Howard stopped at a locked shed. It was more than just an average shed, though. The metal wasn’t rusted and didn’t look flimsy. This was reinforced with something. The lock was built into the door, which was heavy and thick. Howard put in a combination and pulled the door open. Inside was dark, but he quickly flipped the light on. Daniel saw guns on each side of the wall of the small shed. “I wouldn’t normally show anyone this, but I think you’ll need the help.”
“No, we couldn’t possibly take anything from you,” Cole said. “We actually have enough guns for all of us.”
Howard smiled. “Sure, you’ve got some good hunting rifles and maybe a shotgun in there. Load a slug or two and have to reload. You don’t have anything like these, though.” Howard lifted out a large black gun. Daniel wasn’t up on his knowledge about guns, much, but could tell it was definitely more tactical than anything they had. “It’s an AR-15 Assault rifle.” Howard quickly pushed a magazine in and handed it to Cole. He grabbed another and handed it to Daniel.
“Thank you,” Daniel managed to muster.
Howard nodded. “Now, I think you’ll do better out there.”
“What do you want for this? What do you get out of this?” Daniel asked. He seriously didn’t understand anything about Howard and his motives now. Sure, he wasn’t a danger to them, but if he was so prepared, why help them? They could do nothing to help him.
Howard chuckled. “You just don’t learn much, do you? I want to help you. If you stay safe, then that is great. The more people we can get to help everyone out, the better this world will get. That has been my motto in life always. It hasn’t changed one bit since this thing happened. It just changes the way we help.”
“Thank you, sincerely, thank you.” Cole said with a smile.
“Oh, don’t thank me. Maybe it’ll give you a little incentive to come back and return those to me.” Howard winked, then looked at the sky. “I think you’d all better get going, though. There’s still a lot of daylight left, but you want to have a chance to get settled wherever you’re going.”
The men all shook hands with Howard, even Alan. Courtney hugged him, and Jennifer managed a smile. Eden gave the biggest hug. Howard’s eyes lit up. “You’ll make more burgers when we come, right?”
“It would be my pleasure,” he said.
Daniel laughed to himself about the power of food. One good burger and the mustached man had made a friend for life. Eden ran ahead, leaving Daniel with Howard. He turned to join the group when Howard put a hand on his shoulder. Daniel looked at him with question.
“I’ve seen a lot of different types come through here. Truckers are a good bunch. Hell, sometimes they’re better than most people. I’ve seen them give more than they ever had to give to people who needed it. They can band together and really make a difference. But the trucker lifestyle also affords a certain type of person, not a good one, the perfect job. Disconnected from people, always moving, a stranger in most places, and they can get away unnoticed. There are some bad people out there, and I’ve seen them.”
Daniel was trying to read the man. His face got hot, worrying about accusations. “What are you trying to say?” He decided to ask before jumping to conclusions.
“Be careful out there. I can tell there’s something else to you, something more than untrusting and quiet. In some cases, people might see it as bad, probably a lot of people, and that’s alright. But honestly, it could be a good thing out there.” He took a deep breath and looked to the sky. “Those people there, they need you. They won’t make it without you. And that little girl, she adores you. I can see it. Be what they need you to be.”
Howard clamped Daniel’s shoulder and smiled. He pushed Daniel off and turned around, not looking back. Daniel walked to the group, a chill ran down him as he did, as if his soul had just been read.
22
The road Paxton chose had been very clear. In fact, he had only seen one soulless wandering the street. He passed it with no problems or hesitations. He was so pumped up to be making some serious ground that the late hour wasn’t affecting him at all. He was sure if he found a place to stop, that would quickly change. But for now, the window rolled down and the cool night air whipping across his face, it was the first time he felt a little in control.
That all changed when the sound came, traveling across the roads and fields he had passed. It was a loud thundering boom. He hit the brakes hard, seeing nothing in front of him as a threat and knowing anything behind him was too far away to catch him. He looked out the window and saw the large orange light.
What the hell was that? It looked like it was coming from…the fort. He stepped out of the car and watched the light. Then it hit him. It wasn’t a light. It was a fire. The light of the fire started to shine brighter, and he could see the grey of the smoke take over a large portion of the black sky above it. What happened?
He got back into his car and sat for a moment. He was on his way to get Stacey. He had to get her. Luke seemed to have everything under control, right? He shifted back to drive but kept his foot on the brake. Sure, they lied to him and they may have tried to keep him there, but they had taken him in. Paxton had known Luke for what seemed like his whole life. He had to go back and make sure they had it under control. Luke would have done it for him. Just a quick drive-by and he was on his way. At least, that’s what he told himself.
Driving up on the fort, he would have never been prepared for what he saw even if somebody had told him. He got as close as possible, finding the tail end of the horde of soulless entering the walls. The very wall that he had taken a car from. It looked as if they were able to squeeze in, a dozen or so at a time, wandering in, packed in lines. He looked up and saw two of the houses on fire. The heat from it was starting to settle on his face, like opening an oven to check if dinner was done.
He inched closer but drew the attention of two of the soulless. They turned around and started to amble his way. He rolled the window up, allowing them to smack their faces against the glass. He stared at the two dead men. Their teeth gnashed and saliva flung across the glass. He turned his attention back to the entrance when he heard gunshots. He watched the horde disperse once they reached inside the walls. Two people ran across the street and through the mob of the dead.
Larry and Sherry were panicked. Sherry had a pistol, but Larry had nothing but a backpack in his hands. Paxton looked to the rifle that sat in his passenger seat next to him. Guilt weighed down on him as he looked back up and saw Sherry pull Larry up from his knees. The man stumbled to get up and saw it coming. Three soulless came at Sherry and him, but he quickly pushed Sherry away and tackled forward, gripping all of the legs of the dead, taking them to the ground.
“Run, now!” Larry yelled at Sherry. She eyed the hole in the wall and looked back to Larry. “Now!” he screamed one last time.
“Fuck!” she screamed and ran as more soulless came down on Larry. The man’s screams didn’t last long before the gurgles of choking on blood over took them.
Paxton snapped out of the trance of watching his own damage happen. He drove closer to the gap in the makeshift wall, drawing more attention from a few straggling soulless. It didn’t matter. He saw Sherry running and had a chance to save her. He pulled the car up close and hit the brakes hard and turned. The tail end of the car swung and skidded into two of the dead, knocking them down to what he hoped would be their final resting place. He reached over and swung the door open, watching Sherry make a bee line for the door.
“Get in!” Paxton yelled at her. A loud explosion blew up in the compound behind her, knocking her face-down against the street. Paxton shielded his face as a gut reaction, even though nothing came flying toward him. He watched as the soulless started to get close and surround Sherry. She climbed to her feet and unloaded her pistol, taking down half of the crowd in front of her. She made her feet slap pavement hard.
Paxton grabbed the rifle and shifted it up, making room for her to sit. She dove forward, and he picked u
p the rifle high, pointing it out at the crowd. A dead woman grabbed at her feet and snarled as her face came down on Sherry’s leg. “Go, go, go!” Sherry screamed as she kicked at the soulless’s face.
Paxton pulled the trigger, exploding the face of the dead woman all over the interior of the car just before her jaws could clamp down on Sherry’s leg. The splatter covered Sherry’s face, and she quickly wiped it off with her hand. Paxton tossed the rifle to Sherry as she sat up and he put his foot on the gas as fast as he could.
The tires of the little two-door coupe he stole peeled out and took off, leaving all the soulless chomping at the air. Paxton could hear Sherry breathing deep and fast, catching her breath and holding back cries. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw the remnants of the fort he had been welcomed in. The one that his good friend had sheltered him with, the one that sheltered families and friends, the one that he had left vulnerable to attack and killed multiple innocent people, including his best friend.
Paxton swallowed hard as he drove down the dark road.
23
Daniel drove the car, not speaking to anyone. He glanced around, Alan still to his right and Jennifer in the back. She was obviously not back to herself, but she was at least sitting up, watching the scenery go by out the window. He was glad she wasn’t an inconsolable mess, or a vegetable lying in the back, but anything other than happy he wasn’t being distracted by a weeping widow was far from his mind. Howard really had screwed with his head.
That man, that truck stop, restaurant-keeping man had stared deep inside of him and pulled out who he was, mostly, at least. It was like he saw right through who he was trying to show to people. Still, Howard had told him that he, the cold-blooded killer, was the one that this group needed. Of course, Daniel thought, he had no unrealistic perceptions of himself. He knew what he did was definitely not accepted by society. He brought death how he saw fit, and that was fine by him. He learned to fit in when needed. But fitting in when needed didn’t mean actually saving anyone. It meant skating by, it meant lurking in the shadows, just barely out of sight. He was accepted because he wasn’t seen.
That was it. He wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t their savior or anything else to them. In fact, he was more of a threat than anything else. Sure, he might help them along the way, only because it benefitted himself, but as soon as it didn’t, they meant nothing to him. He made up his mind. Too much of this questioning and back and forth with himself was already becoming exhausting. It was time to leave.
He slammed on the brakes when he saw the tree in front of them, laying across the road. The car skidded to a halt, jerking Alan and Jennifer forward. “What the fuck, man?” Alan asked, opening his eyes wide at the road.
“Looks like there’s a road block,” Daniel said aloud, not really meaning to reply to Alan’s question.
“What should we do?” Jennifer asked.
Her husband’s death had really done her in. There were obviously two answers to her question had she only thought about it, but Daniel decided to cut her some slack. He knew how death affected normal people, at least how they showed it affecting them. He didn’t actually know what it felt like to experience it.
The answers were either to go back and find a different road, which would take them at least an hour, and who knows if the roads were any better. The second answer was to move it. He supposed if the group came together to move it, they could get it taken care of. The area around the road was too thick with bushes and trees to go around. Maybe they could drive a path around, but it seemed more difficult than it was worth. He opened the door and stepped out, taking a look at the tree. It really wasn’t that big to move, just too big to drive over.
Cole pulled his vehicle up behind Daniel and slowed it to a stop, rolling down the window. “What do you think, Danny?”
He shook his head, looking around. Something didn’t feel right, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Whatever it was, he was sure moving the tree and getting back on the road as soon as possible was the best idea. “We’re gonna have to get everyone out and move it.”
Courtney stepped out of the car, followed by Eden. “I wanna help,” Eden said eagerly.
“Eden, you should stay in the car,” Cole said to his daughter, seeing her face immediately drop to disappointment.
“It’s okay, I might need the help,” Courtney said with a smile, causing Eden to perk up. “I’ll make sure she’s safe when we do it.” Cole nodded.
Alan and Jennifer hopped out and walked to the downed tree. Courtney took Eden with her, following the other two. “Is this really the best way to do this?” Cole asked Daniel.
Why the hell is he asking me? Daniel thought. People really were looking up to him, and he needed to get out of this situation. “Hell no, it isn’t the best way to do this,” Daniel replied. “But what other choice do we have? Do you want Eden to be sitting for another hour trying to make our way around this, only to possibly find the road blocked that way?”
Cole nodded. “It just feels different here. We’re a little out in the open.”
Daniel couldn’t have agreed more with the man, but still, if they did this quick, then they could be on their way. The two men started to head down to the tree when Daniel heard an engine revving behind them on the road. He spun around, catching a glimpse of the metal sticking out of the window of the pickup truck heading their way. It was the barrel of a gun.
Daniel grabbed Cole and pushed him forward with a leap. The two men dove to the side of the road in the dirt, behind the trees just before the gunfire started. Daniel mentally kicked himself for leaving all the guns in the car and looked around, hoping for another member of his group to have brought one with them. He was met with a bunch of blank stares. Cole rolled onto his stomach and propped himself up on his arms.
