Children of the Apocalypse (Mace of the Apocalypse #3)

by Daniel J. Williams

  Mace slammed on the brakes as he approached an intersection. The bus skidded hard as Jim and Yvette entered the crosswalk to the right of them on the moped. The rear of the bus began to swerve to the right as Mace held the brakes. He fought to control it, turning the wheel hard into the swerve.

  The bus and moped were on a collision course, so Jim dropped the scooter on its side, tucking down to avoid getting creamed by the bumper. The scooter skidded across the asphalt and Yvette hit the ground hard, smacking her helmet. The bus slid over the top of them, the front left tire crushing the scooter before the bus came to a hard stop.

  "Oh my God!" yelled Jade. "That was Jim and Yvette! Open the door!" She thought they'd been crushed under the tires.

  Mace opened the door and Jade rushed out, peering under the front of the bus. She could see them both trying to scramble out. "They're okay!" she yelled, turning to survey their surroundings. The infected were scattered. It wasn't life-threatening. No need to waste a flash bomb.

  Yvette reached the front and Jade grabbed her arm, pulling her up. She instantly hugged her. "What are you doing here? My God, I thought we'd run you over."

  Tugging the helmet off her head, Yvette chucked it to the side. "Oh my God, am I glad to see you!" Yvette hugged her again. "I thought we were gonna get killed on that stupid scooter!"

  Crawling out from under the bus, Jim took a quick look around. "Got room for two more?"

  Jade hugged him. "Of course. Let's get out of here!"

  Climbing on the bus, they were faced with a stressed but briefly smiling Mace. "I think I crushed your Barbie scooter."

  Yvette smacked Jim in the arm. "Told you!" she said.

  "It's real good to see you two still standing."

  "What's the plan?" asked Jim, gawking at all the kids on the bus.

  "We're heading to the medical center. Use the ambulances to close up the hole in the back gate and take out as many as we can before morning."

  "That's what we were going to do!" Jim said excitedly. "We were trying to get to the ambulances."

  "Good thinking. You hear from anyone else?"

  The excitement faded, and Jim paused for a moment before speaking. "It seems like most of the camp is wiped out. There was a lot of chatter early on but then it got real quiet."

  ~~~

  All was peaceful at the medical center. Mace pulled the bus to a stop in front and jumped out of the driver's seat. It was time to make it up to Woody. "You're in charge of the bus. Follow the ambulance. Once the lights go on, the pirates should just stop. Take out as many as you can from inside the bus. Try to avoid getting out on the street."

  Feeling a little more appreciated, Woody grabbed his pedal blocks. "One thing we can do is kill pirates," he said as he positioned the blocks correctly.

  "Get as much antidote as possible," Mace said quietly to Jade. "In case things don't go as planned. I'll help make sure the building is clear and then get the ambulance started." Turning towards Jim, Mace spelled out the rest of the plan. "You and Yvette take the second ambulance. We'll take it slow and head for the back gate. Take the rear and cover the bus. Angela cut out a piece of the fence. We'll cover it with the first ambulance to keep any more from getting in."

  "Roger that."

  "Stay right on my ass," Mace said to Woody.

  Woody nodded, not quite yet over his pouting.

  Rushing out the door, Mace ran straight into the building with Jade directly behind. He charged through it, making sure it was clear before running out the back door towards the ambulance.

  Jim paused before running down the stairs of the bus. "We'll be right behind you if you run into any trouble." Staring at the pint-sized kids on the bus, Jim wasn't sure how smart it was to leave them alone.

  "Likewise," answered Woody, who was getting excited at the thought of killing more pirates. "Honk if you need backup. My gang can take care of anything."

  Two shots at the back of the medical center diverted their attention. Jim jumped off the platform and instantly disappeared from view. "Shit," Yvette said quietly before following.

  "Hot Dog," Woody commanded, "make sure everything's okay." Hot Dog grinned and immediately ran down the bus stairs.

  Around the corner, an infected lay sprawled next to the first ambulance. "Keep your eyes out," Mace spoke quietly to Jim, who had just arrived. "They're scattered everywhere." It was dark and hard to see. Dark clouds blew by like specters overhead.

  They heard a thwack and turned to see an infected drop behind them. Holding his slingshot out in front of him, Hot Dog abruptly pivoted back towards the bus before they could even say a word. He did a little skip before jumping back on.

  "What are they, like a bunch of little assassins?" asked Jim.

  Mace couldn't help but be impressed. "Something like that. Just be glad they're on our side."

  They had the ambulances on the move a minute later. Mace pulled up to the front of the building as Jade ran out of the medical center. Carrying a duffel bag, she jumped into the passenger side, panting, "Got most of it."

  Mace hit the emergency lights and the night lit up into a pyschedelic light show. "Oohs," and "Aahs," filled the school bus as Mace drove out onto the street. Jim turned his own lights on, creating a disorienting and magical effect for the kids on the bus.

  Maya's eyes lit up as she yelled out in excitement, "It's just like Disneyland!" Watching the sparkle in Maya's eyes, Alexi couldn't help but smile.

  Traveling slowly down the street, the infected began slowly appearing. Drawn by the lights, they moved steadily towards their source, their mouths opening as they fell into a trance-like state. Mace slowed to a crawl, causing Woody to bump into his rear bumper. "Sorry," Woody said out loud, crunching the gears to keep the bus from stalling.

  The kids were staring in disbelief as the infected moved closer, their blood-red eyes wide and focused on the lights that spun in revolving colors. Their faces were utterly grotesque, and despite the toughness of the children, their hearts beat hard with fear.

  Noticing that his comrades weren't moving, Woody yelled, "Open the windows! It's payback time!"

  The kids snapped out of their own trance and rocks started whizzing towards the hypnotized infected. The excitement on the bus quickly reached a fever pitch. "Yeah!" "Did you see me kill that pirate!" "Did you see that one's face smash in!"

  Hoots and hollers filled the bus as the caravan moved slowly forward. The infected were steadily dropping, causing Woody to grow more confident and anxious. He was dying to get involved in the action.

  Seeing the jail up ahead, Woody realized they were reaching the back fence. He hit the lever for the front door and it whooshed open. "Alex!" he yelled. "I need you to drive!"

  The closer they came to the fence, the thicker the congregation of walking corpses. The whirling lights had attracted any close enough to see them, causing others to blindly follow.

  Mace stopped the ambulance twenty feet from the hole in the fence. Amazingly, more were still passing through. There were over thirty between him and the fence line, with plenty more on the other side. "I want to get you on the bus," he said to Jade, who held Jason tightly in her arms. "If we need to, I'll use a flash grenade. They should be pretty easy to move through, though." The infected had all stopped moving now, focusing in a trance on the revolving ambulance lights.

  "Where did they all come from?" Jade remarked in awe of their numbers.

  "I don't know. They must have been building up for a while."

  Mace lifted a crowbar off the seat and said quietly, "Wait here a sec." He exited the ambulance and walked slowly and cautiously up to the closest infected, crowbar at the ready. It didn't stir. None did. They were too focused on the lights to pay attention to anything else.

  Slowly maneuvering to the passenger side, Mace quietly opened the door. "Let's go, " he said barely above a whisper. Jade exited carefully, keeping her eyes peeled on them as she clutched Jason to her shoulder. They walked calmly to the bus, where Woo
dy now stood outside watching with interest.

  "They don't care that we're here!" he said, excitedly.

  "I know," Mace said quietly. "But let's not push our luck. I'm going to position the ambulance in front of the hole. Just stay here and wait for me."

  Jade boarded the bus and sat next to Melissa. Woody remained outside, continuing to stare with fascination at the spellbound infected. As Mace maneuvered the ambulance in front of the hole, Woody briefly climbed back on board. "C'mon," he said, addressing the kids. "It's time to kill us some pirates!"

  "No, wait!" Jade felt her heart leap into her throat. "Let's just wait until Mace gets back, then we can leave."

  Woody ignored her. "Now's our chance!" he yelled. "Peter Pan would never back down from a fight!"

  Kids started yelling as they stood, eager to get on with it. The hair on the back of Jade's neck tingled as Woody suddenly crowed.

