watch at night.”

“Until when? You die from exhaustion leaving me to have to take them all on my own?” retorted Rebecca. “The longer you go without sleep, the weaker you will become, and that will serve us both no good.”

Adrian had nothing to say. Working on the farm, he had learned to go days on minimal sleep, but after a while there would always be that one day that he would find himself crashing early, falling into the soft sheets of his bed and not wake up until late into the afternoon of the following day. However, such privileges were no longer possible and Adrian found himself begrudgingly agreeing with his younger cousin.

Rebecca stood still. Her eyes no longer sparkled with mischief or happiness. Adrian found her to be a sad woman now, and that bothered him. He didn’t like how the corners of her lips were always turned downwards, or how her hair looked dull. He didn’t like how pale her skin had become despite their many hours traveling in the sun, or how dark circles had formed around her eyes. Since they were children, he had longed for her to become quiet, to leave him alone and play with kids her own age. But now he found such silence unbearable and just wanted to see a smile spread across the petite woman’s face.

“Let’s go,” he said as he stood from where he had been crouched over the pile of ashes.

Rebecca looked at him with furrowed brows. “Let’s go?” she questioned. “But I thought—“

“No buts,” Adrian said with a pointed finger. “We are both going to sleep tonight under the safety of a roof and four walls.”

“But how do you—“

Adrian hushed his cousin with a finger to the lips. “Trust me,” he said. “I will find us a place to stay tonight, and every night after.”

Adrian pressed his left foot into the stirrup and lifted his right leg over the saddle. He waited for Rebecca to mount Gizmo before he ushered the horse back through the trees and onto the trail. He kept the horses at a steady trot. The orange and red rays from the sun were casting a glorious sunset just over the mountains. It illuminated the top leaves of the trees.

“What makes you think we will find somewhere to stay?” Rebecca wondered.

“This trail didn’t make itself. If one end began at Cahawba then it must lead to somewhere,” stated Adrian.

Rebecca nodded in approval of his answer. She rolled her head, her eyes closed as she stretched her tight and tired body. “You didn’t get a chance to answer my question from before,” she then spoke. “Do you think God is punishing us?”

Adrian kept his head straight, his eyes jumping from one forest edge to the next. “Punishing us for what? Something that has existed since the beginning of time? No, I do not believe that God is punishing us. Slavery of all sorts has been around for centuries. Why would God cause such a plague because of the treatment of blacks when His own people were in captivity numerous times? No, God isn’t punishing us, Rebecca,” Adrian answered strongly.

Rebecca paused, calculating her next sentence carefully. “God promised never to flood the Earth again, never to cause such devastation on His people. But He never said anything about not allowing the dead to consume the living. God used the Flood to cleanse the world of its impurities. Perhaps he is using the damned to do so again, and therefore without breaking His promise to mankind.”

“So the boy I killed in the alleyway on the first day, he was impure? Jake, Elizabeth, and Russell…all impure? The woman back there that you wanted me to save despite the fact that she was already dead, impure, as well? God chose to set apart people to save during the Flood. Nobody was saved this time.”

Rebecca lowered her head. She let Gizmo trot at his own pace, her hands resting loosely over the reigns. Adrian cast a look over his shoulder and when he saw the silenced state of the young woman, he waited for the footsteps of his horse to fall into rhythm with hers.

“My dearest cousin, always trying to justify the theories of man by the ideologies of God,” he muttered. “Whether this was by man’s own doing, or a punishment from God, we are here, alive, now, and must decide whether to fight or let go…not ideas, but this physical malady that lurks in the shadows of this road we travel.”

“I just don’t like not knowing. I am jealous of how easily you seemed to have accepted this all,” the woman sighed.

Adrian looked down at the woman on his right. He shrugged. “I never had many goals in life. There wasn’t anything that I’ve wanted to accomplish, and so I have always been able to just go with what happens. Mother said it was a poor way of living. But it was how I wanted to live, and it’s how I will continue to live.”

“I had goals…and dreams and aspirations…” the woman’s voice trailed off into the wind.

“Like finding a safe place to sleep tonight?” said Adrian. He cocked his head and rose a brow. “What do you think, milady?”

Rebecca turned so that she was looking through the trees that stood at the end of the trail. Atop a small grassy hill sat a log cabin. A barn, about twice the size of the house, was on its right. There was a small creek flowing from the patch of trees that surrounded the barn. The sun’s setting rays cast an orange glow across the dark windows.

“Shall we?” Adrian said as he ushered his horse forward. Rebecca followed behind.

