The Dead Years (Volumes 4-6)

by Jeff Olah

  She pressed the alarm remote button once more as the trio neared the silver oversized SUV unlocking the doors. This also alerted the remaining Feeders in the garage of their location, sending the entire horde in their direction. Marie pointed the gun at William and ordered the couple into the back seat as she jumped in behind the wheel, locked the doors and turned the engine over. “We’re leaving; either of you so much as blink at me the wrong way and I’ll shoot you where you sit.”

  . . .

  In a panic, the stairs were difficult to navigate for the foursome as they headed toward the ground level of the stadium. Stopping at the door leading to their former rooms, Randy asked, “Is this where Justin left the group?” April confirmed with a nod of her head and looked at Mason.

  Randy handed Mason the gun and tightened his grip on Samuel’s shirt as he continued to squirm. “Take this and get back here QUICK! I’m going for Will and Karen.” Randy kicked the door open for his friends and continued with his hostage down toward the basement.

  With a single flight of stairs left, Randy shoved the little man down the remaining metal steps, bruising or breaking every part that wasn’t previously injured. Samuel now lay in a wrecked mess against the door to the garage as Randy stood over him breathing fire. He couldn’t separate his anger from the guilt he felt for not giving up the location of their weapons and the terrible outcome of that decision.

  “So, how proud are you now that you were the one who knocked me out?” Randy said through gritted teeth.

  “Listen… buddy. I was just following orders and I’m just as scared of that woman as you are. She’s insane.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong my little friend. I’m not scared of her. I am going to kill her once I find her. Then… I’m going to kill you.”

  “Please let me go, I’ll tell you where to find her.”

  “I don’t need you, I’ll find her myself. Let’s go!”

  Much to his surprise the door leading to the garage began to open prior to either of them touching the handle and the beast coming through the opening appeared just as shocked to find them so close to the threshold. Using the outward arc of the door and Samuel as a shield, Randy pushed against the single curious Feeder knocking it to the concrete.

  Samuel craned his neck backward, glancing at Randy, expecting to be thrown to this thing, now fighting to right itself and clawing at the pavement. “Please Randy… don’t, I’m begging you.” Randy lunged backward as the two men were caught off guard by the large SUV driven by Marie barreling toward them. He couldn’t let her escape; he’d already let enough people down for one day.

  With little more than a second to react, Randy took Samuel by the collar and shoved him head first into the path of the SUV.

  13

  Hundreds poured out into the connecting corridors and other zones of the stadium, rabidly hunting the few that remained. Savannah lacked the conviction to make it all the way to the stairs without being overrun and was frightened more than she had been since she first witnessed the infection take her best friend. The broom closet left ajar became her retreat and to her complete astonishment, not a single bump against the door was felt as she sat in darkness gripping the knob and waiting for the horde to move out of the area. “Where was Justin? Did he get out?”

  The last Feeder had either moved on to another part of the building or was downed by the now bloodied axe Justin used to push from the floor to a standing position. Six corpses lay strewn across the partially carpeted area just outside the gate as trophies of the battle he’d claimed victory over. Testing his badly wounded ankle, Justin hobbled up the hall as Savannah emerged from the closet. She was surprised by his current shape and ran to him. “Justin, are you OK?”

  “Yeah, most of them just went around me. A few jumped on top and I fought them off. When I knocked the last one down, they were all already gone.”

  Resting his arm on her shoulder, they cautiously worked their way toward the end of the hall and turned the corner. Justin winced in pain as he tried once again to support himself on the bad leg and fell to the floor. “Justin, we have to go find your parents…right now!” She extended her hand, pulling him up once again as the door to the stairwell opened and Mason peeked through spotting the pair.

  . . .

  The SUV slid to a stop glancing off the supporting beam and sending the B1 sign through the back window of a brand new Seven Series BMW, throwing shards of glass in every direction. Samuel’s body came to rest under the rear passenger side wheel of the SUV as Marie struggled to regain her composure. She spotted Randy making his way to the back door attempting to free his friends and lowered her window. She wildly fired off a round missing by more than a few feet.

  Moving to the rear of the SUV as the horde approached, Randy struggled in vain to open the rear hatch. The locked door wouldn’t budge and there wasn’t any time left. Marie punched the gas once again, darting forward and releasing Samuel’s lifeless body as two Feeders smashed through the rear passenger window. Bits and pieces of glass rained down over the interior, covering William and Karen.

  With no way to exit the moving vehicle and one Feeder still halfway into the SUV, Karen slid to William’s side and they both kicked and punched at their attacker. Sweat poured down his face as he began losing the most important tug-of-war of his life. As this thing pulled Karen closer and he started to lose his grip, William begged Marie for help. “Please stop the car and help us,” he said as his nemesis took its first taste of Karen’s flesh. Biting right through her jeans and tearing away large chunks with each pass, this thing wouldn’t be stopped. Karen cried out for her husband in agony, although with each breath her voice weakened.

