“Dead Man’s Shoes”

Trudi, Triple B or TB to her friends pulled the laces on her new eighteen hole Doc Martins tight. Well, OK they weren’t exactly new, she had picked them up at ‘Steve’s Seconds’ stall in Camden Market yesterday for a quarter of what a new pair would cost as an early twenty-fifth birthday present. They were in great shape and whoever had them before had really kept them polished. They went great with her new leather jeans and corset, although a few nights in the pit would take that shine right off though so she’d have to be careful.

At five feet ten inches and almost two hundred pounds she more than earned the first “B” in her nickname. She didn’t work out in the traditional sense but her work as a delivery driver kept her in good shape and she was also blessed with two assets that most men couldn’t keep their eyes from. Her platinum hair supplied the second “B” and her last three boyfriends had given her the third as she kicked their asses out the door for cheating on her.

She admired her reflection in the ancient full-length mirror that took up the corner of her tiny bedroom. Her mass of curly hair was tied back with a black silk strand. Ice blue eyes stared back at her made stark by kohl applied with a technique somewhere between a pharaoh’s daughter and a baseball player. A full mouth smiled, lips coated in black gloss. All of this stark makeup made her already milky skin look even paler. To complete the ensemble she pulled on a sleeveless black leather duster that came down to mid-thigh. The jacket’s weight was enhanced by the twelve-inch Bowie with spiked hand guard that her last boyfriend, Larry, had given her. He had even sewn the sheath into the duster’s lining along it’s left side to allow for a good cross handed quick draw.

The door from her bedroom lead into the man room of the three bedroom flat. It served as living room, kitchen and, dining room. One of her five flat mates, Kali, was lying on the couch smoking and waiting for TB. The lithe, petite Pakistani girl blurred into motion and planted a huge kiss on her more massive friend. “You look delightfully dreadful dearie.” She giggled at her alliteration.

The kiss was purely platonic, though they had shared a bed a few times. It just hadn’t worked out for them and they were better as friends than lovers. Kali wore a leather harness with countless layers of black silky scarves attached to it. Each piece would gradually be discarded throughout the night as she found someone to give it to. Her plain face was made exotic by henna swirls applied by Katrina one of the other girls in their little circle. The patterns covered every square inch of her body, no doubt.

“Thanks, sweet." TB tugged her jacket snug and smiled. "Ready to hit the party?”

“ Please, yes. I am about to die from boredom.” The two ladies headed out into the crisp autumn air.

This particular south London neighborhood was an unsavory one but TB had convinced most of the dangerous ones to leave her mates alone. They still stepped quickly to the old motorbike that was Trudi’s main form of transport. Ben, her boyfriend before Larry had helped her rebuild the old WWII bike from the ground up. It looked old but it had plenty of power. Kali crawled into the sidecar kicking TB’s emergency breakdown kit into the foot-well. The bigger woman kicked the bike to life and they roared down the unlit street.

The smog-like cloak fell away behind them as they headed into the heart of the Essex countryside. Kent, a bartender friend of theirs, had found an old barn that he rented for a few quid and there was going to be a bonfire and plenty of music and liquor. It was about a half hour outside of town so both girls settled in for the ride.

Once on the country roads she slowed down and took the flask that Kali offered. The wind had cut through even her leathers and she needed some warmth. Just as they crested the top of a hill she saw a car in the ditch. Its nose was pointing down and she could just see the light from its headlamps diffused by the murky standing water. The bike came to a stop and she dismounted.

“Wait here love. I’m gonna see if they need a hand.”

“Why don’t we just keep going? I don’t see anyone. Let someone else stop.”

“Don’t fret. Shouldn’t be too long and if nobody’s here we’ll keep going.” Kali handed her the small but powerful torch out of the breakdown kit. It flared brightly and lit the way to the side of the car.

Once closer she could see that it was a blue roadster, brand new. The engine was still running but there was no one inside. She was able to rest one hand on the roof and open the door. A few seconds later and the engine cut out and TB pocketed the keys. In the increased silence, a noise caught her ear. It sounded like sobbing. She couldn’t be certain because the growling of her bike interfered. The sobbing sounded like it was coming from some trees just beyond the far ditch bank.

The short hairs on the back of her neck began to stand, but she had to find out what was going on. A few steps carried her back to the motorcycle. “I’m gonna go check this out. I think I heard someone crying over by those trees. They could be badly hurt. Do you wanna run to the party and get somebody with a van to come back here in case someone is hurt?”

“Hell no. I am not leaving you alone. I wish you would just ride to the party and come back with more people. I am scared.”

“Don’t worry Kali. I’ll be OK.” A peck on Kali’s cheek and she ran and jumped the ditch. Farther from the noise of her bike she could here it was indeed someone crying. It was a weary sound, like a child would make at the long end of a jag.

With the torch in her left hand and the pistol in her right she kept going. The cries seemed to be coming from a break in the trees. The grass there had been mashed flat as though something heavy had been dragged through it. When TB got to the clearing beyond the trees the sight revealed by her torch almost made her retch. A figure in soiled rags hunched over a very dead man and was making a meal of his lower intestine. Just beyond this creature was a young lady in a black skirt that had been raked up above her waist and a silk blouse ruined by mud and ripped by rocks as she had been dragged by her feet.

