The Rotting Souls Series (Book 2): Charon's Blight: Day Two

by Timothy A. Ray

  Charon’s Blight

  Day Two

  Book 2 of the Rotting Souls Series

  Timothy Ray

  Charon’s Blight: Day Two

  A Ray Publishing Book/ May 2017

  Published by

  Ray Publishing

  Tucson, AZ

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © 2017 by Timothy Ray

  Also by Timothy Ray

  The New Age Saga:

  The Acquisition of Swords

  Pure of Heart

  Phoenix Rising

  Prophecy

  Coalescence

  Rotting Souls:

  Charon’s Blight: Day One

  Charon’s Blight: Day Two

  Charon’s Debt

  This is dedicated to those whose support has been

  crucial in making my dreams a reality,

  thank you

  “That wasn't any act of God. That was an act of pure human fuckery.”

  Stephen King

  The Stand

  Chapter 1

  Restoration

  Saint

  Tucson, AZ

  The enforced curfew by the military had curbed her plans to make it out of the city that night. Just as they had approached the parking lot of Caesar’s apartment complex, a pair of jeeps had come screaming down the road and came to an abrupt stop, their guns trained on them.

  She had nearly pissed her pants.

  They had survived multiple battles with the undead and the military that was supposed to be protecting them was about to finish the job the zombies had failed to do. A uniformed man standing in the back of the jeep told them to get inside and stay there for the night. It shook her up so bad that all she could do was nod and drive quickly into the gated community.

  As much as she wanted to leave, getting shot by the living was high up there on her not to do list.

  Amazingly, it had only taken her a couple of minutes to get to Caesar’s apartment from that fire station. She had spent the entire day trying to get out of town and had only gone three miles. His apartment hadn’t been very far from where that last battle had taken place; if only the truck had kept running. They would have had to force their way through that horde they’d fought, but they would’ve avoided coming into contact with Robert and her life would be a lot simpler right now.

  Then again, Erik would probably be dead and Manny would be stuck traveling with a mad man. Raleigh had turned on her almost as soon as Robert had shown up; how much could she have trusted him had they kept going? His loyalty had shown to be non-existent and he would’ve turned on them sooner or later. Todd wouldn’t have appreciated her bringing a turncoat with her. They had to fully trust the people she brought in or else everyone’s lives were in danger.

  Caesar hadn’t waited for the truck to come to a stop before he had dashed up the stairs towards his apartment. It had been a good thing the apartment complex appeared to be empty, otherwise they never would’ve been able to follow after.

  As they headed for the stairway that led to the second floor of his building, the world exploded around them. She had fallen flat on the asphalt and busted her lip from the impact. The Air Force had begun bombing parts of the city and the wind carried their fury. The lights of planes flew overhead, so many that her head ached with the sound of their passing. Gunfire echoed in the distance, closing in.

  She got to her feet quickly and dashed up the stairs. The sobs coming from the open doorway were muffled by the war waging around them and she almost missed which apartment he was in. Manny and Erik were right behind her and nearly pushed her to her knees in their frantic attempt to get to safety.

  Safety, what the hell was that?

  Now she stood on her coworker’s balcony, hidden in the shadows, eyes on the street below. A pair of Humvees had passed a few minutes before and knowing that they were out there making their rounds made her feel safer. Part of her wanted to run into the street and flag them down; ask them to take her with them.

  She knew that would never happen.

  She doubted she’d get close to them anyways; they’d probably shoot her the moment she broke from the shadows. They weren’t making any effort to evacuate people; which puzzled her. Why would they just leave them unprotected? Had she misjudged how bad things were? Were things ever going to return to normal?

  Whatever their mission, they were serious about seeing it done. They would show no mercy; nor should they. If the world was going to have any chance at surviving this plague, they were all going to have to stop pussyfooting around and start making the hard decisions. It was something she’d been struggling with throughout the night. Even now, she was trying to convince herself that the smart play was to wait, not to just get in the truck and leave.

  She hated being tied down with people to look after; she did better when she was on her own. If she hadn’t stopped to pick up Jeremy, she’d be out of this mess and safely resting within Todd’s compound right now. But no, she had to stop and try to pick his dumbass up.

  She took a moment and let that sink in.

  It had been easy to stay mad at him for keeping her here, but then she’d remember the ugly death he’d been dealt and the grief would set in. It was hard to believe that she couldn’t call or text him, his loss felt like something out of a nightmare, not this horrid reality she was currently inhabiting. And only now that he was gone did she realize how much she missed him.

  Maybe it was just the manner of his death or that she had wanted to do the very same thing when she was trapped in that store; fling him into a herd of zombies and run away. She told herself that it had just been a fleeting thought born of anger, that she’d never actually do it, but she couldn’t help but wonder. If she had been in Robert’s place, would she have sacrificed Jeremy to save her life and those with her? Not wanting to admit the dark truth in her heart, she tried to convince herself that she would’ve found another way.

