Chapter Ten
Spring is Coming
Jaz
I started awake. What the fuck? It was still pitch-black outside so I grabbed my watch. 5: a.m. Dammit, Tray.
The dog was going wild, barking and whining from the den, but she hadn’t succeeded in waking Jennifer – yet. I swear, the girl could sleep through an explosion.
I approached the door to the den wearing only my boxers. The dog was scratching desperately, so I opened the door just enough to snag her by the collar. She lunged for the front of the lodge, but I knew letting her out would be a terrible idea.
“What’s wrong?” Jennifer stood bleary-eyed in the passageway, wearing my T-shirt.
“Something has Tray spooked.”
“Really? You don’t say.”
I gave her an exasperated look. “Come on, girl,” I said, as I lifted Tray and carried her to our bedroom, nodding at Jennifer to follow. Tray’s barks had settled to a low growl as I set her on our bed. “Hold her, would you?”
“Why?” Jennifer asked, moving over to Tray and stroking her to calm her down.
I began to get dressed.
“Jaz, what are you doing?” There was an edge in Jennifer’s voice now.
“I need to have a look and see what has Tray spooked so bad, honey,” I said, trying to make my voice matter-of-fact and soothing. “It’s probably an animal. Knowing the damned dog, she just saw our friendly neighborhood squirrel and went nuts.” I chuckled. “Nuts; see what I did there?”
“Screw you, Jaz,” Jennifer snapped. “Tray’s been here as long as we have, and she’s never freaked out like this.”
She was right, of course. In fact, if I were totally honest with myself, the last time I’d seen Tray this aggressive was the day at the O’Reillys’ cabin, and that hadn't gone so well. My blood froze in my veins at the realization.
“You didn’t see her chase that squirrel.” I was trying to deflect. I knew it, and so did she. I crossed to her and enveloped her in my arms, kissing the top of her head. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t you dare say that!” she said, her eyes wide, tears threatening. “That’s what everyone says in every horror movie – and they never come back!”
I wasn’t a horror fan, but I took her word for it. “Look, it’ll be nothing, and I won’t go far. I just want to do a sweep of the area.” What could I say? Once a Marine, always a Marine. “I’ll be five minutes, ten tops.”
It was clear she didn’t want me to go, but I had to make sure. If those creatures were close, we’d have been dead already, but Tray wasn’t barking for nothing. I finished dressing and crossed to the bedroom door, holding up five fingers before slipping out and closing it after me.
By the mudroom door, I donned my boots and snow shoes, then bundled up and grabbed my shotgun. It was loaded with conventional ammo, so I pumped it empty and reloaded with the specials from a box in the drawer. I had spent some time making as many of the rock-salt shells as I could, using the de-icer I kept on hand, and now I had almost a dozen boxes.
I stuffed the Glock into one of my jacket pockets in case it was a different kind of danger Tray was sensing, and then I cracked open the front door. The snow had stopped, at least.
The late March night was as silent as the proverbial night before Christmas, but I raised the shotgun and began a silent stalk around the lodge. I crouched at each corner, leaning around to scan the woods, but there was nothing. No animals, not even a squirrel as far as I could tell, were awake enough to bother Tray.
Damned dog! It had been about fifteen minutes already, and the cold was beginning to bite. I was headed back toward the mudroom door when I saw it out of the corner of my eye.
A dim, shimmering figure stood gazing out over the lake – a man! I blinked. Of course, it wasn't a man – not at these temperatures – but there was something so cloyingly familiar… The hell? I'd seen something just like this, the night Ted died and I had driven away from the Treaters in blind, stupid panic. The same shimmering … mirage … had stood in the roadway the night Ted had died, causing me to swerve and jack knife the trailer, catapulting the enormous Treater into the ravine. What was the ... hallucination? ... trying to tell me now?
Before I could so much as take a breath to shout, the clouds broke and a full moon shone down on the lake, turning it into a glistening silver mirror. I followed the shaft of light as it hit the far shore.
