by Phil Maxey
“Give him to me…”
Meg turned her head towards the voice. The man was standing just feet away, his smart looking clothes now blood stained. He looked behind her. She turned further, her heart pounding, the left side of her face numb. Daryl was standing against the east wall some fifteen-feet away, Josh within his arms.
“Give him to me and you will die quick. But if you make me chase you, then not so—”
The man’s head jolted back as a boom echoed around the roof. He staggered around, the back of his skull completely missing. Meg fired again, the bullet exploding out of the man’s back. He fell to one knee. She—
The creature’s clawed hand retracted from her chest, her body falling lifeless to the floor. Josh screamed, Daryl wanting to as well. He also wanted to charge at the thing which had murdered nearly a hundred people, but instead he picked up the boy, wrapping his arms around him, lifted his legs over the wall and dropped. He had no idea where or how he would land, he just knew they couldn’t stay on the roof and maybe, just maybe his body would protect Josh from serious harm.
They landed heavily on the roof of a car, bouncing slightly, then slid to the ground. Roars and growls came from all directions, but Josh got to his feet first trying to help Daryl do the same, but something burned in Daryl’s back, sending him back to the ground in agony. He looked up just as the thing that pretended to be human jumped off the roof, sailing across the sky and landed like a cat a few yards away.
“Run, Josh! Run!”
Josh did, sprinting between cars, past creatures that lunged and then… Daryl had never seen anything move so quick, not even the monsters. The soldier scooped up the boy who kicked and screamed then suddenly went quiet, falling limp in the man’s arms, who then placed him over his shoulder.
“I’ll kill you!” shouted Daryl, dragging himself over the snow, trying to prop himself up with a nearby car.
The man didn’t even bother to turn around. Daryl watched him walk away into the chaos of swirling snow as snarls grew louder and from the shadows came death.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
5: 27 a.m.
Jess’s view of the highway through the pickup’s windshield was limited to a hazy blur with two bright red dots visible of the back of the trailer. The heavier vehicle provided a good plow against the buildup on the road, but the small convoy could only manage sixty at best due to the worsening conditions.
Not going to get there in time…
The numbness of depression had returned. And from the lack of conversation in the cabin, she wasn’t the only one succumbing to the emotion. Each knew that whatever had carved a path along the highway would have arrived at its designation an hour or two earlier, and the weather had made radio communication almost impossible. The irony was she could feel the viral affects dying within her. Her eyes, hearing and smell were now as they were a week before, arms and hands the same. She was fully human again and she hated it. Just when she needed to be ‘super human’ she was anything but.
Josh…
She swallowed, holding back tears. With the virus leaving her came exhaustion. Despite trying not to, she had fallen asleep multiple times from the start of the journey east and knew if she gave in, she would not wake up for days. She wondered if the others felt the same, or maybe it was just a side effect of no longer being different.
She looked in the rear mirror, the image of her sleeping daughter providing some comfort against the anguish of what may lay ahead. She reasoned that there were many at the school, at least a hundred. And they had guns and people who were trained to use them. The building itself was strong and being on the plateau had a good line of sight, even if it were dark. They would have had scouts, maybe even—
“How much further,” said Sam, her tone flat.
Landon raised the map, handing it to her then turned on his flashlight.
Jess caught her daughter’s reaction to Landon’s appearance. Sweat glistened on his face. He pointed to the highway they were on. “We’ve already passed Kansas City, so maybe in this storm, another hour to the diner?”
Sam nodded, leaning back, closing her eyes again.
“How do you feel?” said Jess.
“I’m fine.”
Landon saw that his wife was looking at him, he being the target of her enquiry not the teen. He silently voiced the same words.
She nodded with a smile then looked back to windshield wipers. She knew he was lying and closed her eyes.
A crackle of static woke her.
“Go ahead,” said Andy holding the radio. “We’re listening. Over.”
“We’re only fifteen minutes out…” said Scott. “I’m seeing a lot of destruction on the roadside. How you want to approach the diner? Over.”
“Here,” said Jess to the young man driving. He handed her the radio while she wiped the condensation from the inside of the side window, trying to see beyond the glow from the headlights and being unsuccessful. “We can’t see much back here. How bad is it? Over.”
Sanchez’s voice came from the speaker. “Imagine if trains were able to move across the land. Something like—”
Scott cut in. “Lots of felled trees…”
“Can you see any lights up ahead? Or movement of any kind?”
“Can’t see beyond a hundred yards. Over.”
“Keep going north, but slow down. Over.”
“Okay. Over.”
The trailer’s red lights immediately came on, the truck at the front slowing and Andy did the same for the pickup.
Jess examined every sensation within her body and mind, hoping to feel something of what might lay ahead, but there was no warning of danger. They could be driving into anything.
The truck slowed again, this time continuing until it fully stopped. The radio came alive with Esther’s voice. “We’re at where you marked on the map, but we ain’t seeing any buildings. No diner or house. You want to keep going? Over.”
Jess and Landon slid their windows down, trying to see into the darkness for any recognizable landmarks, when Landon caught the reflection of light from the rippling waves of the large boating pond. His eyes immediately strained to see beyond, to where Rufus’s house would be, and closer the diner, but there were no dark shapes within the lighter sky. He let out a breath which mixed with the falling snow.
Jess pushed her door open.
“Are we here?” said Andy.
But she didn’t hear his question, instead she got out into the icy cold and trekked forward, moving past the back of the trailer.
“Jess!” shouted Landon, pushing his door open as well.
Sam did the same, but he stopped half outside.
“No, wait here.”
She ignored him, got out and ran after her mother.