The trail had split into three directions. One led to the house, while another led past it, and the third looped around the trees. The cabin was small; a door with a window on each side was all that adorned the front logs. There was a small porch and on it a crooked rocking chair. A few fallen branches from the nearby trees were scattered across the front yard. Adrian made note not to mention to his cousin the trail of bullet nicks across the porch rail. Just a few feet from the steps, Adrian jumped from his horse and handed the reigns up to his cousin. He pulled at his shirt before running a hand across his scalp. His dark hair had grown matted from the humidity of the passing storm.

Adrian walked up each step with an air of caution. His boots heavily clicked against the wooden porch floor despite his efforts to be quiet. He first tried to look through the square window, but there was a thick layer of grime that made the glass too dark to see through. He then went to the door and placed a gentle knock against the bumpy wood.

“Hello?” he called out. “Is anybody home? We are friendly.”

Nothing. So he tried knocking again, this time a little louder.

“Hello? We are just looking for a place to stay for the night. My wife is with child.”

“Adrian!” Rebecca hissed. Adrian shout her an amused grin and shrugged.

“I don’t think anyone is here,” he concluded after a few more failed attempts at making contact. “But the door is unlocked.”

Rebecca joined her cousin on the porch as he began to push open the door. It let out a haunting screech as he did so. He cast his cousin an entertained grin. Rebecca just rolled her eyes. The inside was dark, but with the help of a few rays of sun, Adrian could make out the basic layout of the room. Along the middle of the left wall was a large stone fireplace. In front of that was a tiny square table atop a multicolored wool rug. There was a counter, some pots and pans, and a small icebox along the wall opposite the door. Other than a large wooden chest, a chessboard, and a few scattered toys, the first floor was mainly empty. There was a step in the right corner along the wall that led to a staircase behind the logs.

“Take a look around. See if you can find anything to eat. I’m going to make sure the upstairs is clear,” Adrian said.

Adrian left his cousin to meander in the darkness of the downstairs as he made his way to the set of stairs. He stepped up to the landing and craned his neck around the wall. At the top of the steps was a large window. He gripped the unfinished rail and cautiously walked up. He noticed a thin streak of blood splashed around the bottom of the wall on the left of the steps. He kept his eyes alert as he continued upstairs. All there was was a single door to the left. It was cracked open. Adrian pushed on it. It was a bedroom. To the far left was a desk piled high was papers, books, and vials of ink. Straight ahead was an antique dresser, a lace doily laid across the top. Two vanilla candles stood at each end. And to the right was a bed, its headboard made of unfinished wood, as well. The quilt was compiled of brown, yellow, and pale blue patches. The end was wrinkled, a clump pulled together in the frozen grasp of a corpse that lay sprawled on the floor at the foot of the bed.

Adrian went back to the window at the top of the steps. He hit the brass lock with the palm of his hand until it twisted to the left. Adrian lifted the glass as high as it could go, which was to about his chin. He then went back into the room where the dead man lay. His back had been severely clawed, his jacket torn to shreds. Adrian put the toe of his boot under the man’s belly and flipped him over. He brought the back of his hand to his nose, a sudden stench making his eyes water. The man’s face was gone, a skeleton with a permanent open mouth looking back up at him. Adrian grabbed him under the arms and dragged him from the room. He lifted his body to the window and pushed it out. It’s head hit a pile of rocks as it landed. Adrian had the window shut and locked before the sound had finished echoing.

“There is a single bedroom upstairs. You can sleep there tonight,” Adrian said once he made it back down the steps.

Rebecca was standing at the sink, a pail of water sitting on the counter. She was washing her hands. “There isn’t much here to eat,” she said. “Looks like we aren’t the only ones who have stopped through. Much is cleaned out. There are a few spices, but nothing that can be made into a full meal.”

“There is a crick outside. I’m going to move the horses into the barn for the night. I’ll see if I can find anything to fish with and then maybe we will have some dinner,” Adrian said. “Lock the door behind me.”

Adrian adjusted the Volcanic Repeater that rested in the holster at his thigh. He gripped both horses by the reigns and led the over to the barn. It was a tall and intimidating building, much larger than the barn on his mother’s cattle ranch. He found it odd that such a large barn would be accompanied by such a small cabin. His own house had been hefty in size, much grander than the barn that was home to his Hereford cattle. But those thoughts were quickly dismissed as he entered into the barn. From where the setting sun was facing, no light could enter through the doors of the barn so Adrian found himself scrambling for some sort of light. His hands knocked against glass, as he quickly turned the knob to the lantern until a small light flickered on. The fire illuminated the room.

There were four stalls along each side. The ground and loft were covered in bails of hay. There were many hoes, rakes, saws, mallets, and various other tools hanging from the walls. An anvil sat in the middle of the barn. Adrian concluded that the man who had owned this farm had done numerous metalwork for nearby towns. Between all of the wheel castings and horseshoes, Adrian figured that he had been a heavily desired man.

