Drone

The four survivors of a terrifying event in a small Arizona town discover the horrible truth behind their situation.

Joe listened for the drone.

He had conditioned himself to always listen, just in case one of them was outside, but apart from the dull hum of the slow-spinning ceiling fan, everything was silent.

crunch.

He winced.

crunch.

crunch.

crunch.

"Stop it, Andy," mumbled Joe, head in his hands.

crunch.

crunch.

crunch.

"I said stop eating those f*****g pretzels!" Joe barked, sitting up and turning his head to glare at Andy, who was buried up to his elbow in a bag of pretzels.

"I’m f*****g hungry, a*****e!" Andy yelled back.  "What do you f*****g want from me?"

"That f*****g crunching makes me sick to my stomach," said Joe.

"Well, I’m hungry here, so you’re just gonna have to f*****g deal with it."

The two fell silent.  Joe laid back down on the couch, rubbing his forehead with both hands.  In the easy chair beside the couch, Andy wordlessly stuck his arm back in the bag.  Across the room, Rita leaned on the window sill, staring through a gap in the boards nailed across the window.

Andy crunched another pretzel.

Joe made a noise, halfway between a growl and a sigh.

crunch.

"Hennh."

crunch.

“Hrrrenh.”

crunch.

"Hrrrngnh."

"God, will you both be f*****g quiet?!" Rita shouted without turning around.  "I’m trying to keep watch here."

"Don’t yell out the window!" Joe hissed.  "They might hear you!"

"They don’t go on sound, Joe," Andy grumbled through the chewed-up pretzel in his mouth.

"Well, maybe they’ll smell your pretzels and come for that," Joe growled, reaching up and snatching the bag of pretzels away from Andy.

"Hey!"

"Just trying to keep you safe, friend," said Joe as he stuffed the bag under the couch.

Andy sighed and flopped back down in the chair, causing a cloud of dust to fly into the air.  He began staring intently at the wall.

He became conscious of his breathing.  Even breathing was uncomfortable.  He felt like he was sitting in a steam room.

He decided to alleviate his boredom by counting the slats in the wood paneling.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

"Where the f**k is Tammy?" he shouted at the wall.

"I’m sure she’s on her way, Andy," Joe grumbled.

"She’d call if she ran into trouble," Rita said.

"Why do you even care how long she takes?" Joe said.  "She’s not going to have any good news."

"You don’t know that, Joe," Rita said, turning to face the two men.

"I do know that, actually," Joe said.  "It’s only been getting worse over the past few days."

"You’re such a f*****g ray of sunshine, Joe," mumbled Andy sarcastically.

"I’m just being realistic," Joe growled.  He realized he could feel himself sweating through his T-shirt.  He nervously ran his fingers through his short-clipped hair.

"You alright, Joe?" Rita asked.

"Yeah… yeah, I’m fine," he sighed in response.  "It’s just so f*****g hot in here.  We need to find an air conditioner."

"Oh, God, I know.  Maybe whoever goes out scouting next should try to pick one up someplace.  I think it’s your turn next, Joe, would you be up for that?"

There was no response.

"Joe?"

"How long has it been?" Joe snapped.

Rita and Andy looked at each other.

"Since… Tammy went out?" Rita asked, confused.

"No, since… since this whole thing started."

"Um… about five days."

Joe rolled over on the couch.

"Five days," he mumbled despondently into the back of the couch.  "Feels like a f*****g eternity."

Rita and Andy glanced at each other worriedly.

"Hey, guys," said a voice from outside the window.

Rita turned back to the window.  She saw Tammy standing in the dirt, peering through the boards from the outside.

"Hey, Tammy!" Rita said happily.

"Hey," Tammy said.  "Let me in before somebody notices me."

Rita dashed through the nearby doorway into the kitchen.  Andy got out of his chair and followed her.  Joe simply rolled back over on the couch.

After unlocking the front door, Rita and Andy stepped back into the living room.  Tammy followed close behind.

"So what’s the verdict?" asked Andy.

