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

by Timothy A. Ray

  She had no idea what that actually meant but it had the desired effect.

  The man lowered his gun and waved them forward, never taking his eyes off them. Her phone was ringing and she noticed that Todd was now calling her as well. How the hell did he even know where they were? She suddenly felt eyes on her other than Todd’s father, and felt an insane urge to try and find the camera pointed at her.

  “Well, speak of the devil,” she said, handing the phone to the old man.

  Henry held the phone up to his ear and yelled, “what?”

  She felt like laughing, but kept her composure as the lady behind the door opened it to let them in. “Todd sent you?” she asked, the old lady’s eyes searching her face. She had short black hair that looked dyed and her hazel eyes were full of hope.

  “Yes ma’am,” she replied, as the others followed her inside.

  “Do what?” she heard the old guy say as the door closed behind her.

  Chapter 7

  Time to Motor

  Rosilynn

  Lake Havasu, AZ

  There was a scream from down the hall and a series of gun shots.

  They were no longer worried about signing any paperwork.

  They were dressed and ready to get the hell out of there. The small town had enjoyed twenty-four hours of freedom, but now that was more than likely over; the outbreak in Lake Havasu had begun. She was raiding a supply closet for supplies when the sheriff came bolting back down the hall in their direction.

  Oh shit, she thought, her hands pocketing the bottles quickly, hoping the man hadn’t seen her. However, as he approached, she realized he had other matters on his mind then her pilfering meds without a prescription.

  He gave them an annoyed look as he passed and with a nod from Matt, they followed after; if for no other reason than to get their packs and weapons from the man’s trunk. She could hear his walkie going and tried to speed up so she could hear what they were saying as well. She was still sore, but the meds she had been given were working through her system and though she was sure she’d regret it later, she pushed herself harder to keep up with the sheriff ahead.

  “We have an officer down. Oh my God, send back up now. Now Goddammit!” There was a sound of a gunshot and then a scream.

  Her stomach twisted within as she realized that things had started to spiral out of control; just as she had feared it would. No matter how much they tried, they couldn’t prevent something like this by making people ignorant and patrolling the perimeter. It would not stop it from starting within. If instead of trying to save the man in room 344 they had simply stabbed him in the head instead—

  “Rudy!” the sheriff yelled into his mic. “Rudy, come back!” Though she understood what he was trying to say, she wanted to tell him, you don’t really want him to do that. The sheriff rounded on them, eyes blazing with fury. “None of this started until you two showed up.”

  “None of this started before that crazy asshole set off a nuclear bomb at the Hoover Dam. Or when some terrorist decided to unleash this plague upon the world,” Matt responded, his voice sounding severe. “We didn’t cause this. But just so you know, keeping people in the dark is not the best way to keep this thing from spreading. You should have had a town meeting and discussed this, instead of trying to hide it from them by sticking your fucking heads in the sand.”

  The sheriff’s cheek was working, like he had a whole list of things to say, but then thought better of it. Her husband could be an imposing figure and with at least a foot on the sheriff, the man was literally standing in his shadow.

  “Come on, I’ll give you your shit, then you need to get the fuck out of my city,” the man said, turning away from them. Well, it’s what she wanted anyway, so she wasn’t going to argue with the man. She didn’t know what the sheriff thought he could do about it now, it had to be spreading out of control, by the sounds of that short conversation on the walkie; there was very little anyone could do.

  Storming out the front doors she saw that the deputy’s car was parked just outside the Emergency Room entrance. With little fanfare, he threw the trunk open and went around to the driver door. With little preamble, they began collecting their things, sure that at any moment the squad car would peel out regardless of whether they got it all. The man had taken a shotgun from within and was checking to make sure it was loaded.

  “I don’t care which way you go, as long as it’s out,” he told them.

  She couldn’t let the man leave without at least trying to talk sense into him; despite the fact he would never listen. “You realize that there’s nothing you can do, right? That you’d be better off leaving with us.”

  Matt gave her a questioning look but she shook it off; the sheriff was shaking his head anyways. “This is my town, I’m not giving her up without a fight,” he stated, gripping the shotgun with both hands. He nodded at them as they shut the trunk. Then he turned, got in, flipped on his lights, and peeled out of the unloading bay.

  She was sure that would be the last they ever saw him alive and she didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to see him after that either.

  They stood there for a moment considering what to do next. There was an ambulance nearby and as tempting as that was; she couldn’t bring herself to take it. With all that was going on, she still couldn’t consider taking away a person’s chance at life. If there was a call and a person that could actually be saved—died because she took their ambulance; it was just not something she was comfortable with.

  Matt was pointing across the street and she followed the direction of his gaze. There was a store that sold recreational vehicles and her hopes strengthened. “Let’s check it out,” he told her, already stepping forward without her.

  She fought to keep pace with him as he barreled ahead, weapon up and ready. The contrast between the man that she had traveled with the previous evening and the one striding in front of her was so at odds with each other, that she had to almost pinch herself to make sure this wasn’t a drug induced delirium. Would knowing that you weren’t destined for the reaper’s scythe really change someone that drastically?

