I was a teenage Highland Zombie

By

Gregory Quirke

Chapter 1

Leah had never been to a proper Highland Ball before. She was amazed at the sheer scope of it all. The ball was being held in a big baronial castle in the Highlands of Scotland. Inverbervie Castle was above Oban and it was one of those places that had been knocked about by the English troops during the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

More of a big house than a fort, the castle was in a remarkable state of preservation. The great hall was particularly ornate, with great black and white tiles on the floor and ornate gold and crystal chandeliers above.

In between the two the dancers whirled about the floor, the women glamorous in their bright frocks. The men too were gaudy, for they were clad in shirts of different colours and most wore the kilt, symbol of Scotland along with the thistle.

In the tartan, reds greens and blues were the most obvious colours. The women were like bright butterflies but the men were just as bright in their national dress and they fascinated the young girl watching them. Leah was barely eighteen and she was the most beautiful girl in her high school. Still a sixth former, but in her final few months before going to university to study biology.

Added to the atmosphere of the Highland Dance was he live fiddle orchestra who played the Scottish music so well that Leah found herself tapping one elegantly shod foot to the lively tunes.

Tall and willowy, she stood beside one of the buffet tables at the side of the great hall. She was sipping a glass of champagne and wishing that some of her friends could have come to the dance. But that was wishful thinking, for they all lived in the Borders where she came from.

As she watched her mother and father dancing across the polished floor, Leah could not help feeling a pang of envy. At any school dance an admiring throng of young men would have surrounded her, most of whom she treated with amused indifference. Now she was like a wallflower. He younger brother, Robert, was her official escort, but he was off somewhere else prowling around – he was a bit of a lurker Robert was – he was probably off tormenting a cat thought Leah. He was a tormentor, always had been, and Leah, who was kind to everyone, including younger brothers who did not deserve it – felt annoyed by his absence.

She was a bout to give up on her hopes for a dance when a young man appeared at her side. He looked to be in his early twenties. He was dark-haired and had a lean, quite different look from a lot of the people she hung around with. He gave her a friendly but somehow vulpine smile that was offset by the fact that he wore a dress shirt and kilt like the rest of the men. If head had been dressed for the street she would have felt slightly threatened. Yet his eyes were friendly enough and she soon forgot some of her uneasiness.

“Hello, my name’s Cameron Litsky. I live not too far away, in Oban. It’s not that often you see a pretty girl in these parts. Let’s dance.”

Before she could protest at this brief introduction he was holding on to her and waltzing her across the floor. He was a good dance and held her firmly as they moved amongst the throng. She marvelled at the way he skillfully steered her around the various bodies. He was older than her by a few years, and masterful too. It was a combination she reacted to with favour, and as they left the floor Cameron told her he was having a drink – and she was too. He brought a soft drink back for himself and a glass of champagne for her.

“I’m driving,” he explained to her. Gingerly she sipped at the fizzy liquid. Unlike most of here compatriots she was not a drinker. Not because she was a goody two-shoes but she simply didn’t like the effect it had on her.

Cameron asked her a few questions about herself and where she came from. She was tall in her high heels, but he was taller and he stood half a head higher.

When her parents came over he instantly charmed them as he introduced himself.

“What a nice young man,” said her mother when she thought he could not hear her. Leah’s father was a big, bluff man who had made his money out of recycling paper. Now in late middle age he was easily tired. It had reached eleven and he and his wife were tired with dancing all night.

“Well Leah, Robert, its time to get you two back. “ Leah was horrified at the suggestion.

“Dad, I’m enjoying this, let me stay on.”

He father looked at her sharply but Cameron stepped forward.

“Let her stay Mr Wallace – Leah will be safe with me – the best of it is, I know exactly where you’re staying – the Kinross Inn – because I used to work there when I was putting myself through Uni.”

“You went to the University?”

“Och, for a few years, took ma law degree.”

That clinched it for Mr Wallace. As far as he was concerned lawyers were good news. They were sharp and made a lot of money.

