Darlings of Decay

by Chrissy Peebles

  “Sara, do you know where the towels are?” I asked, standing up.

  She nodded. “Your mom showed me earlier.”

  Megan was pretty excited to be taking a bath at “Daycare” and I could hear her chatting about it all the way up the stairs.

  “I feel like watching a movie. Do you want to watch Peter Pan with me?” I asked, settling myself next to Bobby on the couch.

  “That’s my favorite movie!” he announced.

  “Hey, I thought you said your favorite movie was Beauty and the Beast?”

  “That’s my favorite, too,” he replied.

  I smiled at him and ruffled his soft brown hair.

  “Where’s Bryce?” he asked.

  I looked at my watch, it was almost eight o’clock. “I think he’s still working. He’ll be coming soon to take you home, don’t worry.”

  Bobby’s face turned grim and he looked at his hands. “I don’t want to leave. I wish Bryce and I could stay here forever.”

  “Oh, really? Don’t you want to go home and see your mom? You must miss her. I’m sure she misses you.”

  He smiled sadly. “No. She only likes her juice.”

  “Her…juice?” I asked, puzzled.

  Bobby nodded. “Yes. Her brown juice. It smells yucky,” he said pinching his nose. ”I don’t like it when she drinks it. She says mean things.”

  I placed his hand in mine and took a deep breath. “Has she ever hurt you when she’s been drinking her juice?”

  He shook his head firmly. “No, not anymore. Bryce made her stop. He loves me the most.”

  I reached over and gave him a hug. When I finally let go, he gave me a lopsided grin. “You’re nice. I wish you were my mom.”

  “I’m a little young to be your mom, but, you want to know a secret?”

  He nodded.

  I whispered into his ear. “If you were my son, I’d love you the most.”

  His face broke out in a huge grin and my heart ached at the thought of anyone being intentionally cruel to such a sweet kid.

  I stood up to put the movie in the DVD player. “Bobby, do you want some popcorn?” I asked.