“Point the headlights over there!” he said to Andy, getting out. The young man reversed a little then steered to the left, illuminating a scene of destruction already being buried by the storm.
Jess waded through two-feet of snow, her calfs already numb, then jogged down the bank onto the more flat area of what should have been the small parking lot outside the diner but there were no vehicles.
“The diner… it’s gone,” said Sam, looking at small mounds of snow which covered a twenty-foot square area. She ran forward, kicking then tripping over something solid in the ground.
The truck’s door opened and everyone but Esther jumped down. Scott with his MP5, eyed the surrounding shadows. Lachlan ran down the slope, Sanchez moving more cautiously, both joining the others. In his hand another flashlight, which he swept across the remains of the diner.
“Hey! Look!” shouted Sam. She pointed towards where the house should have been. Esther, back at the roadside, raised her weapon at the small figure standing on snow-covered steps.
Even with human sight Jess recognized Helen. She ran towards the child, falling to her knees and immediately heard the shouts beyond.
*****
7: 12 a.m. Heavercroft School.
Jess steered the pickup around pieces of furniture strewn across the two-lane road as she led the two vehicles through the suburban neighborhood. On either side were remains of grand houses, some completely collapsed, others shells, like old castles she would see in books as a kid, the top windows giving a view of the sky beyond which was beginning to lighten.
Landon was to her right, Sam with Lachlan and Scott in the back. Brad and the kids were in the cabin of the truck, following behind.
She glanced in the mirror. The two teens in the back gave hope for the future, except for Jess there was no future without her son. They drove slowly up the hill which headed towards the school, the pickup straining to gain grip on the icy surface, the truck having the same issue, but all could see the snapped and splintered remains of trees on both sides of the road, some of which had fallen, almost blocking the route.
She slowed even more, driving around the bark and branches, bumping over others and as they neared the crest of the hill took in a breath which she had trouble releasing.
The two story complex of buildings was still there, half a mile off. That was something. But the entire area was dark. Too dark. No light existed within the silhouettes of structures. They drove along the short route to the parking lot entrance then drove in. Lachlan swore on seeing the destruction of the vehicles, and even though Jess’s audible senses were now normal, she was sure she could hear the heartbeats of the rest of her family.
A spark of light caught her attention. “What’s that? Over there?” She pointed towards a nearby field which ran alongside the road and lot. She drove towards it, parking then quickly got out into the falling snow.
Vance stood in the headlights, a shovel in his hand. A pile of snow and mud visible in front of him.
“What happened? Where is…” Jess saw the boots of multiple bodies in the gloom behind the piles. She walked forward then lowered her head on seeing what was left of his wife and daughter. “Oh god…” There was no time for questions as she turned, her mind flooding with panic and started to run back to the main building.
“He took your kid…”
She spun around. “He’s alive?” The words came with tears as waves of emotions flowed through her.
“Who?” shouted Landon. “Who took him?”
“The thing… he looked like a man… but wasn’t…” Vance looked down. “I tried to pull the creatures away.” He nodded to the lot and a mangled clump of snow-covered steel and plastic. “It was working, but… the soldier—”
“Soldier?” said Scott.
Before he could answer the sound of glass being crunched was just audible within the winds. Everyone but Vance looked towards the source, which was the entrance to the school. He continued to dig.
The shadowy figure ran across the ice-covered concrete and ran into Jess’s arms.
Tracey’s sobs mixed with muffled words. “They killed… all… killed.”
Jess held the young woman as she looked at her husband. The truck’s door opened, Sanchez jumping down.
“I’m going to check out the school,” said Scott.
“I’ll go with you,” said Sanchez.
Vance turned to them. “There are… a lot more dead on the roof.”
They nodded and continued to the entrance.
Jess pulled back from Tracey, trying to see if she was injured.
“He’s dead, Jess…”
“Who?”
“Daryl… and…” Sobs fell from her. “Meg… the creatures killed them… I hid… hid in a closet with Donnie… I thought they would come for me…” she wrapped her arms around her elbows, her body shaking.
Jess took a step back. If there had been something to hold on to, she would have used it, for the strength to keep her upright was rapidly draining away.
Landon walked closer to Vance. “This soldier. He took Josh?”
Vance nodded while dropping icy soil onto the pile.
“Which way?”
Vance nodded behind them. “West. The things went with him. Reckon he’s using them like his personal army or something… I… tried to…” A choke emanated from the older man’s throat and he slammed the shovel harder into the ground, digging the grave deeper.
Jess whirled around, moving unsteadily back to the pickup.
“Where you going?” said Landon after her.
“We can catch up with them. We can get him—” A hand pulled her back, which she tried to push off but failed.
“If we go after him now, we’ll die! And Josh with have no parents!”
She whipped around to face her husband. “I left him! Landon!” She forced the words from a tightening throat. “I left them both! She said I should stay! Meg…” Her words dissolved into tears.
“We had no idea this was possible. That this thing, this man would control these things.”
She fell to her knees. “They died because of me…”
Landon kneeled, hugging her close.
Sam walked to Vance. “You got another shovel? I’ll help.”
Concluded in book six. Available in late of June!
Thank you for reading Extinction Gene book 5: 2 Days to Live, I hope you enjoyed it. The next book in the series will be released at the end of June!
As an indie author it really helps if you can leave me a review on Amazon for this book.
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Thank you again.
Phil.
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About the Author
Phil Maxey is an author who resides in the UK. Formally a game developer he now spends his time putting his love of sci-fi and the paranormal into words.
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Acknowledgements
Book cover design by www.starbookcovers.com.