“Okay young man, you may stay until the dance finishes. Just don’t get my daughter drunk.” He waggled a forefinger at Leah, “and you just behave yourself and keep yer mobile switched on.”

“Do you think this is wise?” asked her mother nervously. She was a good-looking woman and it was easy to see where her daughter’s good looks had come from. “I don’t know if we should let her do this.”

“Oh mother, don’t treat me like a child.”

Surprisingly it was her father who came to her defence.

“We’ve go to let the girl grow up. Besides, this young man will be giving a lift to his friends as well, won’t you?”

“Oh, aye,” said Cameron, “we came here thigaither, a whole bunch o’ us.” He pointed to a group in the corner of young men and women who were about the same age. He waved to one of the girls and she smiled and waved back.

“That’s fine,” said father, “I told you so.” Robert kicked up a fuss about having to leave the dance with his parents, but they took him away, the young man complaining bitterly about the injustice of it all.

Cameron was a delightful companion all night, behaving himself to the extent that he only took soft drinks.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends,” asked Leah. Cameron gave her that vulpine smile again. “They’re nothing to do with me at all – if you wave to a group someone’ll always wave back – it’s human nature. We’re alone here.”

For some reason Leah felt a shiver of fear, then he grabbed her and they were on the dance floor once more he was such a good dancer, she forgot all her worries and just enjoyed herself. At three in the morning the ball ended and people went out in their droves. It was the height of summer and the air outside was pleasantly warm. A cooling breeze only added to the atmosphere rather than taking away from it. As they walked down the floodlit car park Leah felt Cameron guide her to his Mazda by putting a hand on the small of her back and once more she felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the coolness of the air. She was certain now that he meant to ‘try it on’, as the boys at school were fond of saying.

The worst part of it all was underneath the horror at the thought of him doing this was a terrible fascination about the whole experience. To put it bluntly, Leah was a virgin. The word echoed around her mind. She had said to herself in many ways many times. Sometimes wistfully, sometimes with pride. The truth was that these days it seemed to be a mark of shame. Her friends at school of ten boasted of exploits that would put a rutting mountain goat to shame. However she suspected most of it was empty boasting because the young are prone to overreach themselves. But the fact was that she had never felt enough for any of the boys she had never felt enough for any of the boys she knew to go that far. It wasn’t as if she was ignorant of the mechanics of it all. Her parents – who did not believe ignorance was bliss – had made sure of that from an early.

His car was a low-slung model that have defined the word ‘sporty’ of his eyes on her long gorgeous legs as she slid onto the cushioned leather. He started the car up and backed out of the car park (just neatly missing a group of kilted men who were heading to their own vehicle.)

‘Just go for a little drive,’ said Cameron.

The moon was high in the sky and the breeze was slightly colder as the zipped down the long, winding road leading from the castle. Leah, who had been sleepy from the effects of too much alcohol and dancing, found her senses sharpening up as she took in her surroundings. The Highlands of Scotland are noted for their twisting roads. Cameron seemed to regard their snaky, twisting nature as a challenge to his driving prowess. For a time nothing was said as they drove at breakneck speeds down roads designed for nothing faster than ambling sheep and cows. Cameron did not speak at all because he was too busy trying not to crash. Leah remained silent mostly because she was holding her breath every time they turned a corner. At last they came to a road near a thick forest that at least had tarmac even though it was still narrow. The trees blocked out the moon and only the powerful headlights picked out the road ahead.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“Liven us up,” said Cameron. He put his full beams on as they swept around a steep bend. The light picked out a sharply canted sign. This time he slowed down and Leah was able to make out the word ‘Craigdree.’

“That’s where I come from,” he said. “A right tight wee community. Glad I managed to get out.”

They were long past the sign by then.

Leah had a vague impression of badly lit streets and old-fashioned cottages huddled together as if for protection. Then the village too was gone and they were in the countryside again.

The motor gave a sputter and the headlights dimmed. Cameron expertly steered the sporty car to the verge. Not because, it is feared because he wanted to keep the road clear, but to prevent harm to his precious coupe’ should further traffic come from behind.

He turned and gave Leah a crooked smile.

“Looks like we’re in a bit of trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll get her working. But in the meantime…” he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him. His face was near hers. She had been anticipating this moment since leaving the castle but was surprised at how she reacted, for when he kissed hard, she responded avidly, pushing her lips against his so hard she could feel his front teeth through the flesh. He was so taken aback that he pulled away from her. But only for a second or two then they were kissing more eagerly than before. Cameron was in his early twenties and it was obvious that he had a lot more experience than some of the boys she had dated. So caught up was she in the experience that she did not protest when he his right hand up her blouse and began to fondle her firm but plump breasts. As he pulled them free from the constraints of her lacy bra. She could feel her nipples stiffen in anticipation of his touch.

She was not to be disappointed, for his slightly roughened fingers sent shivers of fire shooting through her to the point where she was totally turned on. His fingers made tiny movements along with the kisses she gave him. They played like this for what seemed like seconds, but must have been longer. Then he brought his head down and pulled her breasts out of her blouses and kissed and suckled her nipples with such intensity that she never wanted him to stop. She protested feebly:

“Stop, this is wrong, someone might see,” but they both knew that their chances of encountering another human on this remote stretch of road in the middle of the Scottish highlands was remote to say the least.

Then there came a point where he made his first mistake. Bringing his right hand down as he kissed her, he slid his hands up her legs and round her lacy panties. For a second she responded involuntarily by opening her legs and he expertly hooked aside he fragile undergarments to explore her female sex.

She felt a shiver of pleasure go through her as he rubbed her there. But then she seemed to come to her senses. She had never been with a man before and certainly didn’t want it to be like this. If he had shelled out for a room things might have been different.

She pushed his hand away from her crotch and rearranged her breasts, bra and blouse. Cameron was breathing heavily as he sat beside her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t want to do this?”

“Come on babe.”

This was the wrong phrase to use with her. She was ash-blonde and pretty, leading people to assume she might be stupid, which she was not. Being called ‘babe’ was a sure way to trigger her resentment. She clamped her legs together and folded her arms across her chest.

“Take me home.”

“I can’t,” he said in a mortified voice, “it really has broken down.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want.” He snapped, then he put his arm around her again and spoke more gently. “Look Leah, I think you’re beautiful.”

That did it. She opened the fancy door, slid out and marched along the road. There was a clear sky above for it was a full moon, but the shadowing of the trees meant she walked in semi-darkness. Cameron got out of the car and followed.

“Leah, come back here, it isn’t safe. Not about here.”

She ignored him and kept on going. But he had the advantage of flat-heeled shoes and soon caught up with her.

“Come back to the MG, we’ll call for help,” he pleaded. Leah did not respond to this at all. She flipped open her mobile phone, which glowed a sympathetic blue in the darkness and rapidly typed in a series of digits – her parents phone number. As she did this, she noticed that the trees thinned out and she could see a faint yellow glow in the distance. That must mean buildings, people and civilisation. She headed for the light as her phone attempted to ring again – they were probably in bed. She set it on auto-ring, to try four or five times.

Cameron faded in beside her.

“Come on,” he said. She strode on, ignoring him. Then he stood in front of her and grabbed her by both wrists. Her mobile phone flew to the ground.

“Look what you made me do.”

“I don’t care, come back with me.”

“Let me go or I’ll knee you in the balls.”

Suddenly he pushed her to the ground, beside the forest pathway. He was still holding her wrists and though she could not free herself from him, the struggle seemed to excite the young man, for he used his bulk to pin her arms down while he forced her legs apart. She could feel his erection against one of her thighs as he ripped off her flimsy panties.

“I’m going to fuck you,” he said.

“Let me go, let’s go back to Craigdree,” pleaded Leah. “Please, we can get help there.”

But he was not to be distracted.

Leah did the only thing she could under the circumstances and brought her knee sharply into his groin, unexpectedly keeping her promise. He gave a groan of pain and lay curled up on the ground after rolling off her.

“Ow, you bitch,” he said, “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Leah did not wait for he was already stumbling to his feet and coming after her. She had never been more scared in her life. A few seconds later she came closer to the yellow light she had seen through the trees, and found a pair of old fashioned torches burning on either side of an ornately made pair of graveyard gates. Worst of all, these were ajar in the middle as if someone – or something had pushed them open. Usually she would have steered clear of such a place but this time she headed straight for them.

Strangely enough, Cameron altered his tone from threatening to something totally different.

“Leah, come back here. I didn’t mean it.”

Was it her imagination or was there a note of fear in his voice? She didn’t care. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins, firing up her body and she ignored the urgency in his tone.

Appearing through the gates she saw the figure of a man. Leah began to run towards him, but something about his appearance in the yellow flamelight made her stop in her tracks.

He was stumbling along and one of his eyes was fully out of the socket and down at his cheekbone. His flesh was rotting and peeling away from the bones of his face. As he walked a series of low growling noises came from his throat. Leah screamed as he came closer.

Cameron caught up with her and pulled her aside.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he yelled.

She was so frightened that she did not protest at his words, but turned to run back into the woods. As she ran she saw dimly that Cameron was wrestling upright with the man who had emerged from the gates.

But she had enough problems of her own to deal with as another creature rose up before her. It was a woman in decayed and ragged clothes. Her breasts were exposed through the ruined fabric and drooped down, just empty bags of skin really. Worst of all were her eyes, dark holes in her skull.

Leah let out a cry of disgust as the woman lurched towards her, and stumbled backwards.

The blind creature lurched past her holding out her spotted hands and making whining noises like a dog.

Leah stumbled back without looking and nearly collided with the man who was still fighting with Cameron.

Leah knew what she was looking at now. These people were dead. They were zombies and had come back to life to claim the living!

With a hand to her mouth she bent down and picked up a fallen branch. It was too thin for her purpose but she ran forward and thumped the dead man with it on the back of the head. The stick snapped in half.

“Help me!” yelled Cameron. “It’s too strong for me.”

She turned and ran for the trees. This time she found a young sapling and broke it with her bare hands.

The green bark was surprisingly hard to tear and her hands were sore by the time she freed her makeshift club. But when she came back to the clearing anther dead man had appeared. This one was more bizarre because his head had been cracked open and his rotting brains had boiled out, flowing over and down like a ridiculous cap, flopping as he walked.

This one grabbed Cameron by the arm. The first dead man took the other and as Cameron screamed for help a grotesque tug of war took place.

Then Cameron gave a high-pitched scream as one of the zombies ripped off his right arm. Blood gushed out of the exposed wound as his heart kept pumping it around his body. The zombie who had his other arm bent inwards and bit a large chunk of meat out of Cameron’s face and began to chew on it vigorously. The one who had his freed arm stripped off the cloth and began to chew on the fresh naked meat like a man with a cooked chicken leg.

Leah was frozen in horror as Cameron, now let go by both, staggered towards where she was hiding. The left side of his face was bared in a sick grin where the flesh had been torn away, showing teeth and bone on the left side of his head.

His screams had now taken on a high-pitched hysterical quality, which was hardly to be wondered at, and he was in such pain that he no longer really saw anything as he ran blindly forward, his eyes bulging whitely in their sockets.

But it seemed that the bloodletting had been some kind of signal, for a host of zombies streamed out of the graveyard gates. One taller and more commanding than the rest led them. He – for it was a huge man with slicked back black hair and a greenish pallor to his skin. Leah had been paralysed with fear, but now she shrank back into the undergrowth, wanting to run but gripped by a terrible fascination for what she was witnessing.

One of the zombies - a squat fat man with a hole in his belly – grabbed Cameron by his remaining arm and pulled him round so that the young man was the centre of a group of zombie taunters. They played him like a spinning top until he was so dizzy from vertigo and loss of blood that he stood still, swaying with exhaustion, head hanging down.

