The creature moved quickly, though, and managed to cause Renee to miss on her first set of shots from the handgun. It then sped across the roof to attack at a new angle, again staying ahead of the gunfire the entire time. As it finally got a good line of attack, it charged at its target and leapt into the air, landing squarely on Renee’s chest, and with enough force that the roof cracked and gave way, taking them both into the house through the sheetrock and framing.
Eva, seeing what had happened with the creature and the guard on the roof, finally stepped out once again into the open. She walked over to the edge of the ditch where her fellow consort had disappeared and looked down to find him getting to his feet. “If you’re through being careless, can we get to what we came here to do? This is getting boring, and I want to return to my master.
Isac brushed the dirt off himself and then jumped back up to the camp side of the ditch, this time carefully scanning the area for any more unexpected surprises. “You’re telling me? Let’s clear out this camp and get back home.” He started to sniff the air. “I smell at least seven different scents currently here, with a couple older smells still lingering from several days ago.”
“There’s another I’m picking up,” Eva added after jumping and landing next to Isac. “This one is familiar, though, but I can’t be sure yet.” Before she could finish getting a bearing on the scent, a small explosion went off from a bush next to the two intruders.
The explosion was quite small, but it still created a large plume of smoke that engulfed the both them. They both went into a violent coughing fit before they could leap clear from the cloud. with Eva now struggling to stand and with her eyes tearing up to the point she couldn’t see clearly. She recognized the taste and the smell almost immediately, but couldn’t muster a solid breath to say anything.
Isac had been a little farther away from the explosion, but was still affected. He recovered a little quicker to say what was on the tip of Eva’s tongue. “Garlic. How the hell would they know to use that?” he muttered through a brief pause in his coughing.
“I think I know, but I want to question the human scum before I say it out loud. Find me one of them for questioning. The rest, kill on sight,” Eva finally said as her coughing subsided for the moment. “Be careful, though. If they know that garlic kills our sense of smell and sight, then they may have other defenses, too.”
Renee slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying in the middle of the living room floor. Suspended above her was the creature that had attacked her on the roof, now impaled on one of the shattered rafters. She slowly rolled over and could feel her ribs loosely floating about on her left side, which sent a sharp pain through her body that conveniently caused her to come to her complete senses.
Fully awake and aware, she slowly got up off the floor and looked for her gun. Not seeing it right away, she decided to go grab one she had previously stashed in the kitchen at a fallback spot, so she could return and make sure the creature was completely out of action. As she entered the kitchen and grabbed the automatic rifle propped up in the corner, she peeked out the back window and saw David sitting in the turret atop the Devastator looking for anything to shoot.
What he didn’t see, though, was one of the creatures approaching from a blind spot and heading straight for him. The creature was badly wounded, with one of its arms completely missing, probably from one of the land mines, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. She debated going to finish the one off in the living room first, but, instead, decided the priority was David. She grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table and screamed into it for David to look behind him. He didn’t move, though, which told her that he didn’t have the radio on him anymore. As she was about to open the door and yell for him to watch out, she heard a noise from the living room.
David was still scanning the area facing the woods to the rear of the camp from inside the turret bubble on top of the Devastator. He never heard the approaching creature until it was too late. Without warning, the creature slammed into the plexiglass covering above David’s head, and scared him so badly he squeezed the trigger on the .50 caliber machine gun. The resulting discharge caused the creature to momentarily leap back, giving David a chance to spin the turret around and draw a bead on it with the gun. Pulling the trigger again, he hit the creature with at least one bullet, knocking it clean off the roof. He then jumped down from the turret, grabbed his automatic shotgun, and started to check the side of the bus for the creature. It was gone. He slowly made his way up to the front of the Devastator to his control panel on the dash and waited for it to appear.
It didn’t take long for the creature to resume its attack. It lunged from the front of the bus at the reinforced windshield, wildly slashing at the new metal shingles David had recently installed to protect the front window. He saw the hole in the creature from where the bullet had hit it and could see straight through the creature’s chest. He realized he was looking at one of the mutated vampires Benjy had warned him about and knew that it was going to take a lot more damage to finally drop the thing.
David stepped back and moved over to one of the portholes on the driver’s side of the Devastator and stuck his arm out the hole to get its attention and to move it into position for his newest addition to the bus. It only took a few seconds for the creature to fall for the distraction, and it leapt off the hood and ran at David’s outstretched arm.
David stepped back just in time as the creature got close. He watched as it reached into the hole to try and get at him by thrusting its only arm through the aperture and grasping at anything it could grab a hold of.
Realizing it was perfectly in place, David dove back to the front of the bus and slapped the button marked L on the dashboard. A loud hiss was immediately heard, and then the Devastator shook a little as a small metal box on the inside slid quickly down the inside of the wall towards the back of the bus. The box was attached to a track from an old garage door rail. And as it slid down the side of the vehicle, a large sharpened piece of metal stuck out on the outside, slicing anything up against the side of the bus in half before it retracted at the end. Then the box returned to its starting position at the front of the track while the air tank refilled for another run.