“Where’s Eden?” he asked, frantically searching around. Cole nearly made it to his feet before Daniel grabbed him again and pulled him back down.
“Stay down. You’re gonna get yourself killed, and then you’re good to nobody.”
“I don’t care, I need to make sure Eden—”
Daniel quickly pointed across the forest to the downed tree where Courtney was shielding her with her body. Eden’s head was partially exposed from under Courtney’s arm. Her eye was scanning from what view she had, trying to catch a glimpse of what seemed like anything. “She’s right there, now stay down, you idiot.”
Cole seemed to cool down a little, realizing his daughter was safe. Then the fear settled in a little. “What’s going on?” Daniel shook his head. Nobody had a good view of what was happening. The group over at the downed tree had a better view than he did, but they were mostly taking cover, which was smart. Gunfire continued to ring out across the open air. He tried crawling closer, but Cole was the one to stop him this time. “Where are you going?”
“I need to see who they are and what is going on.”
“You just said it yourself, if you get yourself killed, you’re good to nobody.”
That is very true, Daniel thought. But he didn’t intend on being any good to anyone anyway, other than himself. He crawled up the hill he and Cole had fallen down after taking cover. Before he could get too close, he heard it. The gunfire stopped and a new car engine revved to life. Their car. Had Daniel left the keys in the vehicle?
He climbed to his feet and ran up the hill as he heard the vehicle take off. He watched as their vehicle drove down the road the way they came. It wasn’t so much the transportation that was the issue. In fact, they still had one car left to use, but it was the car that they took. It was the one with all of the guns in it.
A rustling came from behind him. He spun around, looking fast for a fight, but it was Alan. He darted past him at full speed. Daniel watched as he ran into the woods, instead of down the road. “What are you doing?”
“Some of them took off into the woods, I’m gonna get them,” Alan yelled out as if it was no big deal.
Daniel looked into the distan
ce and could see it. He was so frustrated about the car being taken and focused on them driving away that he hadn’t seen the men in the trees. They had made quite a distance between them, but Daniel could make out a figure. There was no way he would catch them now, and even if he did, they had all the weapons and he had nothing. Still, watching Alan run after them only made Daniel dislike him more. There was no way he was letting him go alone. Daniel took off after Alan into the trees.
Alan was pretty far ahead before Daniel started after him. And the men were even further from Alan. Something was wrong with this whole situation. Why hadn’t the people killed any of them? They had the guns to do it. All they did was steal from them. Were they just people trying to survive but didn’t want to hurt anyone? It was possible, but it seemed unlikely. Most people would want to join forces, and if they didn’t, then they’d likely be willing to murder. All the scenarios ran through Daniel’s head as he chased Alan through the thick trees.
Suddenly, Daniel’s thoughts switched from who the people were that stole from them, to Alan. What did Alan truly think was going to happen if he caught up to them? Sure, Alan wasn’t someone to be handled lightly, but also, a group of people with guns versus one wannabe serial killer wouldn’t make much of a fight. He thought about Alan’s response being so calm and collected. He wasn’t letting him get out of his sights so easily. But then again, why did he care?
Daniel was making his own plans to disappear and make it out on his own. He was close enough to his bunker that he could just bail on everyone now. He didn’t like being made a fool of, though. Nobody was going to think they pulled one over on him.
Daniel clenched his jaw as he watched Alan in the distance swerving through trees and ducking under branches. He was fast and nimble running through a forest, Daniel could give him that. Suddenly, Alan ducked behind a tree and didn’t come around. Daniel ran faster and caught up to where he saw Alan disappear. Alan wasn’t there, just empty space. He looked up and saw nobody in the forest. He jogged a few feet toward another patch of tall trees and it hit him. Literally, right in the face.
Soulless Wanderers: Soulless Wanderers Book 1 Page 17