Tammy sighed and brushed a strand of her curly black hair away from her face.  “It’s not good,” she said.  “I’ve got bad news and worse news.”

"I knew it," groaned Joe.  "I f*****g knew it."

"What’s the bad news?" asked Rita, ignoring him.

"I’ve been out to the highway and back," Tammy continued.  "They’re everywhere now."

"S**t," Andy said.  "Well, so much for getting that air conditioner."

"What’s the worse news?" asked Joe.

"I saw a few new guys out by the highway," Tammy said.  "I’d never seen them in town before.  I think they might have wandered out from Joseph City or Holbrook."

"Oh my God," Rita gasped.

"So how the f**k are we going to get out of this?" Joe asked.

The others nervously glanced at each other.

"I think we should just make a break for it while we still can," Andy said with a shrug.

"Yeah, that’s as good a plan as any," Tammy responded.

"You guys think it’ll work?" asked Rita.

"I don’t see why it couldn’t," Tammy said, almost excitedly.  "Find a car that works, get on the highway, maybe find some other survivors…  I think we could have a shot at this."

"Alright!" exclaimed Andy.  "I’m pumped now, let’s do this!"  He held up a hand for a high-five.  Tammy high-fived him.  Rita kissed her on the cheek.

"What do you think, Joe?" Andy asked.

Joe shrugged.

"I dunno, guys," he said simply.

The others looked at him quizzically from across the room.

"Well… what do you think we should do?" asked Tammy.

"I dunno," Joe said.

"I don’t think anything would be worse than rotting in this house all day," Andy interjected.

"Oh, I dunno, Andy!  Maybe f*****g dying!" Joe snapped, quickly sitting up on the couch.  "Maybe ending up like one of those poor a******s outside, getting eaten by flies while you walk around the street!"

"Joe, you can’t think like that," Rita murmured.

"Well, what the f**k am I supposed to think like, Rita?" Joe continued, beginning to raise his voice.  "We’re not gonna just swoop out of here on a f*****g rainbow or something!  It’s not gonna be that easy!"

"I didn’t… I never said it would be, Joe."

"Don’t talk to her like that, Joe," Tammy said angrily, taking a step forward.

"Don’t talk to her like what?" Joe shouted back.  "Don’t be honest?  Don’t say that we might not magically make it out?"

"Guys-"  Andy tried to interject, but he was shouted over.

"What the f**k would you know about it anyway?" Tammy yelled.  "When’s the last time you got off that f*****g couch?"

"Guys!"          

"When’s the last time you f*****g thought about how I feel, Tammy?” Joe roared, quickly standing up and storming over to her.  “Maybe you should consider how some of us don’t get off on putting our f*****g lives in danger!”

"Guys, shut the f**k up!" screamed Andy.

He glanced around.

"Hear that?" he whispered.

The others perked up their ears.

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

They slowly turned towards the boarded-over window.

The man outside began arrhythmically banging on the boards.

 ”Oh my God,” whispered Tammy.

"S**t, s**t, s**t, how did it find us?" hissed Rita, panicked.

"It must have followed Tammy here," growled Joe.

"Don’t f*****g blame me for this, a*****e," Tammy shot back.

"Guys, shut up," hissed Andy.  "Get the gas."

Rita and Tammy slowly sidled out of the room, keeping their eyes on the man outside.  Joe dove towards the couch and reached under it.

"Come on, come on, where the f**k is it…"

Joe’s fingers brushed against cool, smooth metal.

He reached a bit farther, took hold of the handgun, and pulled it out.  Quickly, he stood back up and ran into the kitchen, where Andy was slowly unlocking the front door.

Joe and Andy shared a look.  Andy nodded at him.

Slowly, Joe stepped outside.  He squinted in the sun as he turned to point his gun at the man.

The man turned slowly to face Joe, moving with shaky, jagged motions.  His graying skin was sloughing off, and he was pockmarked with tiny holes all over his arms and neck.  His eyes were clouded over.  His jaw hung loosely open, and a constant monotone drone emanated from his throat.

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

"Rita!" Joe screamed.  "Get out here with the gas!"

