by M. D. Massey
12
Charging
I reloaded and entered the building from the side entrance again, both in an attempt to avoid an ambush from overhead and also so I’d be entering on familiar ground. The way that thing shot up through the ceiling tiles, I had no doubts that it would be waiting high above me in an ambush position. So I opted to enter the building via the hangar area, where I’d at least have a clear 360 view of my surroundings.
I stopped immediately after entering the hangar, pausing under the wing of the Cessna as I listened for any signs of movement. Momentarily, I was greeted by the same gravelly voice I’d heard earlier.
“Come back to finish me off, eh? I doubted anyone around here would have the balls to go against the commander, but obviously you’re not from around here, are you?” His voice again grated on my nerves like a splinter under every fingernail. There was just something otherworldly and entirely unsettling about it that made my skin crawl.
I paused to process what he’d said before I carefully framed my answer. “I figured you were somehow working with the local authorities, but I’m curious how that came to be. Did you threaten them with violence?”
It laughed, a harsh sound that carried both screeching high notes and a low solid rumble. It was probably the most inhuman and frightening sound I’d ever heard in my life. “No, little man. That was not necessary.”
I decided to keep it talking so I could pinpoint its location, and angled my voice toward the back of the hangar to keep it from knowing I was stalking it. “Okay, then tell me why they don’t come out here with some major firepower and blow your ass back to the hell you came from? You and I both know they have the ordinance.”
There was a pregnant and rather unsettling stretch of silence before it replied. “Humans. You are all so predictable. I am—was—the commander’s son, serving in his unit as a subordinate. As it happens, he is loath to kill his only son. A situation that I find to be—ironic.”
Well, that explained a helluva lot. I kept pressing for info. “Still, what I don’t get is how you convinced him and the deputies to let you just take people right out from under their noses. Obviously, someone is missing these people and asking questions.” As I spoke, I continued to try to pin its location down, but couldn’t seem to get a lock on it. I decided to go with Plan B and started working my way to the front of the hangar.
“We simply made a deal. I keep the dead away from their little sanctuary, and they provide me with the castaways from their group. Outsiders, the homeless, and those from foreign lands. No one notices these people, and no one cares that they’re gone.”
I allowed myself a chuckle. “Well, that’s where you’re wrong, asshole. People do care. How do you think I was tipped off to all this shit? Well, besides you killing and kidnapping people. I got news for you, there are people back at that high school who are asking questions, and I have a feeling that your dad is going to have a hard time keeping a lid on it. Just wait until the government gets a grip on this situation, because I can guarantee you that everyone involved is going down.”
I heard it make a noise, and at first I thought it was choking on a bone or coughing up a hairball. Eventually I realized that it was laughing at my comment about the government. Not with the Vincent Price from hell laugh I’d heard a minute ago… this time it was truly and genuinely amused by what I’d just said.
After a minute, the laughter died down and it spoke. “The government? You think that the government is going to swoop in and save you? You have no idea how bad things are for your species right now, or what’s to come. You are no longer the apex predator on this planet, and as of a few days ago your species has become meat for my kind. You are now nothing more than cattle, purposely left alive so we can slaughter you at our leisure.”
That sort of threw me for a loop. “Wait a minute—you mean there are more like you?”
“Yes, and we are a legion.” It paused, and I thought I’d heard it wheeze, which meant it either had a cold or I’d hurt it badly earlier. I banked on the latter. “But, you’ll never see them—at least, not in this life.” And that’s when I knew the thing was coming for me. I felt more than heard it drop to the hangar floor and sprint toward me.
I hit the button that opened the hangar door.
The sudden burst of sunlight halted the thing in its tracks. As it slid to a stop and covered its face, I quickly drew a bead and started taking precision shots, aiming for its joints as I walked forward. Left knee. Right knee. Elbow. Shoulder. Within seconds the accumulated effects of each hit took their toll, and it was a quivering, mewling mass on the floor. I sauntered up and methodically reloaded as it started crawling toward the back of the hangar. Thanking the Man above for this bright, sunny Texas day, I started putting rounds in its head, one after another until it finally stopped moving.
After the sound of gunfire stopped ringing in my ears, I found that I desperately wanted to get the hell out of there, to just take Elena and Rayden back to the ranch and hole up there until Kingdom come. But, I had two things weighing on my mind at the moment: one being my parents, and two being the fact that I was hella curious to see what this thing was all about.
So I pulled it out onto the tarmac and studied it thoroughly with the hunter’s eye for detail that my grandfather had instilled in me years before. I removed its clothing, piece by piece. Sure enough, it was still wearing dog tags that identified it as Robert L. Hillis, blood type AB negative, Catholic. Interesting.
I examined the body with a coroner’s care, taking note of every detail. I assumed that in the future I might come across one of these things again, so I wasn’t taking any chances. I started with the head and mouth, noticing the changes in the eyes, a shriveling of the cartilage in the nose and ears, and the loss of hair. Pulling back the lips, I saw that several of its teeth were loose. Not wanting to risk any chance of infection, I pulled out my multi-tool and used the pliers to pull one out. Underneath, I could see the point of a sharp, almost shark-like tooth poking its way up through the gum line to replace it.
Moving down the body, the same changes in skin color and texture were noticeable all over. I noted that the body was hairless, although the thing’s genitalia were intact. What was incredibly frightening was that it’d been hit more times than I’d thought, maybe with a few dozen rounds. Despite all that damage, until I’d started taking the strategic approach to round placement it had still been able to function. That told me it didn’t necessarily rely on internal organs to keep its motor functions going; in other words, it didn’t experience shock like a human would. Scary, but fascinating.
I continued my examination by moving to the limbs, and saw that the fingernails and toenails were also falling out, being replaced with what looked like thicker and more clawlike nails. The bones in the hands and the feet also appeared to be elongating, although that could have just been a congenital defect. Overall, though, it was apparent that this thing had once been human, but it had been in the process of morphing into something much more hideous and dangerous.
I filed the info away for future reference, then went back to check on Elena. She sat stock still on the hood of the truck, just where I’d left her. Once I knew she was fine, I started rummaging around in the hangar for more clues regarding the nature of this thing. In my search, I found a room stacked up with rotting corpses, all of which had been savaged at the throat and drained of blood.
Realization dawned on me like a bolt of lightning. Holy shit, that thing was an honest-to-goodness vampire. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
After no small amount of thought, I settled on what I had to do. I wrapped it up in a tarp and threw it in the back of the old pickup. It only took a few minutes to figure out how to hotwire the old girl, and she started up like a dream. I got Elena buckled in and headed back to where I’d left Rayden, so I could drop her off with him while I took care of business. He was happy to see her alive and well, but he was also uncharacteristically quiet. He was probably in
shock, but I could do nothing about it at the moment. Once I made sure they were settled in, I headed over to the high school.
I pulled right up to the back loading docks, because I knew that was probably where they brought in supplies that they’d scrounged from around the area. I left my rifle in the truck behind the seat and moved my sidearm around to the small of my back, concealing it under the flannel shirt I was wearing. I decided to act like I belonged here, hoping that I’d be able to bluff my way through. Grabbing the covered body of Hillis’ son from the back of the truck, I slung it over my shoulder and marched right up to the loading dock doors.
A soldier stopped me at the door. “Whoa, where do you think you’re going?”
I pointed at the wrapped up corpse on my back. “Deputy Carson said y’all needed meat. I used to be a guide at the Y.O. Ranch, so he asked me to go out and hunt some deer from one of the local ranches. I’m delivering a doe I shot this morning.”
“First I heard of it, but alright. Just make sure you don’t scare anyone when you take that thing into the mess hall.”
I nodded. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Once inside I made a beeline to the cafeteria, where I knew everyone would be gathered in preparation for midday chow. I marched right up to the center of the room, hopped up on a table, and dumped the body in the middle, unfurling it from the tarp for all the world to see. That pretty much got everyone’s attention, and soon people started crowding around and murmuring amongst themselves.
“What is that thing?”
“Is it one of those infected?”
“Looks like a monster—not even human.”
And so on. Their reactions varied, but I wasn’t interested in sparking speculation. Soldiers would come to break this up soon, so I had to act fast to get the word out about what Hillis had been doing.
I cleared my throat, and spoke up in my best command voice. “Folks, what you see before you is a different kind of creature from the infected you’re already familiar with. I tracked this one to the airport, right after it came into the room I’d been assigned here and attacked the people who were sleeping there. Unlike the infected, these things are intelligent and capable of speech, and this one told me he’d made a deal with Captain Hillis.”
Someone shouted from the crowd. “To do what?”
“To hunt and kill you—or, more specifically, to kill those of you who wouldn’t be missed. That’s where the missing people have gone. Before I killed it, this thing told me that it had worked out a deal with the commander to help keep the infected away from this compound, in exchange for human lives. A few here, a few there, and always people who wouldn’t be missed. Immigrants and those who had no family with them.”
At that, the crowd burst into an uproar, and I could see that the soldiers in the cafeteria had no idea what to do. One of them was on his comms, but in the commotion all I could tell was that he talked a hundred miles a minute. A few others chattered amongst themselves, probably conferring about what I’d just revealed. I was hoping their civilian soldier status would work in my favor, that this would spark a combined revolt between the people and the close-knit group of soldiers who must’ve been helping Hillis to keep up his charade. Considering the timeline, it couldn’t have been going on for long, so I suspected only a few soldiers and cops knew the full story.