The blade had been taken from a large tractor-driven mowing platform used for mowing the side of roadways, and was very strong and sharp. The old system he originally had with the swinging arm was effective for small groups of slabs. But they learned in their escape from Camp H that if a large group attacked, the arm would get stuck while trying to retract. He came up with this idea after they arrived at Benjy’s camp, but hadn’t had a chance to try it out in a real situation yet.
He looked back at the hole and saw the arm of the creature still inside the bus, still grasping at air trying to get at him. He was quite sure that the blade had to have hit the creature, but wondered just how tough it really was. Curious, he slid open a hatch next to the driver’s seat and poked his head out the window and got his answer. Half of the creature’s body was lying on the ground and half was still hanging from the hole on the side of the vehicle. He leaned back in for a second and contemplated going outside to finish it off. But, instead, he grabbed a set of ear plugs from next to the driver’s seat and walked back to the thrashing arm, picking up his shotgun along the way.
He jammed the gun through the hole in the side of the Devastator right up to the neck of the creature and pulled the trigger. The blast separated the head completely from the creature’s body, and the arm went limp before it slowly slid out of the hole, allowing him to shut the hatch.
David breathed a sigh of relief that his new addition worked as well as it did as he started to climb back up to the turret to get a view of the area. He figured that as long as the other additions worked just as well, they should be able to survive the night.
Then, almost as if on cue, the lights in the camp went out and he saw several muzzle flashes from inside the house, and then the house went dark. He instinctiv
ely wanted to leap out of the bus and check on Renee. But she knew the plan and what to do if she was overrun, so he sat not knowing what was happening inside.
Chapter 30
The next morning began just as the previous ones had, with the arrival of a dry cereal breakfast and the little boy who brought it. Hope made sure she was the one to greet him this time, since Hunter was looking in the mirror to make sure he was unmarked this morning.
Hope smiled at the little boy. “How you doing there, big guy?”
“I’m doing good, big lady.”
“Can I ask you something?” Hope requested.
“Sure, I guess.”
“What do you do when there’s an attack? I didn’t see you the other night when the strangers were outside.”
“I hide in a closet,” the boy replied. “I’m not big enough for a gun, so they told me to just always hide. Bye, big lady.”
Hope returned to her cot a little more relieved. At least now she knew he’d be safe during their breakout.
“Alrighty, let’s get the show on the road. Everybody has their assignment, and as long as we get our signal, we are a go come noon.” Hunter grabbed his box of cereal and the distributor button out from under his bed and took off for the shop.
Morgan got up and gave Hope and Trip a hug before she also took her leave. “That’s for luck, and also so you don’t forget me on your way out.”
“Not a chance. I can’t be alone with all this testosterone.” Hope, too, made her way out of the room.
Hope headed towards the armory, but decided to first stop by Jeremy’s office to remind him to bring his gun down for a cleaning. When she arrived, she knocked on the door, but didn’t get an answer. She tested the handle and found it unlocked, so she poked her head inside. The room was empty, and she was about to leave when she spied the box from the day before still sitting there. She knew she shouldn’t do what she was about to do, but decided to do it, anyway. She checked up and down the hallway to make sure no one was coming before she slipped into the office and peeked into the box. Inside were letters, all addressed to the different kids she had met at the base. On the top was an unopened one to Jeremy. She thought about opening it at first and decided to, instead, slip it into her pocket before someone showed up. She moved to the door and slipped back out unseen and headed to the armory.
As she arrived, she found Jeremy sitting, waiting for her, which, for a split second, almost caused her to panic, thinking he had already busted her.
“Morning,” Jeremy said. “I figured we would go ahead and get this out of the way.” He pulled his gun out and removed the clip before handing it over.
Hope let out a small sigh of relief as she took the gun and grabbed her cleaning kit. “Yeah, yours is one of the last ones before I’m done.” She started to disassemble the weapon. “Well, while I got you here, can I ask you some questions?”
“Sure, what’s on your mind?”
Hope bit her lip. “Just curious about how you have stayed so safe for so long? How did you survive through the plague?”
“You just go for the big question, huh?” Jeremy answered as he pulled up a chair. “At first we all just kept to our houses. We watched the television till it went out. And we didn’t see our first slab until almost a month in. Somebody escaping from Kansas City drove in and died in their car in the middle of the night. The next day he attacked several people who’d gone to investigate the car. It didn’t take long before our town was overrun. So, we pulled back to here and fortified the building. Originally, there were over a hundred of us, but a large part of them decided to go out and see if they could find someplace safer. We took advantage of the situation and decided to take over and not let them back in. Most of them were the adults that had screwed up the world in the first place. So, we figured if they ain’t here, we can eventually rebuild when this is over, and not screw it up like they did. Here we are today, still alive and safe, and they are out there, struggling, and still trying to take this place back,” Jeremy finished, trusting he’d satisfied Hope’s curiosity.