The man’s droning moan increased in intensity as he began shuffling towards Joe.  Joe clicked the gun’s safety off, cringed, and shot.

KRAK

The man stumbled slightly and continued to stagger forward, ignoring the hole in his T-shirt and the congealed blood oozing out of the new wound in his chest.

"Where’s the f*****g gas, Rita?!" Joe shrieked.

"They’re coming!" yelled Andy from inside the doorframe.

"Tell them to move!" Joe screamed, and shot again.

KRAK

The man’s nose exploded, and a shower of gore erupted from the back of his skull.

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH

Suddenly, he lurched forward and sunk his ragged fingernails into Joe’s arm.

Joe screamed in rage and horror, and punched the man in the face.  The man toppled over into the dirt.  Joe gripped the gun again, ignoring the gooey blood covering his fingers, and continued shooting the man as he struggled to stand.

KRAK KRAK KRAK

"Oh my God, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!" shouted Rita, sprinting out of the house with a jug of gasoline.  She quickly unscrewed the cap and swung the jug forward, splashing the man with gasoline.

KRAK KRAK KRAK

"Joe, what the f**k, you’re wasting all our bullets!" Tammy shouted from inside the house.

Rita pulled a book of matches out of her pocket and fumbled to light the match before tossing it onto the man.  He instantly caught fire.  His droning began to waver.

HEEEEEuuuEEEEEeeeeuuuUUUUH

KRAK KRAK KRAK KRAK klik klik klik klik klik

Frantically, Joe flung the gun at the burning, twitching man.  It ricocheted off his chest with a fleshy crack and bounced into the street.

"Joe, what the f**k?  What’s the matter?" Andy cried, running out of the house and standing next to him.

"What the f**k are they?!” screamed Joe in frustration, turning on his heel to face Andy.  “Why the f**k don’t they die?  Why do they make that horrible f*****g noise, all the time?”

The others looked at him in confusion.

"We don’t… we don’t know, Joe," Andy said, puzzled.  "I mean, I’m sorry that you’re so bothered by this all of a sudden."

"I can’t f*****g take this anymore, Andy!" Joe raged.  "I just-  I can’t-  Why?!  Why the f**k has this happened to my life?"

Tammy stepped out of the house and put a hand on Joe’s shoulder.

"Maybe you should go take a nap, Joe," she said condescendingly.

Joe stared back at her.

"I’m going to go out on another scouting run," Tammy muttered.  "I’ll be back later.  I’ll come back and let you guys know if I find a way out of town."

"Okay, uh… great" said Andy.

Tammy wordlessly stepped over the burning body of the still-twitching man and began walking away.  Joe immediately walked back into the house and headed to the sink in the kitchen to wash his hands.  Andy and Rita watched her walk away down the desolate street until she turned a corner and disappeared around a building.

Andy sighed and walked back into the house.  Rita kept staring ahead, listening to the sound of the running water in the sink.

"God," groaned Joe as Andy entered the room.  "Of all the f*****g people to survive the zombie apocalypse with."

"Don’t say ‘zombie apocalypse’," muttered Andy.

"Why the hell shouldn’t I?"

"Because that’s… I dunno, that’s really a cliché, isn’t it?"

"Well, what the f**k do you want me to call it, Andy?" Joe asked as he shut off the tap.  "That’s what it is."

"It’s not the apocalypse," Andy protested.

"Sure feels like one," muttered Joe as he trudged into the living room.

Andy watched him flop down onto the couch.  He regarded him for a moment before heading back outside, where Rita was still standing in the yard and staring ahead.

"You alright?" he asked her.

Rita sighed.

"What’s the matter with him?" she asked sadly.

"We’re all on edge," Andy replied with a shrug.  "He’s just… not able to deal with it, I guess."

Rita didn’t answer.  The two of them stared down the road for a long while.

"Seems quiet today," Andy said to break the silence.

"Yeah," Rita murmured.

Andy sighed.

"None around here that I can see," he said again.  "Maybe they’re all going west, and the ones from Holbrook are just passing through."