The trees were laden with a light smattering of fresh-fallen snow that shone in the moonlight. The days and nights were growing milder, and I expected the big thaw any day now. Already, the deep snow drifts had dwindled to a mere six inches or so. I watched for several moments as the sky cleared, illuminating the valley in a monochrome shade. It was stunningly, breathtakingly, beautiful. God. On nights like this, I sometimes questioned my lack of faith. I looked up at the expanding blanket of stars, taking a moment to appreciate the little miracles in my life.
My nostrils wrinkled at a faint scent carried on the breeze.
It was pine, mixed with the fresh smell of wind over water, but there was another underlying essence in the odor that caused the hair at the back of my neck to prickle. Dead things. Rot.
Fuck! Was that what had set Tray off? Did it mean what I was afraid it meant? If so, what the fuck were we going to do about it? And what was I going to tell Jennifer? The questions flew through my mind like the winds of a hurricane, and my pulse kept time with the storm. A feeling of hopelessness welled, but before I let it become a risk factor, me I stomped it down, hard. I couldn’t do that. I had Jennifer and Tray, so giving up was not even an option.
I dimly registered the shimmering figure was gone and scanned the surrounding area, drawing a blank. Whatever it was, it had drawn my attention to the rot across the water. It had also saved my life that night, months ago. What the hell was it?
I had no clue, but it didn’t matter right now. Jennifer and Tray needed me, bottom line. I steadied myself and walked back around to the mudroom door. As I mounted the steps, something kind of ... magical happened. A shaft of pink light pierced the clouds over the crest of the eastern hills, and, as if a mighty hand had lit the touch paper, the forest began to awaken. Somewhere in the trees, a single bird warbled a melody, and an answering song rose in the distance. Soon, the air around me filled with birdsong, and it seemed to drag my heart along for the ride.
I walked to the corner of the lodge so I could see the lake; could see into the west where the rot was coming from. I raised a fist, extended my middle finger and, with no emotion whatsoever, said, “Fuck you.”
We were in combat mode, and I had no intention of losing to those abominations. I wasn’t going to let everything Jennifer and I had gone through be wiped away. The game was on.
Jennifer was standing right inside the door as I entered the lodge, her face pale and her eyes red-rimmed. I took her into my arms and held her, content to just breathe in the scent of her shampoo.
“They’re here, aren’t they?”
I touched the back of my hand to her cheek, wiping away a tear that had escaped the corner of her eye. “They aren’t here…yet.” I took her delicate chin and raised her mouth to mine for a gentle kiss. “But they are coming. We have to leave. We have to find somewhere safe.”
Jennifer giggled, the sound bordering on hysteria. “Safe? Where is safe, Jaz? You saw the footage. For God’s sake, you saw what they did to your friends!” The last word came out as a sob.
She was about to lose hope, to descend into the depths of despair I’d teetered on myself. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Jennifer.”
Her eyes dropped, unwilling to meet mine.
“Jennifer!”
I felt her stiffen at the tone I’d used. It was the command tone I’d used for knucklehead Marines who needed to straighten up. I don't think she’d ever heard it before, but it did the job. She looked up at me.
“Call me crazy if you like,” I said.
Her expression
softened for an instant. She’d called me a lot worse, after all.
“But I’ve been thinking, and I have an idea of where might be safe.” I held one of the green-jacketed shotgun shells up. “It's about these.”
I led her into the kitchen and told her the rough outline of my plan while we prepared breakfast together. By the time food was on the table, Jennifer was no longer despairing, but she was absolutely certain I had lost my mind.
***
Jennifer
Had he lost his ever-lovin’ mind? Jaz, the strongest person I’d ever met, had gone bonkers. “Wait, your big plan is you want us to drive to the coast? To San Francisco?”
“That’s the plan.”
“You’re crazy.” I stood up and paced the tile floor. “That’s thousands of miles away.”
“About thirteen hundred, as the crow flies. But ... we're not crows, and we're not flying.”