  As they neared the storefront, her heart began to sink; there were a lot of boats and Kayaks on display and where they were going, they had no need for boats. “Oh hell,” she remarked; the door was locked and she doubted it was worth breaking into.

  Matt didn’t care; he slammed the butt of his rifle into the window, shattering the glass. An alarm began to sound, but she was sure that the Sheriff’s Department already had their hands full at the moment.

  They would too if they didn’t get moving.

  As they stepped over the broken glass, she began to scan the store and her blood flow quickened as a row of sport bikes came into view. There was a pair of black Yamaha R6s and a smile finally broke across her face; it was true pleasure. She lovingly fingered the starter on the grip, glad that her husband was going to have to try and kick start it with that bum foot of his.

  Matt was smiling too, as he grabbed the furthest one and began wheeling it towards the front door. She dashed around the corner, grabbed a pair of helmets and tossed one to her husband. He missed the catch, not expecting it, and had to pause to pick it up amongst the broken glass on the floor, the entire time glaring at her and shaking his head.

  She found some spare straps and this time handed him one so he wouldn’t miss that as well. As her hands went about strapping her bag to the rear of the bike, her mind wondered if his reflexes okay and if this was a smart idea after all. She strapped the sword to the back of the pack, the hilt up so it could be easily reached, and checked that her .45 was fastened tightly on her hip. Unbeknownst to the sheriff, she had stolen a case of shells from his trunk; surprised at the odds that it had even been there and thought it too coincidental to be chance.

  Someone was looking out for them.

  She rolled her bike next to Matt just as he finished strapping his rifle down. The alarm was still blaring but no one had come running to s
top them. Taking another glance towards the hospital her heart stopped—there was a man in a window glaring at them. He was pounding on the glass, his face raging and full of hunger.

  She nodded her head in that direction and Matt turned that way. “Time to go,” he muttered, swinging his leg over the bike. They started the engines and looked at the gas gauge; it was full. Wow, these people weren’t worried about theft at all; must be nice to live in a small city and trust your neighbors. She was quite sure that if it had been Vegas the tanks would have been kept near empty to prevent exactly what they were about to do.

  There was a crash of glass to their rear and she didn’t have to look to know what had just happened. In response, she twisted the handle on the right and the bike leapt forward. She was forced to let off the gas for a second to maintain control, the front wheel leaving the ground and giving her a terrifying moment where she thought she was going to flip backwards. It bounced back onto the ground and she sighed with relief; it had been awhile since she had ridden one of these things. But the threat of what had to be coming at them from behind made her twist it again, this time with more ease and better control, and she smiled as the bike surged forward with little resistance.

  They both sped down the street and away from the hospital without a single glance to the rear.

  Her peripheral was extremely limited and now she understood why her husband had glared at her. Still, they could get in an accident and they no longer had their suits to protect them from the worst of it. They were going to have to tread carefully in the future; take fewer risks.

  They were making good time when suddenly she saw the flash of lights in her side mirrors. “Fuck,” she whispered and began to slow. As much as she wanted to gun it and keep going, she really didn’t want to have to race this guy out of town; it might end with an accident and they could ill afford that.

  Her husband was slowing as well and together they pulled over to the side of the road. The deputy’s squad car pulled up alongside them and the window rolled down. “What’s up officer?” she asked the man, before seeing his face.

  Tears were streaming from the sheriff’s eyes and she realized that the man that had left them at the hospital was not the same one facing them now. “Nice bikes,” he choked and tried to smirk.

  “We’re sorry—,” Matt began, but the sheriff waved him off.

  “None of that matters anymore; you were right. There was nothing I could do,” the man said, sounding defeated. “By the time I got there, things had gone too far for me to stop it by myself.”

  Matt’s eyes narrowed, “are you asking us to go back there and help you? Because neither of us are in any shape to do that.”

  She was surprised at that, especially after giving her hell the day before about not investigating that scream they’d heard, and wondered what had adjusted his thinking? Where was the self-righteous need to be a hero?

  The sheriff looked away and slowly shook his head, “it wouldn’t do any good, there’s just too many now.”

  “What about the rest of the town?” Matt asked, eyeing the man. He wasn’t one for shirking his duty, and the look shamed the poor man in the car.

  Never mind, there it is.

  “God be with them,” the man responded. “One man isn’t enough; they need the National Guard, not a lone sheriff.”

  Rosilynn reached out and put a hand on her husband’s arm, trying to get him to quit harassing the man. “I understand,” she told the deputy. “If you want to join us, we could always use an extra gun.”

  She knew that he had already been thinking along those lines, but that he was still conflicted about running out on his city. There was nothing he could do; he’d just be throwing his life away. But how did she convey that without shaming the man further?

  To his credit, he didn’t respond right away, but looked in his rearview mirror with one hand stroking his shotgun. Finally, he lowered his head and sighed. “Lead the way.”

  Surprisingly, Matt actually kept his mouth shut, as he powered his Yamaha back up and spun out, taking the lead.