  She was drinking a Rockstar while leaning against the balcony railing, her gaze slowly moving across the northern horizon. Smoke was hovering like a fog over the city, dark and ominous. The Air Force had finally ceased their bombing, but she could still hear rapid gunfire in the distance. She didn’t have the height to see much and she wondered how much of the city was still standing.

  So far their area had remained quiet, but that could change swiftly and with no notice.

  Todd: Do whatever you have too but you need to GTFO of Tucson

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” she said under her breath as she flipped her phone closed. She took another swig of her energy drink, sighed, and then went back into the apartment. As the glass door slid shut, she heard a cough from behind her and turned to see Caesar and his wife Marisol looking at her expectantly; they had been waiting on her.

  If they wanted to talk, why didn’t they do it while she was on the balcony?

  “We’re not going with you,” he stated almost immediately, not even waiting for her to take a seat and eat a bowl of cereal like the rest of them were doing. The other two didn’t reply, as if they had already been told. She wondered why they seemed afraid of how she’d respond, that they needed a unified front in order to tell her that?

  That’s some bullshit.

  She wasn’t a freak like Robert; she wasn’t going to blow up or try to kill them for not going with her. Hell, it made her life easier as she’d spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to get all of them out of town safely. Now she only had two people to worry about rather than five. That worked in her favor.

  “Marisol has family that we need to find; they’re n
ot answering their phones,” Caesar said firmly, his eyes on her.

  “Okay?” she responded, not sure of what to say. “It’s your life. You can do what you want, I’m not going to stop you,” she replied in an I don’t really care tone of voice and adding a shrug in for good measure.

  Caesar sighed as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders and it began to piss her off. When or how did she get elected leader of this bunch?

  “I know where I’m going; the rest of you can do what you want,” she stated, making it quite clear she could give a damn what they decided to do. Manny and Erik gave her a hurt look, but she ignored it. She took a large mouthful of Cheerios and tried to keep from saying anything further. She ground her teeth a little harder than she needed to with the mush, cursing under her breath between spoonful’s.

  She was not their leader and she was not responsible for any of them. She knew that their choosing to come with her had more to do with getting away from Robert than following after her.

  Her hand closed over the cellphone in her pocket and she fought the urge to take it out and check it again. The only messages she had gotten were from Todd; she hadn’t received any responses to the texts she sent to her family. Her mother, her sisters, an aunt here in town; none of them were getting back to her. Were they even still alive?

  The grim reality of the situation was beginning to settle over her and she doubted there was anything she could do for them even if they did answer. Hell, she couldn’t even get down the road without almost dying once or twice on the way. With Robert coming after her, and she knew that he would, they’d be better out of the path of his wrath.

  “Everyone has weapons now,” Caesar offered, as if that let him off the hook for some imagined slight. “We should be all right.”

  “Don’t be so naïve,” she snapped and saw Marisol’s eyes darken. Well, she wasn’t going along with her, so why did she give a fuck what the woman thought of her. For all she knew, she’d be a zombie tomorrow and all that hate would be gone from the world.

  It was a horrible thought, but she was pissy this morning. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, having caught a brief nap on the couch and it was making her crankier than usual. That, or this whole morning drama was just a waste of time because she wanted to be on the road and on their way. Dawn was fast approaching and the curfew would be lifted soon.

  “Who do you think you are?” the overweight Hispanic woman asked, cradling her baby in her arms and rocking the infant as she glared at her. She had dark hair and there was a yellow highlight on one side; Sabrina never got how that was a popular thing to do, but maybe it was some fad she had missed. Marisol’s eyes were dark and menacing; territorial even.

  She almost laughed. The world was going up in flames and this bitch was actually concerned that she was going to take her man from her? What a fucking riot.

  “I’m nobody, but I’m a nobody that is going to leave now. Anyone that is with me had better get their shit together because I want to be the fuck out of town before the rest of the city wakes up and decides to do the same,” she told them, getting to her feet and pushing the bowl away.

  They had listened to the radio throughout the night and the static seemed to permeate even through the brief nightmares she’d had; it may have even contributed to them. Nothing else had aired since the President’s speech and she thought it odd that no one else was out there trying to fill the unused airwaves.

  She had seen a lot of movies where people died at their microphones trying to get the news out, but was that realistic? Would they abandon their families in some vain pursuit or heroic death? Maybe the loners would, but apparently they were in hiding as well. She wondered how many had hung around once they discovered the truth of what was going on. She guessed that the journalistic need to spread the word hadn’t overridden their instinctive need to survive.

  Reaching out, she picked up her rifle and gripped it tightly as she pushed herself to her feet. She didn’t have much to gather, as most of their supplies had been left in the truck in their mad dash to get inside the night before.