God, I felt like punching him! “Oh, everything's okay then.” Fear rose as my heart began to gallop, stuttering because of my rising panic. “How do you know it’ll even be safe there? What’s so special about San Francisco? And what does all this have to do with your stupid shotgun shell?”
Jaz pulled me to the table. He placed a fork in my hand, closing my fingers over it. His hands were warm and soft underneath the calluses, but he should have wiped them on a towel first. Bacon grease. Eww.
“Hear me out, okay?” he asked, taking the seat opposite.
He didn’t look crazy. I nodded for him to go ahead.
“You know these things can be killed with salt, right?”
I nodded again.
“And the ocean is full of salt.”
I couldn't help myself. “Wait – that’s your great plan? We camp out by the coast and go high-tailing it into the water any time one of those things comes along? Jesus, Jaz...I knew you were crazy, but that’s...dumb.”
He chuckled, and I balled my fist in preparation for punching him.
“Just stay with me.” he said. “And no, while camping on the beach with a beautiful young lady might be my idea of heaven,” he flashed me one of his crooked grins, and my temper eased a little, “I’m not about to lose you to those bastards. I was thinking more about an island, which is another thing our destination and this shell have in common.”
What was it with this shotgun shell? I rolled my eyes. It was clear he wanted me to beg. “Okay, hotshot; out with it.”
His mouth widened into a toothy grin. “It’s rock salt, Jennifer. We’re going to the Rock.”
Really? I groaned, putting my face into my palms as Jaz’s laughter filled the kitchen. I briefly wondered how he could laugh at a time like this, but then I looked – really looked – at his face. It was alive in a way I didn’t think I’d seen before. Up until now, there had always been an air of resignation hovering around him, as if he knew we were living on borrowed time. Now? I don't know. He looked … ready.
“So, we drive, what? Fifteen hundred miles in the slim hope that Alcatraz will be the world’s last safe haven? Jaz, have you thought this through? We have your pickup, but what will we do when the gas runs out? Just pull over and fill up?”
He shrugged again. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy, hon, but don’t worry about gas. I have all the gear we need to pump it from the underground tanks, if it comes to that. Oh, I never asked. Can you drive?”
“Of course, but...”
He clapped his hands together, still smiling. “Great. That means we can share the driving.” He winked.
My head reeled from it all: the monsters lurking outside, God knows how close, and the prospect of leaving this place I’d grown to love.
“How long will it take?” I asked. The furthest I’d driven was from home to the diner, which took about an hour on a busy day. It was a nice commute, good for listening to my audiobooks.
Jaz concentrated for a second, weighing the question in his head. “A few months ago, I’d have said a couple of days,” He waved his hands in a sweeping gesture. “Now? A week, maybe more, depending on having to avoid blocked roads. I’ll check the route and look for places we can hole up.”
What? “What do you mean, hole up? Jaz, if we can’t keep ahead of these things, we’re dead. I…think I’d rather stay here than die somewhere...strange.”
“I know, honey. I’ll be sorry to leave here too. We’ve made some great memories. It’ll be hard, but we can’t stay, don’t you see? We need someplace that can be safe for us. Permanently.”
“I know, but...”
“I have a theory, and it all comes back to the day I found Tray.”
At her name, the dog’s ears perked up and she began wagging her tail. She trotted over to rest her head on my knee. I ruffled her ears, and she gave a satisfied huff before returning to her bed; one of the half dozen folded comforters scattered around the lodge.
“You found her in an underground bunker, right?” Jaz had told me the tale, but he had never elaborated or discussed anything beyond that he’d found Tray and her dead mistress. “I still don’t get it.”
“Don’t you see? Jennifer, the whole town was dead. There were no pets, and thinking back, there weren’t even any birds. All the bodies were gone, too. Except for the blood everywhere, there wasn’t a scrap of flesh left in the whole town. No body parts, very little viscera.”