  “Popcorn is my favorite!” he shouted.

  ~~~

  Bobby fell asleep during the movie, sometime after nine o’clock. I covered him up with a warm fleece blanket and went upstairs to find that I was the only one still awake. I also was having a hard time trying to keep my eyes open.

  I yawned and shuffled into the kitchen for a drink of water. As I raised the glass to my lips, something in the window caught my eye. I leaned forward for a better glimpse and saw sporadic flashes lighting up the night. Puzzled, I flipped off the kitchen light and rushed over to the dining room balcony to step outside. Just as I slid the door open, I heard gunfire. Terrified, I slumped down on the ground.

  “You hear that too?” whispered Sara next to my ear.

  “Jesus,” I gasped. “Don’t ever sneak up on me again!”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was in the bedroom when I heard the shots.”

  “I’m calling nine-one-one,” I stated, pulling out my phone. I quickly dialed and was put on hold for few minutes before the line went dead.

  “Let me try,” said Sara, pulling out her phone. After a few seconds, she hung up. “This is crazy. The line is temporarily out of service. It’s nine-one-one! How does that even happen?”

  There was more gunfire, this time followed by loud screams.

  “Oh, my God!” gasped Sara, frantically closing and locking the door.

  “Did…did someone just get shot?” I asked her in horror.

  She touched my shoulder and nodded. “I think so. Your dad, he has guns, right?”

  “Yes,” I said, trembling. “Yes, in the gun safe.”

  “Show me,” she said.

  We hurried downstairs to the cellar and I opened my dad’s gun safe.

  “Wow, he doesn’t mess around, does he? There’s got to be over twenty guns in here.” She pulled out a Smith and Wesson ten millimeter gun and nodded with approval. “This will do.”

  “You know how to fire a gun?” I asked as she loaded it.

  “Sure, I own a couple guns myself. I’m in the Reserves; you didn’t know?”

  I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. Nobody ever told me.”

  “Now you do. Your mom’s mentioned that you can shoot. Maybe you should be armed, too, just in case. Pick one out and follow me.”

  I grabbed my dad’s ten millimeter Colt Delta and some ammunition.

  “What’s going on?” asked my mom in a strangled voice. She stood on the stairs with terror in her eyes.

  “Mom, we heard some gunfire and screaming outside.”

  “What?” she cried and raced up the stairs.

  I scrambled up the steps after her and crouched next to her by the family room window. She slid her hand between the blinds and tugged the window open.

  “It looks pretty deserted out there,” I whispered. “I wonder what happened to all of those soldiers who were supposed to be helping us?”

  She held up her hand to silence me. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.

  My heart stopped as I heard the faint sound of a man moaning for help.

  Chapter Ten

  The front door slammed shut and we both jumped.

  “Sara,” I pointed out the window as our pregnant houseguest bolted away from the safety of the house, her white maternity shirt a beacon in the darkness.

  “What is she thinking? It’s not safe!” protested my mother.

  I felt a sudden surge of fear and adrenaline. I stood up and raced after Sara, determined to keep Megan’s mom and her unborn child safe.

  “Cassie!” my mother shrieked. She bolted down the stairs after me and grabbed my arm before I could make it out the door. “Where in the hell do you think you’re going?!”

  I tried pulling away. “Mom, Sara may need help! You have to let me go.”

  She shook her head vehemently. “I don’t think so! Give the gun to me, I’ll go after her.”

  “You don’t know how to use this thing. You won’t be able to help her!” I hollered.

  Her hazel eyes hardened. “Bull crap. You give it to me, young lady. Now!”

  Frustrated, but unable to defy my mother, I reluctantly handed her the gun.

  “Okay, now stay away from the door and windows. I don’t want you to get shot if there are stray bullets.”

  I groaned. “Mom…”

  “I’m serious,” she said, shaking her index finger at me before she raced out the door.

  This is nuts, I thought. I felt like pulling my hair out. I was not only terrified for my mom, but also for the kids sound asleep in the house; which, reminded me.

  I ran back upstairs to the guestroom, where Megan was still sleeping peacefully. I checked the window to make sure it was secure, then hesitantly snuck back out.

  Next, I scurried back downstairs to find Bobby still sleeping on the couch. He looked so peaceful. I sighed at his innocence and then thought of his brother, who should have arrived by now. I pulled out my phone and tried calling Bryce but he didn’t answer. Neither did he respond to a text.

  Bryce, where are you? I wondered, trying to stay calm. And where in the heck was my dad?

  I went back down to the cellar and grabbed my dad’s new Beretta, which he’d been so proud of. It was a nine millimeter and held seventeen rounds. Perfect.

  “Cassie!” hollered my mom from the upstairs landing. “Grab the first-aid kit, quickly!”