Rita didn’t answer.

"Think we should head east today?" Andy asked hopefully.

Rita shrugged.

Andy turned and headed back into the house with a sigh.

As he turned into the living room, he noticed Joe lying face-down on the couch.  He flopped back down in the easy chair and resumed staring at nothing.

"I’m sorry, Joe," he mumbled.  "This is tough on me too."

Joe said nothing.

"I really think that we can get out of town today, though," he continued.  "Once Tammy comes back, we can make a break for it… find a car… head east.  That’s the plan right now, anyway, since the zombies…"

He sighed.

"Since they,” he continued, “Seem to be heading east.”

Joe said nothing.    

"I do sort of wonder what they are," Andy went on.  "I mean, they can’t be really zombies, right?  Like, the living dead?  So what’s going on here?"

Joe said nothing.  Andy glanced over at him.  He was asleep.

"I guess it doesn’t matter," Andy sighed. 

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath - slowly in, then slowly out.

"Just gotta get out of here," he mumbled.  "That’s all that matters."

He slumped down in his chair, breathing softly.  He didn’t notice the sound of Rita shutting and locking the front door.

Rita stepped through the living room doorway and frowned at the sight of her two allies sprawled over the furniture.  Irritated, she tromped over to the window and peered out through the boards.

It was Andy’s turn to keep watch while the scout was out.  She thought about waking him up, but didn’t move away from the window.

She squinted at the gun lying in the middle of the street, the sunlight glinting off its silvery metal surface.  Across from it, just to the right of the window, the body of the zombie was smoldering, leaving black stains on the dirt.  Flies were already swarming it, hanging in a cloud over the body.  It stank.  Rita cringed and looked away.

She couldn’t see much of the rest of the street through the boards, but she leaned to the right and peered through anyway.  She didn’t see anyone wandering around outside.

She wondered how Tammy was doing.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it.  Tammy hadn’t texted or tried to call, so that was a good sign.

Suddenly, Rita realized that she could hear a sound in the distance.

huuuuuuuuuuh

Panicked, Rita leaned down and tried to look down the street.  She didn’t see anything, but the droning was very distant.

"Oh, God," she whispered.

She glanced down at her phone again.  Still nothing.

Rita quickly considered going out to find Tammy and make sure she was alright, but didn’t move from in front of the window.

The droning was slowly and steadily getting louder.

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

Frozen with fear, Rita stared through the boards.  Her eyes defocused as the droning got louder, second by second, penetrating the house’s walls and blaring into her ears.  She collapsed to the floor and gripped her head, shoving her thumbs into her ears, trying to block out the all-consuming sound.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

Andy and Joe slowly began to open their eyes.

"Rita?" Joe asked, his voice trembling.  Rita didn’t acknowledge him.

Andy turned to Rita, a look of horror on his face, before looking up at the window.

Even with the boards blocking most of the view, he could see that there were dozens of them outside.

"How many of them are?" Joe asked frightfully.

His question was drowned out by the overpowering drone.  No one answered him.

"How many are there?!" Joe screamed.

"A-a couple dozen, at least," Andy gasped.  "How did they find us?"

"Maybe they found Tammy," Rita said, looking up at him in horror.  "They could have followed her scent back here."

Andy glanced at Joe worriedly, then back at Rita.

"We need to get out of here," he said.  "We’re finding Tammy and getting out of here now."

"What?" Rita responded.

"How are we going to get past all of them?" Joe asked.

Andy looked back at the window.  A few of the things outside were getting closer.

"Grab anything you can that we might fight them off with," he said.  "Then we all make a break for it and head left.  We find Tammy, we find a working car, and we get out of here."

Shakily, Rita stood up and stumbled out of the living room.  Joe quickly got up off the couch and followed her.

Andy stayed, staring at the window. 

They were beginning to knock on the boards.  The sounds of their limp hands smacking against the door were muffled by their droning.  It was the loudest sound Andy had ever heard.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

Slowly, his eyes locked on the window, he backed up to the closet in the back of the room and opened the door.  He fumbled around inside, his eyes locked on the window.  Some of the things outside were beginning to stick their fingers through the boards.