The zombie leader came into the circle of horror and lifted a hand, which was tipped by thick, sharp nails. He popped all the buttons on Cameron’s once fancy, now terribly stained dress shirt so the young man’s chest and belly were exposed. Leah knew what was about to happen and she knew as well that she should shriek out in protest. But the grotesqueness of the zombies put her off, made her fear for her own safety. Besides the blind female zombie who milled about with the rest – it was as if their restless flesh just couldn’t stay still – there was a man with a bald head from which the flesh had been stripped showing the skull cap beneath. Another man had a long tongue, which was a blackened strip of meat and hung, down the side of his slashlike mouth. There were others with defects too numerous for her to take in, because at that second the leader slashed downwards with his long ivory nails, opening up Cameron as neatly as surgeons knife from the bottom of his throat to the top of his groin. Cameron jerked up his head at this, the listlessness gone, then looked down at his body. There was a second’s pause before the new seam in his body parted. Then his glistening intestines spilled over his belt.

Cameron gave a bubbling scream and frantically tried to shovel up his steaming guts and pull them back into his body. It was to be his last scream for the eyeless woman stepped forward and jerked his mouth open with eager fingers, grasped at his frantically wagging tongue and pulled it clean out of his head. As she did he jerked spasmodically like a puppet, his steaming innards spilling to the ground. The eyeless woman, satisfied with her bloody trophy, began to gorge on the meaty tongue, light arterial blood bubbling down her lower face and on to her bare breasts. The spilling of his guts was, it seemed a signal for them to get to work, for a dozen or so in the zombie gathering closed in and began to pull his intestines hand over hand in big long strings. The meat was ripped apart – a sharp stench filled the air as his bowels ruptured open. Incredibly Cameron was still alive at this point. He fell to his knees and tried to crawl, supported by only one arm. But the leader raised a leather boot and flipped the young man over like a dying insect. The leader bent down and plunged his horny fingers into the chest cavity and stood up in triumph holding his trophy – Cameron’s still beating heart. The arteries were still pumping blood. Leah, still in the bushes, could not help herself. She vomited richly on the ground. Bringing up all the food she ingested at the earlier banquet. The leader, evidently hear her, for he flung the steaming heart to those of his bloody followers who were not already intent on the fresh corpse. They fell on the heart and began to devour it with every evidence of enjoyment.

The leader stalked into the surrounding forest intent on discovery, his lean head cocked to one side.

Leah had been kneeling in the gap where she had been retching and she could smell the tang of the alcohol-enriched food she had eaten that night. With a frantic effort she got to her feet and pushed herself against a tree she had retreated even more into the forest to vomit. In the distance she could faintly see that zombies gathered around the corpse, pulling at it like a group of vultures. Others were stumbling about in zombie ecstasy munching down on the salty bits of gut. Leah was not concerned about that for now. She could see the dark form coming ever nearer. The head was up and he was sniffing the air like a dog. He was scenting her. Leah did the only thing she could and ran from him. At the pace these zombies walked surely she could outdistance them all. Cameron had been unlucky, that was all. Her mind was busy pushing away what had happened to Cameron because if she dwelt on his fate she would do nothing. The thought made her feel ill enough. She turned and ran off into the woods and a pine branch whipped across her face! As anyone knows, pine needles are particularly sharp and tend to bite into the skin. She was lucky in this case that none of the needles had penetrated her eyeballs and that was only because her eyes had been tightly screwed shut in an instant reaction to a foreign body. Her cheeks, forehead and chin were all prickling where they had been stung by the pine needles. Worse still, she could hear him crashing through the undergrowth at her. She had no time to dwell on the pain but jerked back from the tree, ducked under the branch that had caused her so much pain and ran away from the heavy tread behind her. As she ran, she found the woods thinning to either side and then she was on the path that led out to the main road. For some reason she knew that she would be safe once she got there because she sensed that these creatures could only exist in their own dead zone. So intent was she on this thought that when her eyes alighted on something at the side of the path she did not take it in. So much had happened in such a short time that the familiar had begun to seem strange. Then her mind cleared and she realised it was her mobile phone. This was another key to rescue. Once out on the main road she would be able to use it to get help. She bent down and scooped up the phone. She could still hear the footsteps behind her drawing closer all the time. Her haste made her he careless, for the phone flew out of her grasp. Sobbing loudly (yet not consciously aware that she was doing so) Leah stooped again and searched for the phone in the long grass at the side of the pathway. It was her biggest mistake. The phone had somehow become a symbol of her success or failure. She just HAD to have it. This was a split-second decision that was to cost her dear. Even as her triumphant fingers closed on the phone she could sense the dark figure looming above her.