  "Let's go!" he yelled, pointing towards the infected. "We need more rocks, anyway! Bring the spears!" Woody grabbed a spear and leapt off the bus steps, landing with a thud on the ground and instantly charging an infected, who remained passive, staring at the lights. The area surrounding the bus was now saturated with undead. They all had been drawn to the same location.

  Woody jabbed a spear up into the neck of an infected and it fell backwards, crashing into another. Woody screamed with delight as he turned and shoved the spear into another one's face.

  The kids raced off the bus, some snapping rocks out of their slingshots while others lunged at the infected with spears. It was instant pandemonium.

  Alexi grabbed Maya as she headed towards the stairs. "Stay with Jade," she said. "It's too dangerous."

  "Aww," Maya pleaded. "I want to kill one, too!"

  Jade was too stunned to do much of anything but hold tight to Jason. "Please, Maya, just stay here with me. You can help me keep Jason safe."

  Maya made a face. "Do I have to?" she asked Alexi.

  "Yes, now not another word." Alexi turned and climbed down the bus steps, spear in hand.

  The commotion was loud and boisterous enough to break the effects of the ambulance lights, and the infected started reacting to the attack. Mace jumped out of the ambulance, looking for an instant at the crowd of entranced zombies gathered on the other side of the fence. They were still in a stupor, away from any action.

  Mace ran towards an infected that was moving towards a kid and swung the crowbar hard down on its head, crushing its skull. With the lights continuing to swirl, the intensity of the scene was utter madness.

  Mace pulled out a flash bang and pulled the pin, tossing it into their midst as he lifted the crowbar to defend himself from another lunging infected. He shoved the bar up and through its chin, then yanked it back out to swing at another.

  Just before the grenade blew an infected came up behind Hot Dog, grabbing a hold of his neck and digging its dead fingers in, drawing blood. Hot Dog squealed in pain as the flash bang went off.

  The scene suddenly went quiet, except for Hot Dog who began convulsing on the ground, gasping as the infection took root. Woody staggered backwards as blood suddenly pooled in Hot Dog's eyes. Alexi, who hadn't seen what happened, rushed to Hot Dog's side, bending over to help him.

  Woody screamed, "No!" as Hot Dog grabbed for Alexi, clutching her hair and pulling her towards him. He bit into her cheek and she shrieked in horror. He pulled his mouth away, and she could see her skin in his teeth as she started to convulse. Blood sprayed from the side of her head as Mace put a bullet through it. A second shot stopped Hot Dog, who fell limp to the ground. Woody stood frozen, unable to move.

  "Get on the bus!" Mace yelled, grabbing kids and pushing them towards the door. Looking around, the area still remained quiet, except for those who now moaned at their own blindness, standing frozen in place, lost to the hell of their own internal world.

  As kids climbed back on board, Woody stood silently over the bodies of his closest friends. He was utterly crushed. Mace pulled up next to him, eager to get everyone back on board.

  "Peter, come on. We need to move."

  Woody looked up as tears streamed down his face. "Don't call me Peter. I don't deserve to be called Peter."

  One of the lights on the ambulance suddenly blew out, causing Mace to twirl around. A few seconds later another light shattered. Ducking down, Mace scanned the area until he spotted the flash a distance away. It was Angela with the sniper rifle. A third light blew.

  "Get on the bus now, and keep everybody down!"

  Mace took off at a sprint, pulling out another flash grenade and hurling it towards Angela. She was long out of reach, perched on the hood of a truck, but the intensity of the flash caused her to pull her eye away from the scope. It momentarily blinded her and kept the infected quiet.

  Around her the infected continued to ignore her. All they smelled on her was affliction and death. As far as they were concerned, she was already one of them.

  Placing her eye back on the scope, she could barely see but was still able to take out the last light on the first ambulance. Without the lights as a distraction, she knew they'd be through.

  Mace was running so fast he tried to hurdle over an infected that drifted in front of him. His knee made contact with its chest and they both tumbled over hard. Rising to his feet, he realized the diminished light was lessening its effects on them. The infected started moving towards him, their rage at his existence tearing at their being. They were going to rip him to shreds.

  Angela trained the scope's crosshairs on Mace's face, watching the scene with fascination. They'd be on him any second. She felt the coldness of death spreading over her body.

  Another flash blinded her and she pulled her face away from the scope. The flash grenade was his last. He needed to get away from them.

  Moving swiftly towards Angela, Mace tried to sprint through their ranks. He cried out as an infected got a hold on him and dug its teeth into his back. He pushed it off and ran further, with more joining in the pursuit. Another one bit into his arm. He wasn't going to make it.

  Woody laid down on the horn as the bus came barreling up from behind Mace. Woody ground the gears as he shifted the bus into third, picking up speed as it bounced over corpses. A bullet hole appeared just to the right of Woody's head, punching through the windshield and veering off into the metal siding.

  Tears streamed down Woody's face as he drove on. Seeing Mace up ahead, he blasted through the infected, losing control of the bus and crashing it into the side of a house.

  Kids were tossed from their seats onto the floor, and Jade clutched Jason tight as she slammed into the seat in front of her. Blood poured down Woody's face. He'd broken his nose on the steering wheel. Ignoring the pain, he hit the lever for the bus door. Jim and Yvette jumped off ahead of him, guns blazing as they tried to clear a path to bring Mace back.

  On the roof of the truck, Angela ignored the living and put her focus back on the second ambulance. A few careful shots and the swirling lights were extinguished for good. The area was now dark as night again.

  Angela started weeping as the maggots began to tear through her skin. The pain was utterly unbearable. Suddenly the specters were all back, darting around overhead. Demons with Sarah's face dove towards her, and she cried out in fear. Her body felt like ice.

  The blood from her stomach leaked down the sides of the truck. It was suddenly being climbed by other demons. Snakelike, they slithered up the blood ropes towards her. She could see Zane's face on one. His tongue flicked towards her, long and forked, and he whispered, "Kevin's waiting for you."

  Angela screamed, "Not yet, you bastards!" before aiming the gun back towards the bus. The only thing keeping her breathing was the strength of the virus in her cells. Her eyes were now pink and her reflexes slower.

  ~~~

  Jim and Yvette pulled Mace back onto the bus. Woody quickly shut the door before the infected could board, who now banged on the windows and tried to climb the sides to get at them. Their
moans filled the air.

  "What do we do?" yelled Woody.

  "Get out of here!" answered Mace, feeling woozy and sick as the contagion worked its way through his system.

  Woody put the bus in reverse and revved the gas. The bus struggled to break free of the wreckage. Through the windows, rocks and spears went to work on the infected outside. Bullet holes began punching through the glass as Angela fired wildly. Kids screamed in fright as Mace yelled for everyone to stay down.

  "We're pinned down. We need to get to Angela."

  Woody was out of his seat immediately. "She's mine! This is all her fault!"

  Mace ignored him as he laid out a quick plan. "If we could get to the front porch closest to the truck," he said, lifting his head slightly to try to see the outlay, "then we could set off the propane."

  "I'll go," said Woody. "I'm small. She won't see me, and I can get by the pirates."

  Mace didn't have time to argue. "Okay, I'll watch your back. Stay low and head for the porch. There's a panel right next to the doorbell. Lift it and hit the switch twice, and then run like hell back here."

  "What does it do?"

  "It will set off a bomb. The blast should take care of Angela."

  Woody hit the door lever and Mace lifted his 9mm, taking out three infected as Woody jumped down the steps, running low and fast, sprinting by infected who barely had time to react.

  The crosshairs of Angela's sniper rifle were still trained on the bus windows. She took two shots at the bus to keep them down. She hadn't seen Woody leave.

  Mace's arm was burning, and he felt like he was already running a fever. He grabbed two more flash grenades and one of the kids spears before dropping low to the ground directly outside the bus. Putting the grenades in his pocket, he grabbed an infected's head and slammed it against the side of the bus. It dropped to the ground, and he whispered loudly to Jim inside. "Keep this door clear. I'm going to get as close as possible and set off a flash grenade."