Gathering up his courage, he turned around and picked up the backpack before dashing towards the window and into the kitchen.  He gritted his teeth as the drone got louder.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

Andy rushed to the refrigerator.  Joe was in the kitchen as well, frantically rummaging through the drawers and cabinets.  Several knives lay in a pile on the countertop.  The tops of heads covered in matted, fly-infested hair were visible through the kitchen window, bobbing and moving slowly back and forth.

Andy opened the refrigerator and began throwing the few remaining things inside it into his backpack.  He tossed in the remnants of a loaf of bread, half a package of cheese, and several bottles of water, pausing only to take a short swig from one of them before tossing it in with the rest.

Rita stumbled in from the bedroom in the back, carrying a pair of scissors.

"This is all I could find," she said guiltily.

"It’ll have to do," Andy said quickly, running back into the living room.  He grabbed the bag of pretzels from under the couch and ran back out.

"Everybody take a couple knives," said Joe grimly, picking up a carving knife.  Rita hesitantly took a steak knife.  Andy grabbed a large mincing knife before carefully scooping the rest into the backpack, zipped it up, and hoisted it onto himself.

"Should I go first?" he asked.

"I will."  Joe pushed him aside.

Andy looked at him with confusion.  “Are you sure?  I could-“

"There’s no time for this s**t, Andy!" Joe shouted as he unlocked the front door.  "Let’s go!"

Joe swung open the door.  It hit a zombie standing on the front step, knocking it off balance.

"Gah!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, f**k!" Andy swore.

"Come on, let’s go!" Joe shouted, bolting out the door.  Andy followed close behind.  By the time Rita got out the door, the zombie had righted itself and lunged for her.  She screamed, lodged her scissors into its throat, and ran after the others.

There were about thirty zombies lurching around in a loosely scattered crowd in front of the house.  Fortunately, they didn’t move or react very fast, so even Andy, burdened by his heavy backpack, was able to outrun and outmaneuver them.  The worst part was their droning, louder than any of them had ever heard before.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

Joe growled and contorted his arms around his head as he ran, trying to cover his ears without dropping his knife.  He felt arms moving close to him, and occasionally felt untrimmed fingernails scraping his sides.  He screamed, louder and longer than he ever had before, trying to drown out the horrible alien drone that surrounded him.

Soon enough, he stopped feeling the zombies beside him.  He stopped screaming.

He felt his legs throbbing as they escaped the crowd.  He looked back.  Rita was a few steps behind them, while Andy was trailing them, but at a safe distance from the crowd.

He skidded to a halt and groaned, doubling over with his hands on his knees.  Rita stopped just behind him.  Soon after, Andy walked into view.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Joe wheezed.  "Yeah."  He felt a rawness in his throat.

Now that the zombies were far behind them, and the drone was quieted by the distance, there was a moment of relative silence, interrupted only by Joe’s heavy breathing.

Rita raised her hand.  “I-  I need another knife”, she whispered.

Andy sighed and took the backpack off.  As he struggled to get it unzipped, Joe stood up straight and looked ahead.

The town center was ahead of them.  A loose cluster of glass-and-concrete two-story buildings gleaming in the desert sun.  When Joe squinted, he could see a few shambling shapes wandering in their direction.

"We need to keep moving," he said.  "There’s more coming our way."

"Okay, okay," Andy said, carefully pulling a steak knife out of the backpack.

They heard a distant scream from in the town center.  All three of them snapped to face it.

"Oh my God," Andy whispered.  He quickly handed Rita the knife and zipped the backpack back up.

"Was that Tammy?" asked Rita, on the verge of tears.

Joe didn’t say anything.

"Let’s go," Andy said, putting his backpack back on and breaking into a run.  Joe and Rita followed him, easily keeping pace.

As they reached the center of town, Andy slowed his pace, and Joe and Rita did the same.  Although they did notice the zombies scattered throughout the streets, they walked faster than they did, and were relatively safe.

