“I agree!” The look on Allison’s face indicated she had not wanted to speak so loud.
Melanie nodded, her eyes never leaving Sydney. She might not have even known what she was doing.
“What about those other people?” Gavin asked.
Knowing she had been dodging the subject, Sydney felt obligated to answer this time. “I don’t think they will be bothering us anytime soon.”
“What makes you—”
Sydney cut Chris off. “Because I know!”
Part of her wished she hadn’t saved Chris. She didn’t feel like explaining any of this right now and certainly wouldn’t be entertaining any questions from him in particular. Between him and now Melanie eyeing her up, she had no doubt Chris was hoping to score the elusive threesome. Not only were the odds already against him in this post-war nation, but Sydney had no desire to cross over to that side of the fence. Chris would have to wait a lot longer before he got to place a check in that box on his bucket-list.
Isaac approached Chris and offered a suggestive nod, indication to drop the conversation. Though she knew nothing about the guy, he was one of the few men who appeared to understand how things worked in this new life. Indeed, there were lines. Ones that had been crossed, that should be addressed with caution. And those lines could not be ignored. No one could just wipe them away and start all over again. She certainly wouldn’t be doing so with Allen—not after he left her, the things he let happen to their family. Truth was, it comforted her not to have to explain that matter.
Allison said, “But what if they—”
“They won’t!” Sydney let her eyes thin on each of them, hoping that would suffice in letting them know she knew what she was talking about. Sure, they would have a lot of questions, but right now she didn’t have any answers. “Listen, They’ll be trailing us. They’ll follow us all the way back to the school, I would guess. But they won’t screw with us. I know that much without doubt, and I am not willing to discuss it beyond that. Not now.”
“You heard her, folks.” Craig’s tone sounded humorous. “Nothing to see here.”
But evidently there was something to see. Melanie eyes checked Sydney out to the point it was starting to make her a little uncomfortable. The girl no longer bothered hiding her flushed face, either. But Melanie’s eyes and expression showed enough embarrassment that Sydney had a pretty good idea what the girl must be feeling. Ashamed or not, Melanie’s eyes tracked Sydney’s every movement.
“So,” Melanie said, her voice dreamy, “where do we go then?”
Isaac stepped forward. “My instinct says we should hit the riverside.”
“No. Not the river.” Sydney looked at Isaac. “They’ll be there. That’s the best spot to close off an entire side of attacks, and he will know that.”
Isaac studied her, perhaps gaining some insight.
He’s gotta think I’m a loon.
These days, though, one had to be crazy to some degree. How else could anyone survive going up against the creatures? And she would have to be crazy to go up against her husband, which she fully intended to do when the time came.
Isaac’s eyes followed her progress as she carefully folded the cloth and placed it in her back pocket. “Right, so?” he asked.
For a moment, she thought he had uncovered more knowledge of her situation than made her comfortable. He was a smart guy—not book smart, but able to get a read on people.
“The roof. Not this one, but down the street.” Sydney held out a finger, showing the way with her free hand while she replaced her sword in its scabbard. “On top of the old sporting goods store. We can get some tents and even a fire pit to get some food in us.”
“How do you know?” Melanie asked.
“I grew up here. There isn’t a lot to do in the Midwest. A girl who likes trouble tends to find it.” Sydney’s eyes found Chris. A sick smile crossed his lips that made her wish she hadn’t looked his way. “And if you have a knack for getting into trouble, it isn’t long before you start figuring out ways out of it.”
Chris took a bold step toward her, edging around Gavin. He put his hand on her shoulder, as if trying to show her some empathy. The gesture disgusted her.
Turning her attention to Isaac, she could tell he saw the tension between them.
She couldn’t go back to the school until they secured transportation and confronted Allen. If Allen discovered where they resided, he might try to take Orson away from her. If that happened, she really would go insane.
Orson’s all I have left.
There were other reasons for confronting Allen. He knew things. He had kept fighting while all the weaker men and women ran. The thought her husband would up and leave her when things had just begun to get rough still infuriated her. But she had to make sure, above all else, that she would not put her son in danger. Not even to the smallest degree. And Allen had done just that.
CHAPTER 16
Allen observed everything, watching Dale take a heavy slug off the bottle. The brother clutched it in his hands as he stumbled one way then the other. Coming to a hard stop, he must have downed most of what was left. When he finished, he shook the bottle, listening to the slosh. Then he steadied himself over Clyde, the lone time his brother was not in the mood to drink.
“Yo bro, why you bein’ such a turd?” Dale said.
Clyde shook him off. For the first time since Allen came around, Clyde appeared sober. While he had his suspicions as to why, Allen wasn’t sure why Clyde was acting this way. Allen eyed Gollum with great curiosity.
Who is this to them?
Had this creature been a neighbor to one of brothers? Maybe a relative or a third brother even. Allen couldn’t be sure.
There has to be a good reason for them toting such an ugly monster around, though.
Especially when that creature posed a constant threat.
Allen knew of pets. He had a dog when he was younger, a Labrador. He fed it, kept it healthy, but this was different. Still, they kept Gollum fed well, maintaining the creature’s health as though he were one of their own. With the brothers so carefree about killing each and every creature they crossed paths with, keeping Gollum around didn’t make sense. The fact they kept the creature prisoner disturbed Allen.
