Running on Empty Read online

strange to be near the centre of a town and yet have it so quiet. There was no traffic, no dogs barking, no cats yowling. No distant blare of someone's late night party music, no roaring sirens, no rowdy arguments. The town was completely dead.

  By the time she reached the first intersection she started to relax a little. The solitary sound of her own footsteps surely meant that she was alone, and in this place loneliness meant safety. She peered down the side street and could see more darkened houses like the ones she'd just passed. She crossed the road easily, and was encouraged that she could now see the light from the phone booth ahead of her. It was still so far away though!

  She hastened her pace, no longer concerned with being quiet, so she had just passed the next intersection and was into the town centre before she realised the change. She stopped suddenly and listened, and the gentle pattering behind her continued for a second and then also stopped.

  Her legs quivered beneath her, but she forced herself to remain standing despite the fear that shook her body. Could a zombie be following her? She forced herself to turn around slowly, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. The moon had come out from behind a cloud recently, and the light was so bright that the street behind her was lit almost as if it were daylight. Shadows from the trees and the buildings loomed menacingly, but she could detect no credible source for the noise. Could she have been imagining it? Or perhaps it was just a scavenger, she told herself. But as she started to walk again she heard the noise again. Listening carefully, she decided that the steps were too loud, too heavy, too fast to be some mere animal.

  She stopped and turned around quickly, but again there was no sign of any movement. A putrid stench wafted through the air, thickening and hovering about her. It was a smell of decay, of rotting flesh, of maggots and death. Her eyes widened in terror, and her heart was thumping so loudly it was threatening to jump right out of her chest. Her hands and legs were shaking, she was sure of it. Her breaths were coming so fast and so loudly that there was no way she would have been able to hear anyone’s approach, so she forced herself to take deep, slow breaths. The hair on her head started to stand on its ends, and she felt that she’d missed something.

  Something important.

  That’s when she realised - she was nearly breathing normally now, but the heavy breathing hadn’t changed. It was coming from right behind her.

  Slowly, she turned.

  Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that was before her. Humanoid, but certainly not human, it stood just meters away, watching her with its soulless black eyes. It was tall and certainly male - still wearing the clothes it had had on when it had contracted the illness. Its once blue shirt and denim shorts were tattered and filthy, smeared with blood and excrement, and god only knew what else. Its arms and legs seemed uncommonly long and thin, yet muscular.

  It’s a machine, she realised with shock, built to be fast and strong.

  She tentatively took a step backward and it continued to just watch her. It seemed unconcerned that the gap between them had widened slightly. It’s certain, she realised with dismay. It knows the result of this contest. It can’t possibly lose.

  The hideous beast grinned then, curling its foetid lips back to bare foul yellowed fangs, all in disarray. She stared in fear at those sharp points, and couldn’t stop the mental image of them closing around her own flesh.

  It screeched, a high-pitched, otherworldly screech that snapped her out of her trance.

  Pure terror and adrenaline forced her backwards, and she scrambled to get away from the beast that pursued her. Instinctively she turned left down the road she had just crossed, silently cursing herself for heading into unknown territory. She took another quick left and found herself in a dark alleyway with graffiti defacing the walls. This was a wrong move, she was sure of it, but she could still hear the zombie's footsteps behind her. There was no way she could back out now.

  She saw some old garbage bins lined along the left hand wall, and frantically grabbed at one and pulled it down behind her as she ran past. It landed with a crash as old cans and bottles spilled out onto the path, yet the steps behind her didn't cease.

  It’s just toying with me, she thought bitterly. It’s enjoying the chase. She took a couple of frantic turns in quick succession, and then came to a halt.

  Grey brick walls loomed over her on three sides. A dead end. Behind her, she heard the zombie come to a stop.

  She forced herself to turn and face it. There was no way around it, the passageway was too narrow. No way up, the brick wall had nothing to help her climb it. There wasn't even any old rubbish lying around that she could use to defend herself with.

  The creature began a low growl, and she realised that it was contented. If it were a cat, it’d be purring, she thought with horror.

  The fear had overtaken her now. It had started with a sick, heavy feeling in her stomach and grown to take over the rest of her body. She tried to cry out, but she couldn’t make her voice work. She tried to move, but her body was involuntarily frozen. All she could do was look into those emotionless, dead eyes, and wait for the inevitable.

  It crouched now, and again drew back its lips into a fierce snarl. It was about to pounce. Just then, a loud screech sounded from above, as another of the beasts leaped down from the top of the wall, and slammed straight into the first. Both fiends screamed as they fought each other for domination. One slashed at the chest of the other with its razor sharp claws, and the other sunk its fangs into the other’s side, ripping out a hunk of flesh, spraying blood everywhere. They tossed and turned, now one was dominating the fight, and now the other. This was no fair fight and there were no rules. One beast would die, the other would enjoy a two course dinner.

  Liz watched the fiends in horror, but as the fight continued she realised that the attention of each monster was completely devoted to the other. Slowly, holding her breath, she edged her way to the side of the passageway and started creeping past the two. At one point they rolled within inches of her, and the panic rose within her until she had to fight off the scream that was building, but they moved away again, and she picked up the pace as she crept away.

  She began to run again, hoping to make as much distance between herself and those fiends as she could before one was destroyed or they both realised their prey was gone.

  She ran haphazardly, and before she reached the mouth of the alleyway she crumpled to the ground, clutching her ankle. Agonising pain shot through her leg, and she desperately fought the compulsion to scream, terrified that the noise would bring the monsters back to her. She touched the injury tenderly. She couldn't feel any obviously out of place bones, but then she wasn't exactly sure what she was feeling for, either. She forced herself to stand, but nearly collapsed when she tried to put weight on her sore leg.

  An enraged screech came from behind her. The battle was nearly over.

  Liz started again, jogging as fast as she could, aware of her slight limp and the severe pain that came with each alternate step. She reached the entrance of the alleyway, and hobbled out into the bright moonlight. All was dead and still before her, and she turned back the way she'd originally come, first right, and then left. The phone booth was now behind her, but she couldn't shake the thought that behind her was more of the monsters, waiting for her. If she could just get back to the suburbs, maybe she could even make it out of the town. She could hide in the surrounding scrub until morning. She was sure she'd heard somewhere that the monsters were nocturnal. Surely in the daytime she could walk far enough to get some help. Or at least find some phone reception.

  She ran and ran as though the fires of Hell itself was chasing her heels. Suddenly, she was hit from the side with a great force that propelled her into the nearest fence. The back of her head smashed against the brick wall with a sickening crack.

  For a moment, she couldn’t see what it was that had hit her. Then she became aware of the now familiar stench. The rank odour overpowered her senses, and she leaned to the si
de and vomited noisily. She needed to get away, but while she was being sick the creature took its foul claws and completely encircled her good ankle. The grip itself seemed loose until Liz tried to pull her foot away, and realised with alarm just how strong that arm was. She looked at the face of this monster, and saw that it was unfamiliar. Slightly smaller than the first two, this one was clearly female. Its protruding ribcage was visible through the stained and torn tank top it wore, and drool leaked from the side of its mouth. This zombie wasn't after a chase, it didn't want to play with its food. She placed her second claw on the ankle, and as Liz struggled and kicked, snap! The leg was broken as effortlessly as if the creature had just snapped a toothpick.

  It grinned mercilessly at Liz as it leaned forward and sunk its teeth deep into her thigh.

  She screamed.