Andy glanced nervously at the zombies shuffling and jerking along the sidewalk nearby.  They stared back with their clouded-over eyes and droned as always.

huuuuuuuuuuh

He noticed that they all had the same pockmark-like holes on their bodies as the one who had attacked the house earlier.

"F**k off!" shouted Joe at the zombies, waving his knife in the air. 

They didn’t react.

"Get the hell out of here!" he shouted at them.

Their droning did not waver.

"I don’t think they understand you," Rita whispered.

"Well, no s**t, I was just hoping."

The three went silent, glancing around nervously as they trudged through the abandoned streets.  Rotting forms lurched out of doorways and next to abandoned cars around them as they went, the same constant hum emanating from their open throats.

"Are you guys keeping an eye out for Tammy?" Andy asked.

"Yeah," Rita said.

"Keep an eye out for a car we can take or something, too," Joe responded lowly.  "One with the keys in it."

"Yeah," Andy replied.

Rita gulped.  “I… I don’t know if we’ll be able to find one,” she said quietly.

Joe sighed.

"Well, we can’t give up," Andy said determinedly.  "Once we find Tammy, we’ll check the cars."

Rita sighed.  “Where is she?” she wondered, her voice cracking.

"We’ll find her," Andy mumbled, trying to sound reassuring.

Joe turned his head away to roll his eyes.  He made eye contact with one of the droning things.  He quickly turned back, deeply unsettled.

"Guys," Andy whispered in horror, as he pointed down a nearby street.

There was a body lying in the street to their left.

"Is that Tammy?" asked Joe.

"It must be," Andy responded quietly.  "It’s the first human that wasn’t moving I’ve seen in five days."

Andy glanced up at Rita.  She sobbed, then ran down the street towards Tammy’s prone body.

"Wait!" Andy cried, as he and Joe chased after her.

As they approached, they were horrified by what they saw.

Most of Tammy’s clothes had been torn away, looking like they had been chewed off.  She was covered in blood, and her arms and torso were marked with dozens of tiny holes.  Her eyes stared vacantly upwards.

"Oh my God," Rita choked.

Andy knelt down to take a closer look at the body.  He looked up at Joe in terror.  Joe grimaced, but said nothing.

"T-Tammy?" Andy asked quietly.  "Are you… are you okay?"

No answer.

He held his hand over her face.  He felt her breathing.

"She’s breathing," he said with a sigh of relief.

Rita exhaled.

"She needs help, though," Joe said gruffly.

Andy noticed a maggot crawling across Tammy’s collarbone.  He flicked it off in disgust.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"I don’t know!" Joe shouted, spreading his hands frantically.

"Guys, we need to hurry up," Rita said quietly, motioning towards the end of the street they had entered from.  A group of three zombies were moving towards them, their limbs jerking impossibly as they staggered slowly down the road.

"Oh God, oh God," Andy muttered.  "What do we do?”

"I told you I don’t know!"

Suddenly, Tammy’s head jerked upward.

"Huh?" she grunted in confusion.

"Oh God, Tammy!" Rita exclaimed.  She quickly bent down and helped her to her feet.

"It’s gonna be okay, Tammy," Rita said, relief in her voice.  "We’re gonna get you out of here, alright?"

"Huhhh," Tammy groaned.

"Oh God, are you alright?" Rita asked.  "Can you walk?  We’re gonna get you out of here."

"Uh, Rita, I-" Andy began to say, but he never got to finish.

Tammy’s jaw dropped.

huuuuuuuuuuh, she droned.

Joe and Andy pulled Rita away from Tammy.  Tammy faltered, but remained standing.  Her drone continued.

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

Her jaw went slack.

Joe and Andy brandished their knives, their arms quaking.

Out of Tammy’s mouth poured an immense cloud of flies.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH, they buzzed.

Tammy’s body slackened and fell to the ground instantly.

Down the street, the other zombies went limp and collapsed as vast swarms of flies poured out of their throats.

The drone got louder.

Joe, Andy and Rita trembled as the swarms barreled down on them.

The drone got louder.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH