SurvivorZ

71

DANIELLE

"You ready?" Danielle asked.

Maureen looked from her to the pack of zombies milling around the locked doors blocking access to the tunnel. The naked, dissected corpses from the morgue pushed against the barrier, straining against the metal deadbolt sealing them tight.

"I don't think there is a ready for something like this." Maureen sighed.

"It's not too late to have a better idea."

Maureen pressed her lips together. If she had one, they wouldn't be here.

Danielle smoothed out the coveralls that she borrowed from Robin and raised her axe over her head in both hands. She nodded at her mother with an expression of grim determination. "Ready when you are."

Maureen turned to the zombies on the other side of the barricade. They were losing their minds from the scent of prey coming through the small, broken window in one of the doors. The closest one had its arm stuck through the opening. It clawed the air, snarling, trying to latch onto Maureen.

She grabbed it instead, pulling it by the wrist until it was shoulder-deep through the gap. It struggled to free itself, but she wouldn't let go. She looked to Danielle to finish the job.

Danielle's axe came down in a blur, slicing muscle and bone in a single chop. Black blood squirted everywhere, covering the floor and doors in tarry fluid. Maureen yanked the creature's severed arm free, turning it away so the blood didn't spurt on her.

The zombie retreated from the door, only to have its position replaced by another. A second hand shot through the opening, reaching for Maureen as though it were seeking retribution for its dismembered companion.

Maureen ignored it. She carried the severed arm over to Danielle, holding it fingers down so she didn't spill a drop from her oversized goblet.

Danielle fell to her knees, dreading what was to come next. "Don't miss a spot," she said.

Maureen walked around her, squeezing the bloody contents of the arm all over her back, arms, and torso. Her mother had protested stridently when Danielle presented her idea to the others. She was okay with the plan, but had issues with her daughter's involvement in it. If Maureen had her way, she would have undertaken the dangerous mission herself.

She couldn't, for the most obvious of reasons. Danielle was smaller. That meant not only could she fit into Robin's outfit, but she also required less blood to drench her from head to toe.

Danielle gagged from the stench. "Don't forget my face and hair."

"I'll get that last," Maureen replied. "The arm's almost empty. We're going to need more."

Fortunately, the one dangling from the open window meant the next donor was ready and waiting. As it happened, they had to repeat the process five more times before Danielle's shower earned her mother's seal of approval.

They returned to the others a short while later, leaving the ambulatory corpses pawing at the barrier with whatever fingers remained to them. Drew and Robin met them at the other end of the passage. The engineers appeared stricken by the sight of the ghoulish muck girl emerging from the tunnel.

"Jesus, that reeks," Robin gasped, waving her hand in front of her face.

"That's the whole idea," Danielle reminded her. During the walk back, her overwhelmed sinuses had thrown in the towel, much to her stomach's relief. She had almost forgotten the stench wafting from her body and clothes until now.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Drew asked Maureen.

"It did before. As long as Dani keeps quiet and doesn't attract attention to herself, she should go unnoticed."