“Here you go. It wasn’t as bad as I thought when I had my eyes closed.” Hope handed him back his gun.
“I’m glad we were able to cross paths with you guys … and, um, especially you,” Jeremy said in a way that made Hope very uncomfortable. “It seems like with your help, we should be able to keep this place secure, indefinitely. Will I see you at lunch?” he asked as he got up to leave, just as his two bodyguards showed up to meet him.
Hope smiled and told him she would be there, even though she was getting a very creepy vibe from him.
She watched them leave and excused herself to the restroom from her two guards.
Hope hurried into the bathroom and locked herself into one of the stalls. She pulled out the letter in her waistband and tore it open. Scanning through it, she saw that it was from his mother. She pleaded with him in the letter to let them back in, and promised that no harm would come to any of them, even after the deaths they had caused after taking the place over while the adults had been gone. She also said she didn’t blame him for the death of his brother, and that his father was no longer with them, having succumbed to the plague. She finished it with saying she loved him and wanted to see him again.
Hope quickly resealed the envelope and stuffed it back into her waistband before she left the stall. On her way out, she stopped to wash her hands and stared in the mirror for a few moments, soaking in what she had just read before deciding to hide the letter under the sink, just in case.
She made her way back to the armory and sat down to start straightening up her supplies when suddenly the door was flung wide open. Jeremy who was flanked by his two guards flew into the room with his gun drawn, pointed directly at Hope.
“Where is it?”
Hope looked at him completely stunned. “Where’s what?”
“The letter you took from my office. I know you went in there. I have a witness that saw you go in this morning.” Jeremy moved to the side to show the little boy that every morning had brought them their breakfast.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I stopped by your office on the way here this morning to remind you about cleaning your gun. When I realized you weren’t there, I left and came here. That’s it. I swear.”
“Search her.”
Immediately, Jeremy’s bodyguards moved in and started frisking Hope top to bottom, and checking all her pockets. They found nothing, but that didn’t satisfy Jeremy. He came across the room and shoved the gun up under Hope’s chin. “Where is it, you cow? I’ll blow you and your friends’ heads off, if you don’t tell me where it is.”
Hope had just about had enough of the abuse, and was about to speed up their plans, when suddenly the alarm started ringing throughout the base.
“What the hell is that? They never attack during the day.” Jeremy turned to look at his bodyguards. After shrugging their shoulders, they quickly took off to see what was happening. Jeremy briefly returned his attention to Hope before he decided to follow them. “This isn’t over. You two lock her up in here, and when this is over, I’ll be back to finish our talk.” Then he, too, bolted out of the room, leaving Hope alone with the two guards.
At first, Hope thought about trying to talk some sense into the guards, but decided she didn’t have the time for that. She spun around and caught the first one with a right cross that broke his jaw on impact and knocked him to the ground at the same time. Immediately, the second one stepped back, and put his hands in the air. “Don’t hit me. I give up.” He dropped his weapon and placed his hands on top of his head.
For a split second, Hope thought about just hitting him, but then decided to take another route. “Get on the ground next to him and give me those keys on your hip.” Accepting the keys, she leaned over to grab a roll of duct tape and proceeded to use it to bind the two guards together to keep them from following her.
“Tell ’im I’m sorry for that, but I’ve got to get out of her
e.” She slowly exited the room, making sure the coast was clear. She moved down the hall to the locked closet near Jeremy’s office. After fumbling with the keys and then finding the right one, she finally popped the door open and found all of their gear, minus the duffle bag full of food. She threw the guns over her shoulder, and took off in the direction of the mechanic’s shop.
She found Hunter alone in the room, frantically trying to get the distributor cap reassembled. She threw the guns into the rear of the truck and made her way up to Hunter. “You sure this thing will run?”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t fully ready. The diversion’s gone off a bit early. Go grab the fuel cans and throw them in the rear of the truck. I just hope there’s enough gas to get us out of here.” Hunter finished with the engine compartment and closed the hood.
“How’d you manage to get word to them to do this today?” Hope asked while loading up the gas cans.
“I saw them sneaking around at the tree line yesterday, keeping an eye on the school. You remember me outside with my canon? Well, I loaded it with notes in the middle of each shot, detailing who we were and what we had planned. Told them if they wanted the school back, to attack today at noon and everything would be in place for them to take it. The only catch was to let us escape in the truck.” Hunter grinned.
“Wow. I gotta say that was actually a pretty good plan. Do you think they will let us escape, though?”
“That’s why you getting those guns back was so important.” Hunter moved to crank up the truck. “Now where the hell is Trip?”
“I don’t know. With the siren going off, he should be on his way, unless something happened to knock him off schedule, too. Stay here and hold down the fort while I go and get him.” Hope took off towards the cafeteria.
Juggernaut (Humanity's Hope Book 2) Page 15