  The others at the table looked like they were prepared for more arguing, but she didn’t have it in her. If they wanted to go off on their own, fuck ‘em, let them go; she had places to be and people to see.

  Someone brushed past her and she smiled weakly at Erik as he began to get his things together as well. He was still a little pale, but rest had brought some of his color back; maybe she’d been right after all. They had cleaned out his wound, which wasn’t as bad as it had seemed, once it had been cleared of blood and gore. The bite didn’t look infected and they had given him some antibiotics that Marisol had kept after her pregnancy. It must have been working because the redness had faded from the edges of the wound and the yellow pus had cleared out an hour earlier. He would have to keep taking it or the infection might return. The wound had been dressed and cleaned again this morning and he barely winced as he shouldered his pack on.

  She guessed Caesar’s wife had scrounged up some painkillers as well.

  Manny was hanging back, his guitar at his side rather than a rifle. He seemed reluctant; unsure. Well, he would have to make up his mind quickly. She found that she actually wanted him to come along; he had stood by her the previous night when even her boyfriend had failed to come forward. She wasn’t sure what the future held, but it might be easier with him by her side. The other two had retreated to their bedroom now that the conversation seemed to be over and she was glad; if she had to stare at those spiteful eyes for one more moment—

  “There will be a lot more people on the roads today,” Erik said, eyes searching her. He seemed eager to move on; probably the looming threat of death at the hands of a former friend pushing him to get on the road as fast as possible. She hadn’t asked him how he was dealing with Raleigh’s betrayal; they had been friends and roommates. It was a subject she herself was dealing with and imagined that their grief was shared.

  She tried to smile, “better the living than the dead. Though, we should try to avoid both if we can.” Her mouth spoke before her mind, but she felt the truth in it. Even though there was theoretical safety in numbers; it was also deadly to their cause. The more people that were around, the more food there was to be offer should the undead find them; as sickening as that sounded.

  She didn’t think for a moment that her day would be easy. It would be long and they would be in constant danger, but she had little choice; they had to go.

  Manny had made his decision and was getting his things together as the other two stood by the door waiting. Caesar hadn’t come out to say goodbye and maybe it was better that way. She reached out, grasped Erik by the right shoulder and squeezed lightly. She had worried he’d be too weak for this trip and was glad to see some of that old fire in his eyes; he hadn’t given up yet. They had never been close before all this, but after all that had happened, she felt responsible for his safety.

  She would argue she hadn’t done anything that someone else wouldn’t have done, but that held no real weight as that failed to be true. She remembered how the other people had stood by, wordless, as Robert brought that bat around. How did they lose their sense of right or wrong so quickly, where was their conscience? It had been less than a day and they had all been willing to let murder happen without a single nay.

  If this was what people were turning into then maybe it was best she was heading to the middle of nowhere and out of the madness this chaos was creating. She didn’t want to be surrounded by the ugliness that moment had revealed in the hearts of the average person, best to get away from it as quickly as she could. She marveled at how fast people could sink, how fast they could change. It was like some nightmare that she couldn’t wake from. How could things get fucked up so fast? What did one day matter in the scheme of things? It wasn’t even a drop in the bucket of time.

  Yet, somehow that one day had changed everything—forever.

  The three of them stepped outside
just as the sun broke the horizon, shedding its light on a world gone mad. She glanced once more to see if Caesar would come out and say goodbye, but he was still absent.

  Oh fucking well.

  She nodded in understanding then closed the door silently behind her. She had never been fond of farewells and knew that she’d have to say quite a lot more of them before the week was out.

  Erik led the way down the stairs and together the three of them plunged back into it; ready for whatever the new day would throw at them.

  Chapter 2

  Too early for this

  Todd

  Compound 2

  As he’d expected, his sleep had been restless. Nightmares from the dark corners of his subconscious, no longer hindered by his inner will, broke loose and roamed freely, waking him in regular intervals. That kept him from letting go and after hours of tossing and turning; he had finally gotten out of bed and started breakfast.

  Even that simple act wasn’t helpful in dispelling the illusions creeping up from the dark recesses of his mind. In every shadow was a zombie waiting to lunge at him; every corner hid some monster just waiting for its next meal. While he hadn’t experienced any of those horrors first hand, the video monitors had thoroughly set him on the path to insanity. He fought against it; his family needed him and as easy as it seemed to slip into the abyss, he wasn’t ready to let go—not yet.

  It hadn’t been luck that got him out of the town he’d always called home; it had been the careful planning they had in place and the watchful eyes of boy eating hot pockets in front of a computer screen. Still, there had to be some luck involved when considering the chances of their group coming together as they did. That not only would the ten of them share in the same vision of creating a secure place to ride something like this out in; but that one of them had the money to see it happen. It was too good to be true. No one believed him at work when he had talked about what they were doing out here and at times it seemed surreal to him as well.