Adrian walked along the stables. The first two were empty. In the third lay the bones of a devoured animal. The hay was stained red. Adrian shut and locked the door to that stall before moving Gizmo and his horse into stables of their own. He removed their saddles and brushed down their coats. He made sure that they could dine on their own supply of water and feed for the night. He felt better knowing they would sleep behind two locked doors.

Adrian didn’t mind having to snoop around the barn looking for fishing supplies. He found nothing too exciting, but was also grateful to find no corpses. After finding a net, pole, line, and some flies, Adrian shut the barn door behind him and headed down to the creek. It was very shallow and narrow. He could easily feel the smooth rocks as he stood at the edge. The setting sun reflected off of the clear water. For a moment, Adrian felt relaxed. The light trickle of the water was soothing. The night was calm. He would hear the occasional jump of a fish, but it was nothing at all terrifying.

Adrian watched a small school of fish make their way down the creek in erratic movements. He didn’t even need to cast a line before he had scooped up a fish in the net. It flopped around against the white fabric. His brows furrowed as he watched the school of fish continue on, not phased by the fact that one of their own was now missing. He looked back towards the opening of the patch of trees where the creek was flowing. He heard nothing, but was now on guard due to the unnatural patterns of the creek’s inhabitants.

He moved onto setting up the pole. He had only gone fly fishing a few times prior, and although he knew that it required lots of patience, he had hoped that he would be able to catch enough food for dinner for the sun could completely leave him in darkness. As he stood along the edge of the creek with the fly swimming in the direction of the creek, he saw another school of fish swim by. None were captivated by the bright yellow and black fly that swayed at the end of his line. So Adrian grabbed the net again and once more caught up a fish.

It wasn’t until the third swarm of panicked fish that had made it past his net that he realized what was causing the fish to swim in an unusual fashion. The long bellow of the dead erupted from the patch of trees and Adrian looked over to see four infected beings slosh through the creek. Their feet were trudging against the bottom of the water, causing any water life to rapidly swim as fast away as possible. Even in darkness, these creatures seemed to know exactly where Adrian was. He scooped up the net of fish and began backing from the water. He took out his Volcanic Repeater. Six bullets latter, the four corpses lie immobile in the creek, their black blood now running through the once clear water.

Rebecca opened the front door in a hurry to let Adrian in. Her eyes were wide. “There was just four,” he assured her. “But they helped me catch some spotted bass for dinner.”

The woman looked down at the fish. Only one still had enough life in it to flop against the net. “Awe, they’re so cute,” she cooed.

Adrian frowned. “Rebecca, we are going to eat them, not give them names and take them with us.”

Rebecca scoffed. She grabbed the net from Adrian and took the fish to the sink where she began to gut them in preparation for dinner. The cousins sat in the room in silence, the only noise coming from the cracking skin of the fish in the fire. Rebecca had found a few mushrooms and carrots and sautéed them in the pan along with the fish. She added a few of the spices that were in the cupboard, some dried basil and ground black pepper. She put one fillet on a plate for herself and gave the other two to her cousin.

“Not bad at all,” Adrian said through a mouthful.

“I hate cooking,” admitted Rebecca.

“Well you’re alright at it. Better than Pap.”

Rebecca’s lips parted into a small smile. “I felt so bad. I don’t think he knew how bad it was.” The woman’s face then dropped. Adrian watched her eyes get lost in the fire, the flames dancing in her hazel orbs.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” the man said. “I’m sure he’s sitting down to eat his own poorly made meal right now.”

Rebecca’s smile was not genuine, but instead laced with sadness. “I’m sure he is.”

Despite Adrian’s protests, Rebecca insisted on cleaning the dishes and leaving the house in better condition than what it had been in when they arrived. Once Rebecca felt that the room was clean enough, she dismissed herself for bed. Adrian watched her leave up the stairs before lying down on the floor in front of the fire. He didn’t bother throwing another log in, but instead wanted it to dwindle down so that the orange flames would not draw attention through the window. He curled up into a ball on the wool area rug, having only a stiff moth-eaten blanket to keep the cold night chill from crawling over his skin.

As the crackles from the fire died, Adrian heard a light sniffle. He turned onto his back. There was a tiny flicker of light coming through the floorboards above. Adrian could see the a corner of the tattered quilt through a gap in the boards. He lay still as the sniffles continued. He knew Rebecca was crying. It made him uncomfortable. The man threw the blanket from off of him and stood. He silently made his way up the stairs and into the bedroom.

The strong vanilla scent from the candles immediately hit his nostrils. His cousin was laying on her right side with her back to him. Adrian kicked off his boots before lying down beside her. He lay on his back with his left hand under his head and with his right arm he pulled Rebecca against him. Her light sniffles continued.

“Goodnight, Rebecca,” Adrian murmured. He set a chaste kiss to her temple before letting his eyes close.