  “William, I love you,” were her last words.

  Marie turned the last corner on a dime and punched the accelerator, throwing them to the right and almost out of the broken rear window, smashing through the exit. The gate snagged the Feeder still halfway in the SUV, ripping it out of the vehicle and in doing so also pulled Karen to her final resting place among the infected beasts still following.

  With nothing left to lose, William reached from the back seat and clutched Marie’s windpipe and began to clamp down. He had never wanted to take a person’s life until this day and he wanted to do it with his own hands. Holding tightly he could feel her slowly beginning to fade. She gasped a few times, although she never once looked back, took her hands off the wheel or her foot off the pedal. This actually seemed to cause her to focus that much harder, as if William wasn’t even there. Marie pointed the SUV at a two foot retaining wall and pushed the gas to the floor. The SUV lunged forward and into the air as William’s grip was broken and without his seatbelt his head bounced off the roof of the interior knocking him out cold.

  No longer able to keep up, Randy lost sight of them as the SUV sped out of the exit and into what remained of the afternoon. To his left, the tortuous beast sat hunched over Karen’s mangled body. Breaking a three foot section of iron from the obliterated gate, he stood over this thing as it hissed and spit at him. Randy cursed himself as he raised the shaft and then just as quickly swung it, squarely making contact and separating the top and bottom halves of its skull at the jaw line.

  He moved around quickly and kicked the Feeder’s corpse away from her body, hoping to give Karen at least a shred of dignity in death. While watching the horde’s numbers growing and moving toward him, he noticed her hand start to move. Karen’s eye began to twitch and finally opened to a milky white haze.

  He knew what was taking place, although he was speechless as to how fast the transformation happened. He hadn’t seen anyone turn this quickly since the infection took hold weeks ago. He knew the window for an escape back to the stairs and more importantly to his friends was closing. Before his first step back to the stairwell, Randy used his newfound weapon to take out the closest of the Feeders standing in his way. If he got passed the next six or so, he’d have a chance at reuniting with Mason upstairs and getting his friends o
ut of here. “If I don’t get there, everyone is as good as dead.”

  Fifty yards to go and they were closing the gap quicker than he was. “So much for a quick getaway!” Stopping every few feet to take a couple of those things down was better, he thought, than swinging while on the run. A slip, or worse a twisted ankle, would certainly be the end of things for him. It seemed that they were moving faster than he remembered, although he shrugged it off and continued to advance toward the next small group.

  Reaching the door while still alive, Randy figured if there were this many Feeders down here, the rest of the building could be flooded as well. Grasping the handle, he was grabbed from behind. Lucky for him the beast had no legs and was pulling at his pants. Randy raised his size twelve Redwing boot and slammed it down, making contact with the back of its head and driving its teeth into the concrete. One of its canine teeth dislodged and slid to rest next to wall. Randy picked it up and tossed it into his pocket before opening the door to the stairwell.

  The stairs initially appeared vacant, until he reached the first landing and noticed two strays now focused on his every move. They didn’t seem to navigate the downward motion as well as they did climbing or on flat ground. Their progress was more of a slide along the railing, while their feet were being dragged behind. He reached the first of the two almost halfway to his destination and simply stepped to the side and used the iron pipe to push it in the downward direction. This thing certainly broke every bone in both arms and probably a few in its legs as it bounced violently down the metal staircase, coming to a stop two landings away.

  The second beast wasn’t going to be so easy. It managed to get to the area in front of the door Randy needed to get through before he did. It even appeared to be waiting for him to come. Randy hadn’t really ever been frightened by these things as he knew they were slower than he was and made sure to take his time dismembering them without getting too emotional. He knew this was key to his survival in this new world, although the time had come and he began to lose his cool. No one was around to see it and he almost felt bad for what he was about to do. His adversary snarled and spit as Randy wiped a tear from his face.

  Reaching the landing, Randy placed the weapon against the beast’s chest and pinned it back against the door, arms thrashing. Now standing face to face with it, memories of his father Frank came flooding back. He needed to release all the pent up anger from years ago and this thing was unfortunate enough to be his target. Randy started yelling, “Frank, I hate you. I have always hated you. You destroyed my life…now it’s my turn, I’m going to destroy YOU!” The tears continued to flow as Randy shattered the left leg of this thing with one blow, instantly sending it to the ground. He stepped back and slammed the pipe down onto its head repeatedly as the severely disfigured heap of bone and flesh lay motionless.

  His hands weak from gripping the iron weapon and his face soaked from a combination of a day’s worth of sweat and the rancid blood from numerous Feeders, Randy kicked aside the mess and slid open the door.