  I sighed with relief, then grabbed the kit from the laundry room and rushed back up the stairs. I skidded to a halt at the hellish nightmare before me; Sara sat on the steps trying to use her phone, tears streaming down her cheeks, while my mother knelt on the floor, pressing a bloodied towel over a young soldier’s shoulder. His face was pale and he was choking on some of his own blood.

  “Just breathe slowly,” murmured my mother.

  The soldier looked up at me and I recognize
d him, it was Austin. He tried to say something, but his face contorted in agony and he clamped his eyes shut.

  “What…what happened to him?” I whispered in horror.

  She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. He was like this when we found him. Hand me the first-aid kit.”

  “Where is everyone?!” sobbed Sara, throwing her phone down. “Nobody is answering the damn phones, all of those soldiers from earlier…just disappeared?!”

  “Okay, calm down, Sara. Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this, somehow,” said my mom as she opened a bottle of iodine. She poured some on her hands.

  “What’s that for?” I asked.

  “It kills bacteria,” she replied. She then put on some plastic gloves.

  When my mom lifted up the towel from the soldier, I almost threw up. His flesh was mangled with blood oozing out of the wound.

  “Oh, God,” Sara whispered covering her mouth. The next thing I know she was running up the stairs gagging.

  Mom examined the wound and shook her head. “This isn’t working. It’s too deep. We have to get him to the hospital. He’ll never survive if we don’t do it right now.” She poured some iodine on the wound and the solider moaned.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  “I’ll go,” I stated. “I’ll take him to the hospital.”

  “No, I’ve already decided. I’m doing it,” argued my mother.

  “Well, then I’m coming with,” I said defiantly.

  “No. I’m going by myself, and that’s final. You stay here with Sara and the kids. Lock the doors, keep the guns loaded, and watch for your father or Bryce.”

  It was pointless to argue with her. I sighed. “Okay, fine, I’ll help you get him into the SUV.”

  My mom had somehow managed to stop most of the bleeding with gauze and bandages. The weakened soldier had passed out while she was tending to his wound, which made it much more difficult for us to carry him through the garage and into the backseat of the SUV.

  “Now,” my mom said, breathing heavily after getting him secured. “I’m going to find help for all of us. If you’re dad comes back, have him call me immediately.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  She stared at me with a terrified look in her eyes and then pulled me into her arms. “You be careful, Cassie. I don’t understand what’s going on. Just stay inside and be...strong.”

  I swallowed back my tears and nodded.

  Mom pulled away and brushed a strand of hair from my cheek. “And…check on Allie again. Make sure your little sister’s safe, too.”

  “I promise. I’ll do it right away.”

  She grabbed one of the guns and shoved it into her purse. Taking a deep breath she said, “Okay, I’ll be back.”

  I tried to remain calm as I watched my mom open the garage and leave in the SUV, but I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on outside or in town, whether it was random violence, terrorism, or something even worse. I felt like I was in a nightmare. I closed the garage door.

  “Um, Cassie?”

  “What?” I asked, turning around. I felt like throwing up.

  Sara held up my mother’s cell phone, her face pale. “Isn’t this your mom’s?”

  Chapter Eleven

  I called my sister’s cell phone, but she wasn’t answering. It was after eleven and I figured she might have fallen asleep, but I didn’t want to take any chances so I called Paige, too. When she didn’t respond, my stomach contracted like a tight fist.

  Sara squeezed my shoulder; she knew I was on the verge of losing it. “They might all be asleep by now.”

  “I hope so,” I replied in a strained voice.

  “Or it might be possible that they don’t have their cell phones nearby. Does Paige’s mom have a landline?”

  I wasn’t sure. I ran downstairs to find the phonebook, as I began flipping through the pages, the power went out in the house.

  Crap!

  “Cassie!” called Sara from upstairs. “Do you have a flashlight?”

  I used the lights from my cell phone to find my way back up into the kitchen where I knew my mom kept a flashlight and candles.

  “Thank God my mom is a candle fanatic,” I said, placing lit candles of all shapes and sizes throughout the house.

  “Did you hear that?” Sara whispered.

  I froze. “What?”

  She grabbed her gun and hurried over to the balcony door. “I’m going to sneak on the deck, see if someone’s out there. I thought I heard voices.”

  I felt a prickling sensation go up my spine. “Be careful.” We didn’t have steps leading from the deck, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t somehow climb up from below. It was heavily wooded behind the house, a great place for someone to hide.

  She crawled out on her hands and knees and peered through the slats.

  “Do you hear or see anything?” I whispered loudly as she looked over the side of the wooden railing.

