TYBEE ISLAN
ISLAND
Continued from the December 2020 Beachcomber.
Catch up @ http://tybeebeachcomber.com/magazine
CHAPTER 41 – STRONGER AND FASTER, BUT STILL DUMB
AS A ROCK! - DAY 11
Richie is shaken awake. His head is throbbing. As he opens his
eyes, his vision goes in and out of focus and the room is spinning. He
feels blood dripping from a gash in his head, wet on his collar. He is
lying on top of Joe-T, who strains in an attempt to wiggle out from the
last vestiges of rope holding him to his chair and the weight of Richie
on top of him. As Joe-T takes another chomp at the air in Richie’s
direction, Richie realizes how incredibly close he is to getting bit by
his sick friend and slips in the pool of blood that has fallen around the
two of them as he tries to move out of the way.
“Now, now Joe-T. Don’t go trying to bite me. We’re friends,
remember?” he says, rolling off Joe-T and shoving him away with the
heel of his shoe.
With the weight of Richie off of him, Joe-T’s restraints come loose.
Joe-T pops straight up to his feet with surprising agility. The recent
meal has invigorated and reenergized his body.
“Oh shit!” Richie yells out from the floor. He reaches for the now
empty holster on his hip.
Joe-T snarls, crouches, and then leaps forward onto Richie.
“Jesus Christ Joe-T!” Richie shouts. “I’ve kept you alive, fed
you, and protected you. Get. Off. ME!” He shoves Joe-T to his right,
smashing Joe-T’s head into the corner of the well liquor rack,
stunning him just enough to give him a moment to get to his feet.
“Calm down Joe-T,” Richie says. “We can get things back to the
way they were. I’ll feed and protect you. We can be best friends
again.”
Joe-T snaps back to his feet. He throws his head back in the air
and releases a primordial scream so great that Richie throws both
hands over his ears. Then, in his newly rejuvenated state, leaps
straight up onto the bar. He gurgles at Richie and springs back
toward him. Richie slides to his left and Joe-T misses him, smashing
headfirst into the beer cooler on the opposite side of the bar, knocking
himself unconscious.
“Stronger and faster, but still dumb as a rock,” Richie says. He
tosses the broken chair pieces aside and grabs a new chair to secure
his friend to. With some effort he manages to get Joe-T into the
chair and properly secured once again. Out of breath from all the
excitement and exertion, he gives himself a moment to lean against
30 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | JAN 2021
By By Paul Paul Cales Cales & Becca
the bar. He touches the back of his head and winces in pain, then
scowls in anger.
“I’m going to rip Crabber Brian apart, piece by piece, and feed
every molecule to Joe-T. He best be in fear for his lif…” He stops and
listens. He hears a thud coming from the side door. “What the hell
is that?” He looks back at Joe-T, who is now fully awake, breathing
heavily, and staring at Richie with his red and yellow eyes. It’s almost
as if Joe-T knows what’s coming for Richie.
Richie quickly moves toward the windows to see what’s happening.
He peeks out of the window and looks back at Joe-T once again.
Joe-T, still breathing heavily and staring at Richie, now seems to have
the slightest smile pursed on his lips.
“You evil son of a bitch!” Richie says to him with contempt. “You
called your friends to come bust you out of here, didn’t you? Maybe
you’re not just the stupid shell of the former Joe-T after all. I’ll be
damned. You assholes can communicate with each other? You can
actually talk to each other?”
Richie calculates that there are about ten undead outside trying to
get in, with more and more showing up as the noise of the snarling
undead crowd grows. “I’ve got to lead these guys away from the
Legion. You seen my Glock, Joe-T? My keys? NO?! Damn it Brian!” He
runs to the window furthest away from the door to see if his cruiser is
still in the parking lot.
“Well, hell!” He exclaims. “I guess I’m going to have to head back
to the station and grab a back-up cruiser.” He stops for a moment
to gather himself, then goes and opens the closet in the back of the
Legion where they keep the outdoor activity supplies and grabs a
metal post used for horseshoes. “This should do just fine for now.”
He walks through the kitchen and into the bingo hall. He pulls the
curtain next to the hall door away and peers outside into the front
parking lot. “No dead heads on this side of the building,” he says to
himself, then unlocks and cautiously cracks open the door, making
as little noise as possible. Reaching deep into his police training, he
quickly and quietly makes his way to the police station, careful not to
attract the attention of the undead along the way.
As he arrives at the station, he sees the car Brian stole from him.
“Would you look at that! He stole my cruiser and brought it back to
the police station. He’s got to be one of the stupidest criminals I’ve
ever come across.”
Knowing he is at a disadvantage with his primitive weapon, he
decides to use the element of surprise to disarm and recapture
Crabber Brian. He sneaks up to the front of the police station. The
front door is halfway off its hinges and open. He leans his back
against the wall adjacent to the front door, waiting to ambush Brian
when he exits. He cranes his neck toward the door to see if he can
hear someone inside. Struggling to hear anything at all except for
the incessant ringing that started when he heard Joe-t’s bellowed
invitation to his undead friends, he can just make out Brian’s voice.
“Hey asshole! Guess who else has a radio now?”
To be continued…
Now, go back and read the rest of the damn story will ya! You can
read the previous 40 installments of the serial drama known as
“Tybee Island Zombies” and all the other wonderful articles that
you’ve missed FOR FREE @ http://tybeebeachcomber.com/magazine.
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