Once the crowd worked into a frenzy, I knew it was high time to make myself scarce. I’d done my good deed for the day and then some, and I was ready to get back on the road. The fact that my parents were facing this mess alone weighed on me heavily, but unfortunately now I had two extra souls to look after. I needed to think things through before I headed out, because there was no way I was getting back on the road with that little girl in tow. Rayden was one thing; he could more or less fend for himself. But Elena would just slow us down, and I wasn’t about to get her killed by taking her on the road with us.
I made a snap decision and started looking for Bibi as I worked my way out of the crowd. I finally spotted her sitting off to the side, sipping a cup of coffee and observing the ruckus. I moved over to her as quickly as possible without mowing anyone over.
“Well, you sure stirred things up here, didn’t you?” she said as I walked up to her table. “I knew that Hillis was up to no good, but I never expected something like this. You look like hell.”
“If you knew the night I just had, you’d understand. Look Bibi, I don’t have much time. Before long Hillis is going to have people looking for me, and I need to get out of town before he does. Only problem is, I have a kid with me who needs looking after.”
She nodded sagely. “That boy who was with you?”
I shook my head. “Nope, a little girl who was bunked with us last night. That thing over there killed her mom.” I tilted my head toward the bloodsucker, hesitating to say what I thought it was out loud. “Think you can help out?”
She stood up and pulled her jacket around her. “I’m too old to be looking after a young child, but I’m sure I can find someone to take care of her. Question is, is this the safest place for her to be right now?”
“Well, I’ve seen what it’s like outside these fences, and I’d have to say it is. Not that I trust Hillis to be in charge here—but I don’t think he will be for long.”
She glanced over at the people crowding around the corporal’s corpse and gave me a look of disgust. They were now in the process of being dispersed by some soldiers, but the crowd wasn’t having it. I knew that pretty soon they’d be crying out for blood.
I motioned for her to follow. “Come on, I have a truck parked around back. Also got a safe place for you and the kid to stay until things blow over. You can come back here once the smoke has settled.”
She barked a short laugh and rolled her eyes at me. “The hell I will! If you get me out of here, there’s no way I’m coming back. Just promise me you’ll pass through to check on us on your way back from getting your folks.”
I took that to mean that she was going to look after Elena after all, but I didn’t bother to ask for clarification. By the time we were leaving the building more soldiers were headed in that direction. They were obviously preoccupied with the disturbance I’d caused, so they ignored us as we headed down the halls toward the loading docks.
A few minutes later we were in the truck, headed back to the house where I’d left Rayden and Elena. As I drove past the front of the high school, we heard shots fired. I could only hope that they were for Hillis and those who helped him, and not for the innocent people who had looked to the military for help in a crisis. Far be it from me to take on an entire battalion of soldiers, though; I’d done my part, now it was up to them.
13
Suffocating
It didn’t take long for Bibi to gain Elena’s trust. I figured the kid would take to her, since she put off a serious grandma vibe of the kind kids can’t resist. I got Bibi settled in at the little cottage, then spent about half an hour raiding nearby homes for food and supplies to see them through until things calmed down. I promised to check back in on them in a few days on my way back from Austin, and left Bibi my beloved Kahr .45 and a box of ammo, along with my spare magazines. She accepted them without comment.
Rayden seemed to have a hard time leaving Elena behind. He spent a few moments with her, and I noticed that she’d somehow ended up with a rag doll in the time since I’d left them earlier that day. The kid had a soft touch, that was for sure. Resourceful, too. I thought about it as we loaded up, and finally took him off to the side away from Elena and Bibi to talk.
“Look, kid, I know you’re shook up about what happened last night. I also think you can help Elena and Bibi a helluva lot more than you can help me. That’s why I think it’s best if you stay here with them until I get back.”
He chewed his lip and looked at the ground. “You mean if you make it back.”
I tilted my head and nodded. “You know as well as I do how hairy things are out there. No need to lie; I’d say t
here’s a fifty-fifty chance I won’t make it back. All the more reason for you to stay here. Besides, you got skills and you’re a survivor. You can do a lot of good by staying behind and looking after Bibi and Elena.”
He turned to face me and looked me in the eye, extending his hand. “I won’t let you down.”
I shook his hand. “I know you won’t, kid. You’ve proven yourself already, believe me. I’ve served with guys who didn’t have the guts you’ve shown. Now, just keep your head down, stay hidden for a few days until I get back, and if I don’t make it back in three days you’ll know you’re on your own. At that point, I suggest that you see if things have settled down at the high school, because staying with a large group is going to be your best bet.”
He nodded. “Bring me back some Ding Dongs and a Mountain Dew.”
“You got it.” I slapped him on the back and went to say goodbye to Bibi and Elena.
Once it looked like the roads were clear, I drove a few blocks over to head out one of the gates the soldiers had set up when they cordoned off the area. There were no guards present, which I took as a sign that everyone had been called back to the high school. There’d been sporadic gunfire coming from that direction since Bibi and I split, and I hoped things would settle down before the violence got too severe.