  She held up her hand to silence me.

  A loud scream ripped through the darkness, startling both of us. Sara gasped and scurried back inside. Her face was a mask of terror.

  “Who was that?!”

  “I don’t know,” she said in a strangled voice.

  “Did you see anything at all?”

  She shook her head. “It’s too dark out there.”

  There was another terrifying scream, this time much closer to the house. It sounded female.

  Sara took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m going to check it out. Stay here, I’ll be back.” Before I could respond, she rushed down the steps to the front door.

  I picked up the Beretta and hustled after her.

  “What are you doing? Stay here,” she demanded, slipping on her shoes.

  “No, I’m coming with you. You might need my help.”

  Sara sighed. “Fine, but you do exactly what I tell you to do and stay close.”

  I nodded and she opened the door. As we stepped outside, I could hear faint cries somewhere on the other side of the cul-de-sac, behind one of the houses. Strangely, Charlie wasn’t outside barking his head off.

  “This way,” said Sara as she rushed across the street, heading towards the Hendrickson’s dark rambler.

  I froze in my tracks; it was starting to feel a lot like déjà vu. My palms grew clammy as I tried to find the courage to keep moving.

  Sara turned around and waved her hand frantically. “Come on,” she whispered loudly.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and hurried across as she started moving again. She was really fast for being pregnant, which I contributed to her military training. I thought I was in fairly good shape but I struggled to keep up with her.

  We went around the Hendrickson’s fence to the next yard over and paused behind a small wooden shed.

  Sara’s eyes widened with alarm. “Over there,” she pointed through the darkness.

  I could barely make out the three figures, but it looked like a woman and two soldiers. The three were less than a hundred feet away. She was crying hysterically and appeared to be running from the men.

  I turned to Sara in shock. “This seem wrong to you? They’re supposed to be the good guys.”

  “Something’s definitely wrong,” muttered Sara, unconsciously rubbing a hand over swollen belly.

  We slipped through the trees towards the men, who were focused fully on the desperate woman. The soldiers were staggering, as if they were wounded and the distance began to widen between the woman and her pursuers. As we inched our way closer to the soldiers, I gawked in disbelief.

  “Oh, God,” I whispered.

  The two soldiers looked like something out of a horror movie. Their clothing was torn, they were filthy, bloody, and missing some very important body parts; one man an arm, the other a hand and part of his face. But they were still moving, and fairly quickly for being so injured.

  How? I wondered incredulously.

  The taller of the two must have somehow sensed something, because he stoppe
d and turned towards us. Then he opened what was left of his pitted face and made a screeching noise, one that chilled me to the bone.

  I swallowed. “Um…Sara?”

  The other one whipped its head around and growled.

  “Get your gun ready,” demanded Sara.

  Suddenly the two hideous men charged towards us and I gave a startled gasp.

  Sara raised her pistol. “Stop, right there!” she yelled. “Don’t come any closer!”

  They ignored her and kept stumbling towards us.

  “Cassie, shoot them if you have to,” she said.

  As they moved closer, I felt as if I was losing my mind. Blood dripped from open wounds on the soldier’s skin, their eyes were red and unfocused, and their mouths…they seemed to be almost salivating.

  Sara’s lips curled in disgust. “God, they stink.”

  The taller one lurched towards Sara and her gun went off. Blood and brain matter sprayed everywhere as he dropped to his knees, falling on what was left of his dreadful face.

  “Watch out, Cassie!” yelled Sara.

  The second man was almost upon me. I raised my trembling hand and fired, hitting him in the shoulder. He paused for only a second and then charged at me again. I fired a second bullet, this time taking out his ear.

  “Damn it!” I cried. I’d never had to shoot anything but inanimate objects before.

  Sara shot him in the leg. He grunted and then fell to the ground.

  “Stay back, Cassie,” she demanded, inching slowly towards him.

  His face was grayish in color and mottled with weird patches. Something green bubbled out of his nose and I had this sudden urge to find him a tissue.

  “What happened to him?” I asked, staring with fascinated horror.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  He growled and reached out towards Sara with his one good arm, the other one just a stump of flesh.

  The sound of branches snapping made us jump and the woman the soldiers had been chasing stepped out of the darkness. Her eyes were filled with hate. “Kill that bastard! He killed my Paul and he’ll kill you both if you let him live! He’s…he’s not human, he’s a monster!”

  Before anyone could react, the man grabbed Sara’s ankle. She screamed and shot him in the head.