Clyde being sober gave Allen an opportunity to try and understand this relationship. Either one of the brothers were more than willing to gab when they’d imbibed enough alcohol, but even then, the subject of Gollum appeared off limits. Observing Clyde’s sudden sobriety, Allen was pretty sure the man would be tight-lipped in regard to the subject. Clyde looked more guarded than ever, almost as if he could hear Allen’s thoughts.
Whatever bothered Clyde had affected Dale, too. Dale tucked the bottle under one of his armpits, wobbled twenty feet away, and yanked his zipper down. A steady stream of urine flowed while Dale sang along with the music, which they played loud enough to attract any nearby packs. Tonight’s selection came courtesy of Led Zeppelin.
While Allen knew the music would attract anything within a hundred yards, he was also confident that even a sober and sick Clyde would be game for the kill. And Dale, he was the kind of guy that would go hunting a pack while the others slept. The brothers were extraordinary hunters, and they had the weaponry to get any job done.
Dale mumbled a few lines of “Stairway to Heaven.” Clearly, he didn’t know the actual words to the song, but turned his gaze up to the sky as he sang. His urine stream arched high, and the brother stumbled back as he crooned to the stars. But the dizzying feat caused him to lose his footing, and Dale crashed hard to the ground. Lucky for Dale he had finished peeing, so only the last drips shot into the night sky before finding his pant leg. All Dale seemed concerned with, though, was making sure he didn’t spill a drop of alcohol. Yet, through the fall and the recovery, Dale kept singing.
Allen eyed up Clyde. He’d expected to find the brother in stitches. But Clyde wasn’t laughing at all. His focus remained on Gollum, and Gollum on Clyde. The connec
tion between the two of them burned at Allen’s rationality. He didn’t need an explanation, but he sure wanted one.
Maybe Dale will be more forthcoming.
Even if asking started a fight, that would be good sport if nothing else. Allen had put up with their antics thus far, so he had a right to know.
CHAPTER 17
Norton’s Sporting Goods had been in business since Sydney’s childhood. She recalled her first and only trip to the store. Why she had ever thought she would be into track eluded her, but she had needed running shoes, and since she lacked the money to purchase them this only brought out the worse in a troubled youth like her. When old Mr. Norton caught her trying to steal the shoes, her instinct had been to run, to sprint right out through the front door and keep on running. As she had discovered so many times before, running like that only delayed the cops from apprehending her. The back door meant more employees, more of a hassle, but it always was a better choice. Yet this particular time another idea came to her, and she opted for it right away.
Sydney headed to the back of the store, but before reaching the door, she saw two employees smoking with the door half-cocked. That was when she took a sudden turn for a ladder that led to the roof, the shoes tucked under her arm like a football. By the time she made it up the ladder, the police had arrived. While she looked for some place to hide up on the roof, she could hear their black shoes clacking on the rungs as they climbed up after her.
About twenty feet across the alley sat another building almost the same height as the sporting goods store. She had no idea whether she could jump that far or not, but it was a good distance for even the strongest jumper. At best, she thought she might be able to catch an arm over the side of the building and pull herself up. But the collision of her body against the brick wall might force her to let go. Given the height, the drop would lead to more than a few broken bones. That was too great a price to pay for the shoes.
She had scanned the rooftop, looking for another way. Her eyes crawled across the gravel, finding nothing at first, before discovering the one thing she thought could be her way out of that mess. She ran to it, looking down through the large opening. It was a chute of some sort that led all the way down to an old dumpster.
Sydney never hesitated.
Although she got a little banged up on the way down, it couldn’t have been as bad as falling two floors to the hard pavement. And who knows; If she had gotten away, she might have used that same means of escape to steal from old man Norton again and again. She might have even ended up a criminal, doing a short stint in the local prison system for petty theft. As it was, the police had been waiting for her at the dumpster to pull her out, her clothes matted with a mess of rotten food scraps thrown out by the eatery next door. Her pride crushed, they let her off easy, as did her parents. She had to work hard to pay off those shoes. Sydney could still smell that rancid aroma as well as the smell of defeat.
Now, though, she chose this building for that same feature. If they needed a quick escape, it would be better to end up a little bruised and banged up than eaten or chewed. She stared down the tube, thinking it rustier than she remembered. And the opening seemed a little tighter.
I doubt it will even support me. Let alone a big, strong guy like Isaac.
Also, they had taken the dumpster away. But that meant no rotten food. Still, anything would have been better than the hard macadam. She hoped they wouldn’t have to use it.
Isaac came up beside her, peering down through the tube. “So, this why you picked this place?”
“Yeah. It used to be more stable.”
He rubbed the tiny hairs on his chin. “It’ll do.”
Her eyes found Isaac, searching him for the truth, thinking she had heard a hint of mockery in his tone. It surprised her to find he was being serious.
Of course, he would think that.
Isaac was street smart, the kind of person who had seen trouble more often than he liked, and much of that likely came due to his race. Unfortunately, she had seen that before, too.
She observed his nature.