The creature looked up as light broke the trees and snarled at her. It was vaguely humanoid but what really caught her eye was its teeth. They looked as if they had been filed to points and they where reddish-black. Slowly the thing rose from its squatting position and began to move in. Yellow eyes gleamed back at her catching the bright light. Shorter then she was by at least a head and more wiry, it didn’t look much like a threat but she found herself unable to move from sheer terror. It seemed to rely on this reaction because it never moved quickly.

It reached the halfway point when TB came to her senses. Whatever this thing was she had fended of bigger and uglier men. The knife practically flew from it’s sheath, a move that Larry had made her practice ad nauseum because he thought it was “dead cool”. She had humored him at the time because he may have been a manipulative wanker but he was amazing in bed. The steel gleamed in the harvest moon’s light.

Her opponent seemed unfazed by this presentation and continued its slow approach. She circled around heading towards the lady, keeping the beast in front of her. Halfway to her target she realized that she ad been muttering an almost constant stream of obscenities the whole time. Finally she put herself between the two. “Alright missy I want you to run through that line of trees that I came through and wait by my bike. I’m gonna feed this thing some steel.” The last sounded like a line from a bad movie but it popped out unhindered. As she said it the thing leapt snarling with its long bony fingers out stretched.

TB ducked under its assault and stepped forward and at an angle away from it, sweeping the blade in an arc. It landed and the spiked hand guard caught it in the small of its back. The blow lacked power but the spikes ripped pale grey skin and drew perfectly red blood. The pain made it snarl and it whipped around as did TB and they faced off again this time just outside of arm’s reach.

She decided to use her superior size and try to bulldoze the thing into the ground. It proved faster than she had guessed and folded up and rolled to the side. As she passed the crouching horror it caught her foot and tripped her. Tucking into a roll prevented her from hurting anything as she fell, but she landed flat on her back and lost her knife in the process.

Not a second later and the thing had jumped on her chest and tried to seek her throat with its sharpened teeth. Hot, fetid breath filled her nostrils and she heaved the thing off screaming in fear and anger. It was shocked at something fighting back with this much vigor and landed on its back a few feet away. She came up to her feet and hurried to the spot where it lay. In the struggle her hair had come loose and framed her face. Anyone who saw her like this eyes blazing, makeup running down her pale face as she shrieked at the top of her lungs might have a vision of where the banshee legend came from. Her right foot came back and she drove the toe of her spit-shined boot into its rib cage. A rotten cracking sound and a wet snarl gave her an idea of the success of her effort.

Pain didn’t seem to slow this thing down to much as it struggled to its feet and began to stalk her again, but this time it kept the distance a bit more respectfully. TB glanced at where she thought the girl was and saw her still lying there motionless. The creature took this opportunity to leap on her again. Claws raked at her eyes and she felt a warm stickiness flow from a cut in her scalp. Fingers caught in her hair and ripped it free from her scalp.

She screeched at it again and slammed both fists into its gut. Foul air and spit blew from its mouth, the wetness splattering on her cleavage. The twin blows knocked it back a step and she through another kick, this one aiming for its crotch. Man or not she was determined to put it down for the count. Something squished and gave under the hard leather assault and the thing screamed, doubling over. TB brought both hands down in a double fisted club on the back of its neck. It fell and lay on the ground writhing in pain.

TB ran for the girl, scooping up her blade on the way. When she got there, she could see that the young lady was still breathing fast and shallow. She scooped her up and put her over one broad shoulder. An odd shuffling gate behind her let her know that it had gotten up and was coming her way.

Kali’s voice cut through the night. “Watch out TB!” The blond giantess spun around only to see that the thing had changed tactics and was heading towards her flat-mate. The weight of this girl seemed nothing and she broke into a trot after it closing easily. Blood had flowed into her left eye and her torch was long gone but the moon had come out from behind a cloud and she could see the hideous thing with little difficulty. Once within striking distance she through her foot out and caused him to stumble and fall. Determined not to let it get to her friend she jumped and landed with both knees in the small of its back. Bones cracked and gave way under her weight and a thick groan came from it. She brought her blade down again and again into the base of its neck and after a moment of that began smashing its skull with the knuckle spikes. She didn’t stop until the crunching had taken on more of a squishing sound. Blood and brains coated her fight hand and its metal extension. Weary from the exertion she stumbled to her feet and saw the look of horror on Kali’s face.

“What the hell was that thing?” She said. Her voice shook and tears flowed down her cheeks.

TB’s own voice was unstable as she replied. “Hell if I know but I hope it’s dead. It was eating…” before she could finish the sentence her last meal made a messy exit from her mouth caused by adrenaline, revulsion, and the charnel smell that clung to her. Once it was finished she shook violently and was calm once more. “Let’s get to the bike and civilization.”

Kali helped her big friend limp back to the ditch as the adrenaline wore off. Her burden seemed to gain weight with each step. They found a place to cross the ditch a little further up and made it to the bike finally needing to carry the limp girl between the two of them. They secured her in the sidecar and Kali rode behind TB. The three women rode slowly into the night and away from the horror behind them.

In the moonlit clearing the body of the young man began to stir. After a few minutes it managed to get up under it’s own power, even though it had to hold its guts in with one hand. It’s free hand found the black silk rope and the zombie sniffed at it. Satisfied, it tucked the strand in a pocket. Feasting on the remains of the other zombie it felt its flesh begin to knit back together. The meal’s last memory was of the blond woman and the pain it had brought. The rode was long but the creature knew by the sent of exhaust which way she had gone and it began its slow steady walk to find her.