  She didn’t like her husband’s attitude but understood it. A man that would throw his responsibilities away so easily might be a hindrance to them on their trip. Would he abandon them too if things got rough? She hoped it was smarts and not cowardice that drove the man to join them. As much attitude he had displayed over what the Outsiders were doing in the world, he sure seem eager to plunge himself into it.

  She gave Matt the lead; keeping pace but not acting to overtake him. He had things to sort out and she was not willing to invade his space. The squad car was taking up the rear and she hoped that she’d the right decision inviting him along. If things were as bad ahead as they were now behind, she was sure they’d find out soon enough.

  They headed north towards Kingman and she considered stopping once they put some distance on Lake Havasu, so they could discuss the route ahead. She wanted to avoid Kingman as much as possible and it was just another step towards Flagstaff. Which she still hadn’t worked out either. They had constantly been on the run, without a moment’s rest, and nothing was going the way they had planned. It had all been fucked from the very start.

  She needed a chance to breathe, to collect herself.

  She lowered her head and gunned the engine, screaming forward and leaving the unfolding horror behind.

  Chapter 8

  Uber

  Todd

  Compound 2

  He had just gotten off the phone with his father. He was grumpy as usual and didn’t like talking on the phone, but he promised they’d be on their way soon. That would mean they’d actually be on the road tomorrow.

  He sighed; nothing he could say would make them move faster and if he knew his mother she’d insist on taking the whole house with them when they left. But it did feel good to talk to him; at least they were all right for the moment. They still weren’t picking up the phone and he wondered if the old man had remembered to charge his.

  “How we looking?” he asked Ben, who was seated in his usual place in front of the computer monitors.

  “I think we need to start rotating people at the towers,” Ben suggested, chewing on a Slim Jim. “The towns to the north seemed to be overrun and there’s no telling how many have turned south. We’re sure to have company sooner or later; no matter how far off the main road we are.”

  The point of their location was to keep them as secluded as possible and safe from wandering hordes, but he conceded the point; nothing could stay hidden forever. And as much as he relied on their defenses to keep them safe, it wouldn’t hurt to start posting someone to watch just in case. Their safety was not something to take for granted; no matter how prepared they were for it.

  “At least you heard from your parents,” the young man offered.

  “Yeah,” Todd returned, not really wanting to get into it. Though Ben didn’t have much in family out there in the world, the success felt like it should stay hidden, out of concern for other people who hadn’t gotten ahold of theirs. He still hadn’t reached his wife’s side of the family and though she would be comforted by the fact that he had reached his, he knew that she’d be worried about her own. “They should be moving shortly,” he told the young boy, who nodded and acknowledged the conversation wasn’t going to go much further than that. “How’s their route?”

  Ben pointed at one of the screens to the right; the video feeds had gone dark. “We lost most of my access a few moments ago, not long after you warned that Sabrina chick about that cop car. I don’t know what happened, if our system was breached or if it’s a systemwide blackout. I don’t know for sure what’s going on out there. I hate this shit. Sure, I can still pull up GPS, but that’s about it for the moment.”

  He could feel the same frustration the boy was feeling and simply nodded in understanding. He hated it as well. They were flying blind at the moment and they still had people they cared for trying to get to them. “Nothing from Mark?”

  His frien
d shook his head. “Last I heard they were making their way into Arkansas.”

  “Might as well be Florida,” he muttered and the young man laughed.

  The phone rang.

  “Go,” Ben said, touching his left ear where the ear bud was. “Woah, woah, woah, slow down old timer.”

  Todd’s heartbeat picked up. Was his father calling already? Had something gone wrong?

  He was about to ask when Ben waved his hand to ward him off. “We can’t come get you; you’re going to have to get here on your own. I understand that but you’re going to have to get as close as you can. Maybe we can go get you on the quads once you’re in range. All right,” the young man finished, touching his ear once more.

  “Paul?” he asked, concerned for his old friend. He had to admit he hadn’t thought of him for a while. “Are they all right?”

  “Ran into some trouble outside Springerville,” Ben replied, punching keys and trying to bring up something in that area up. The feeds were still down and he got nothing, getting an annoyed grunt from Ben in response. “There’s nothing I can do,” he said, the defeated tone in the voice startling him.

  “Why can’t we go get them?” he asked, wanting to do something to help.

  Ben looked up him. “Because my dad isn’t able to fly and I doubt Sean is in any shape to.”

  “What am I, chopped liver?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

  The boy laughed. “You barely landed it safely on a fucking runway and now you want to try and fly it into a small neighborhood and land on residential street?” The laughter continued and Todd had to fight smiling as well; he had a point. “You know, Michelle—”

  “Do not go there. Monica would skin me alive,” he told him before he could finish that thought.

  “Just saying. You want to go pick him up? She can get you out there; she’s an awesome pilot,” the boy replied as if speaking of someone he was fond of. The father instinct began to rustle and he wondered if he should snip that in the butt right now. “If you don’t want to take a risk and do something about it, then you don’t get to bitch.”