It was the creature she already thought of as ‘The Laird,’ a name that came to her through some kind of terrifying telepathy. Although she couldn’t have said why, ‘Laird’ was a good Scots word meaning ‘Lord’ and that’s exactly what he looked like – the Lord of all that he surveyed.

In terror she lost her balance and fell backwards, sprawling in the long grass where she had lost her telephone. She had no panties on to protect herself from his gaze. She could feel the coolness of the grass against her bare buttocks. Zombie or not, the Laird was s till a man. He dropped to his knees and pinned her to the ground. Leah attempted to get away, but it was too late. He held her down with superhuman strength. If Cameron had been able to hold here there, The Laird was at least ten times stronger. She could have tried the same trick as with Cameron, but she had a feeling it would be wise not to make the attempt. The feeling was reinforced when he clutched at her throat and she could tell that one crush of his powerful fingers would be enough to expel the life from her body. Perhaps she SHOULD struggle because then it would be all over with and she would not have to share the terrible fate of her former companion. She began to move and the strong fingers tightened even more on her throat so tight were they that she saw black spots before her eyes and began to pass out. Maybe that was the best way, to be dead when they carried out their grim task, but the pressure on her throat eased again and she was able to take deep, gasping breaths.

With a rip of his nails he pulled open her blouse, exposing her bra to view then he snapped the seam holding the cups of her bra together, exposing her naked breasts to the night air.

She heaved upwards again in a vain attempt to throw him off but he splayed her legs apart even further and entered her.

The fact was that as a Zombie he shouldn’t have been able to do what he did. The agony was excruciating and for a moment she felt as if he had stuck a knife into her, so great was the pain. Then he began thrusting his iron hard cock back and forth, his hard member as cold and firm as the iron bar it resembled. His solid hands were grasping her hips as he continued to thrust and she could feel the organ each time until the pain made her numb. She could see his dark face only inches from hers as he carried out his dark deed. His eyes were hooded and the bore no expression at all. His mouth panted open and she saw his tongue wiggle like a dark snaked in the black cavity of his mouth. Then the iron grip slackened and she felt a powerful spurt inside and his seed flooded her body. It was not just cold, but icy cold as if she had been injected with a spray of ice cold water. In less than a second she felt the coldness fill her from the top of her head to the smallest toe in her feet. She felt infected by what had been done to her.

The Laird pulled from her as he came and she blacked out as he did so. When she regained what was left of her senses she found that he was still hanging over her but now fully clothed again.

His shambolic followers where rapidly coming down the path to get her. It was her time to die.

In a way she was grateful, for she saw that one of them carried Cameron’s head, blood still dripping from the severed neck.

A noise from the main road came faintly to her. The noise of human footsteps crashing through the undergrowth alerted the zombie leader. He turned and spread his arms to his grisly followers and they all melted into the undergrowth, throwing down whatever grisly remains they were carrying. The Laird was the last to depart. Before going, he turned and gazed at the girl, who had brought herself up to her elbows.

He could have killed her with a slash of his nails, and it was obvious the though had crossed his demonic mind, for he took a few steps forward.

Then dark figures appeared from the direction of the road, flashlights bobbing as they ran, and he was gone. His departure was ghostlike – one minute he was there and the next he had vanished completely.

The girl lay there as the police arrived. A big sergeant focused his torch on her as she lay there, a bloody mass between her legs. But she did not cry out in fright. She just looked over to where the severed head of her former companion sat on and old tree stump, they eyes rolled back into the skull.

Then, most terrible of all, she looked up at the big policeman and smiled.