How long has it been since you saw trouble?
Was he still in trouble?
The others had started setting up tents. The fact they had found only three meant they would need to double up. One tent would have to house three people. The odds of escaping Chris annoying her about shacking up were slim. Even if she managed to get all the girls in one tent, she would still have to deal with Melanie, who appeared equally enamored by Sydney.
“What is it?” Isaac asked.
“Nothing. Just old business.”
Isaac was still looking at her.
At least he didn’t treat her like some piece of meat. That in itself was refreshing. He did seem to be sizing her up, though. Perhaps trying to decide how complicated she was, whether she might get him into more trouble than he could handle. No doubt, he wouldn’t want to be in the middle of her issues with Allen. Still, he seemed like a good man, at least from what little Sydney had seen. Yet her trust issues remained.
“You know,” Isaac said, as if realizing her conundrum. “We gonna need to take shifts. I think two at a time, if we’re being smart. One for each of two sides of the building, maybe.”
Sydney scanned the group, trying to think whom she preferred to split shifts with. She couldn’t decide and thought to leave it to fate. “This is true.” She approached the others. “We need to keep an eye out. Isaac proposed we take shifts, two people at a time. I’ll take the first shift. Any takers?”
Melanie glanced up from the fire pit where she crumpled newspaper. “Me!”
The girl had almost jumped at the opportunity. This concerned Sydney. What if she tried something? She certainly didn’t lack looks. The girl was young and pretty. But Sydney didn’t swing that way and above all else, Sydney didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings.
“All right then.” Sydney decided maybe it was for the best if they got to talk things out. “Melanie and I will take the first shift.”
Sydney forced a smile to her lips, which Melanie met with a bright grin. Sydney thought there would be more than keeping an eye out for packs that night.
Turning to Isaac, he only nodded, as if fully aware of her awkward situation. That brought an odd smile to Sydney’s face.
CHAPTER 18
Allen studied Gollum, trying to see any familiarity in the monster’s face. The creature didn’t respond to him being so close to the cage, which in itself surprised Allen. He tried to outline the creature’s facial features, searching for any resemblance to either of the brothers, but it was too difficult. Gollum’s face was too disheveled to make out anything with any sort of confidence. Dead torn flesh and bone gave no evidence to base even the slightest opinion.
“Beaut! Ain’t he?” Dale said.
It shouldn’t surprise Allen to find the man drinking so early in the morning, shielding his eyes from the sunrise with one hand, but it did. What also shocked Allen was that Clyde remained asleep, as both brothers seemed like early risers.
Maybe being sober is giving him more of a hangover than being drunk.
He wasn’t so sure, but this did give Allen the opportunity he required to confront Dale while he was in a not so sober state of being.
Dale offered Allen the bottle. It looked like whiskey, though Allen wasn’t certain. The label had been torn from the side, leaving an unreadable scrap of paper.
Allen took the bottle, lifted it to his lips with curiosity. As it neared his mouth, the aroma of the swill wafted up to his nose, seizing his nostrils and burning his sinuses. Tears stung in his eyes and he was no longer sure if he dared take a hit off the bottle.
“What is it?” Allen said, examining the bottle.
Dale shrugged. “The good stuff.”
Allen thought it best to take a drink if he meant to have this talk, to construct some sort of a bridge between them. He pressed the rim to his lips and swallowed hard. The pure shock of the liquor caused the bottl
e to slip in his hand. When he lunged to retain his grip, his mouth went forward. Glass banged against Allen’s teeth. His incisors vibrated and ached, but that only lasted a second. Then the alcohol took him.
“Phewwww—” Allen said.
Dale laughed.
Allen shook his head, trying to rid himself of the burning sensation in his throat.
“What the fuck?” Allen said, his voice gravelly.
Dale laughed so hard he nearly fell.
This stuff felt as though a cat was clinging to the sides of his throat and someone kept trying to yank that cat off. The drink didn’t just slide down, either. It went down like a slug, surely searing the flesh right off his esophagus. A full layer of the flesh likely sat in his stomach, dissolving in the resulting acids. Speaking of which, the alcohol didn’t just warm his stomach. It ignited a raging fire that burned out of control, with no hope of extinguishing the flames.
Allen felt like puking, but he held it back to prove he could hang with the big boys. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a deep wheeze.
“Ha ha ha!” Dale’s belly jiggled so hard. The brother secured the bottle before Allen dropped it and took a long hard tug himself. He twitched and stomped his foot, but he tolerated the alcohol far better than Allen. “Woo hoo! Now that’s the good stuff.”
When Allen’s breath finally returned, he continued to struggle to get out anything that made much sense. Even then, his throat felt scratchy, making his voice sound like a bad impersonation of Brando from The Godfather. “What the hell was that stuff?”
Dale continued to get a rise out of Allen’s antics. “Don’t worry, it gets easier over time, my friend. That’s homemade. We call that shit Zombie Piss.”
Allen glanced at Gollum, who watched them from a quiet corner of his cell. The creature remained unmoved by the display and clearly not impressed. Allen worried the title of the drink had been a literal one.
Pack Animals [An Undead Post-Apocalypse Thriller] Page 6