A glimmer of a thought began to grow at the back of my mind. No…he couldn’t be serious – could he? “Except for Tray and her old owner,” I supplied. I stood up and began pacing again. It always helped me think. “But why them, Jaz?”
“Because they were underground.”
He was serious. Was it that simple? “Are you serious? This is all you have? It’s a little too … tenuous to risk our lives on, don’t you think?”
He nodded in agreement. “I do, and if that were the only consideration, Jennifer, I'd say we make our stand here. But I’ve been thinking. Remember, I told you about going off the road into that farmer’s field?”
I thought back. He’d told me this story that first night in my dad’s diner, so the details were a little sketchy. It must have been clear by my expression.
“I told you about the plants and some of the crops being dead, right?”
I nodded. I didn’t remember, but he didn’t need to know that.
“That means I spent the night with Treaters in the area, but I was still alive the next day. How do you figure that?”
He had me stumped. He was right; he and Tray spent the night in the pickup truck. They should have died that night. “I still don’t get it.”
“It was the dirt, Jennifer. The field I crashed into had just been ploughed, and by the time I got the vehicle stopped, we were half-buried in the earth. The trailer had tipped over as well, so everything above ground was covered in muck.”
I stopped in mid-step. “So you’re saying these things can’t see through dirt?” I was beginning to sound as crazy as he was, but what other explanation was there?
He shrugged. “Not…’see’. I don’t have a better word for it, but I don’t think they worry about seeing in any case. I think they can’t sense through dirt. That’s part of the reason Alcatraz is our best bet for a permanent, or at least long-term, shelter. Sure there are plenty of other islands off the west coast that would be easier to get to, but the Rock is perfect for us. I’ve been there a couple of times, and there are buildings, but more importantly, there is a system of tunnels – underground, reinforced, structurally sound tunnels. It’s close enough to the city we could leave at dawn to scavenge and be back well before dusk. The salt water should be a barrier, but we have to assume some of those things might be able to swim…” he hesitated the briefest of moments, and I saw him shudder, “or even fly across.” He looked at me for a long moment. “Do you have a better idea, hon? If you do, I’m all ears.”
I didn’t. I turned to gaze into his sparkling eyes then knelt to pat Tray. I took her head between my hands and looked at her adorable, trusting face. “So, how
about it, girl? Are you up for a little road trip?”
Tray stood up and began slobbering my face. Jaz laughed then joined us on the floor to get his fair share of attention…from both of us.
“I love you, Jennifer,” he whispered, “and I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
I smiled at him, trying to convey both my tenderness for him and the serious intent of my words. “I love you too, Jaz. But we both know you can’t keep that promise. So, how about you make me another?”
He knew what I was asking, but instead of refusing immediately, as I expected, he nodded stiffly. “If it comes to that; if there’s no other choice. I’ll do all of us.”
It sounded so cold, but it was one of the kindest things he’d ever said to me.
Chapter Eleven
The Road Trip
Jaz
We took a few hours to pack what we needed for the trip. We erred on the side of caution, taking every possible item of use. I was surprised when a menorah ended up in the crew cab, packed carefully between some blankets and the few books Jennifer and I had managed to debate it down to.
“Where the heck did you find that?” I asked, nodding over my shoulder at the seven-stemmed candlestick. I knew I hadn’t brought it with me, and my parents, as far as I remembered, hadn’t owned one.
Jennifer cast a careful glance in my direction. “At the back of a closet in the weight room. It was buried under a load of fishing gear, but I thought…” She tapered off and her expression became nervous. “I thought…It can’t hurt, right?”
I took her hands, my heart swelling. “Thank you.”
She smiled, but it was clear she was battling with some inner turmoil, so I pushed a bit. “I thought you’d given up on your god?”
“So did I.” She turned to look at me and her gaze was vulnerable…confused. “I guess it takes the certainty of an imminent and ugly death at the hands of demons from Hell to renew your faith.”
Treaters: Book One of the Divine Conflict. Page 13