  14

  The massive building that at one time possessed everything they might need to survive the end of the world was now little more than a warzone they were determined to escape. Hundreds of deranged Feeders roamed every inch of the stadium and the group yearned for a safe departure. Now battered and weary, they limped to the stairwell as Randy came through the door. Speckled head to toe with blood; he placed the long piece of iron across his shoulders, lowered his head and walked to his friends. The group let out a collective sigh of relief as he approached.

  Mason helped Justin limp along on his injured ankle as April and Savannah leaned on one another checking from side to side for any uninvited guests. “Mason, is he OK?” Randy asked.

  “Haven’t had time to stop and check, but I’m sure he’s fine. Said he twisted it while taking on a few of those things back there.”

  Randy leaned in and shook Justin’s hand. “Thanks kid.”

  “For what?”

  “You saved my cousin here.”

  “She’s been thanking him the whole way up here,” April said. “We’re a family now. We have to look out for each other.”

  Still confused, Randy asked, “What’d you do with Lurch… or Christian, whoever he is?”

  “You saw what he did on the field… right?” Savannah asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Well, he had me help him drag that fat old man into the hallway down there and then released every last Feeder into the building. That’s how Justin hurt himself. He got overrun by those things.”

  Randy scratched his head. “Justin, you let those things out?”

  “Yeah, sorry.”

  “No worries, you did what you thought was right. Let’s get out…”

  April, interrupted as she noticed Randy hadn’t come back with their friends. “I guess you didn’t find William and Karen?”

  More bad news was the last thing any of them needed and Justin would be devastated if he thought he was responsible for Karen’s demise. The kid had seen enough for one day and the truth would drive him and everyone else further toward hopelessness. The few days they shared here in the stadium while living without fear were now officially over. Randy needed the group as strong as possible for the next ten minutes, in body and especially mind.

  “They left in an SUV with that woman, Marie. She drove off too fast for me to stop them. I’m sure they’ll be fine and we’ll find them again soon.”

  “Where’s the little man… Samuel?” Mason asked.

  “He’s gone. Feeders got him. We need to go.”

  “Ok, what’s the plan?”

  Knowing the parking lot would be flooded with Feeders and needing to get to the RV, Randy did a quick mental breakdown of their situation and the obstacles they were faced with. They would definitely face multiple crowds of Feeders in the lot outside. They only carried two guns and Justin appeared unable to run even if he had to. “Ok, the door down at the end of the walkway up there on the left opens into the foyer we were brought through when we first arrived. At the end of the foyer is the exit to the parking lot. It is a straight shot from there to the RV, maybe a hundred yards or so.”

  “Ok Randy, but they took the keys the day we got here. You know how to hotwire that thing?”

  “Don’t need to,” Randy said as he held the length of iron in one hand and reaching into his left pocket, withdrew a single key, handing it to April. “When we get there, make sure to get us moving right away. Mason, you can keep the gun you have and help Justin get there. Savannah you take the other gun and don’t be timid. We all good?”

  “Yeah, sure… but where’d you get the keys?” Mason asked.

  “You think I let those two idiots beat me the other day just for fun? I knew we’d need them at some point and he’d already forgotten that he had them. Worst case, they might have figured out that they were missing and come back for me. That never happened.”

  The door to the stairs slowly began to open and knowing whatever may come through would be something they certainly didn’t care for, Randy kicked it shut and in one motion turned toward the exit. “Let’s go,” he said as another group of Feeders came from the opposite end of the hall.

  Nearing the door to the foyer, the skylights at least fifty feet overhead were now a hazy shade of grey, indicating that nightfall was rapidly approaching. With no less than thirty Feeders gradually making progress toward them, Randy took the lead into the foyer, followed closely by April. With his arm around his son’s waist and the other gripping the pistol, Mason was cautious about using the gun before they reached the parking lot for fear of drawing any undue attention. Savannah brought up the rear carrying the group’s second weapon and noticed a trail of blood dripping from Justin’s shoe.

  “Get to the door,” Randy said, pointing to the exit as he veered to the left and with one swing took the head off the first Feeder. He then spun counter clockwise in front of the next, pulled back and shoved the pipe into its eye socke
t and through the back of its head, causing Savannah to immediately look away.

  The five converged on the exit all at once. Mason kicked at the emergency door, but to their dismay it was locked. He stepped back, as did the others and fired one round into the lock, blowing the door off its hinges. The three Feeders that were originally no threat because of their distance closed the gap to within a few feet as the group piled through the door and into the late afternoon air.

  Surveying the lot, Randy and Mason noticed the majority of the horde were between the garage exit and the RV off to the right and headed their way. “We have to get there…”

  Justin’s body went limp and the two fell to the ground as one. Mason now held his boy in his arms. “He passed out, probably from the pain. I’ll carry him,” he told the others as he handed Randy the gun and stood with his son in his arms. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Randy gave quick instructions. “April, stay next to me and when we get to the RV, we can swing around to the main door and get Mason and Justin inside. Get the RV started and switch with Mason. Take Justin in the back and we’ll get him some water.”