Chapter 4
Renee was the first one through the tree line, even though David was yelling for her to slow down and wait. As she cleared the woods, she immediately stopped in her tracks as she bore witness to a previously serene field now littered with the decapitated bodies of over thirty slabs.
“Hope!” she screamed out. After a few seconds of waiting for an answer, she was about to scream it again, when a hand grabbed her on the shoulder.
“Quiet. We don’t know if there are any more around here,” David said as he scanned the area looking for any more movement of either slabs or Hope. As they waited for the rest of the search party to arrive, David and Renee found no other activity on the field.
Hunter was the first one to show up, with Storm following right behind. He looked out at the body-strewn field and just whistled at the sight. “Wow, looks like there was one hell of a party here. Where is the supposed lady in distress?”
“Don’t know,” David answered as he looked over at Renee. “Send Storm out for her. If anybody can find Hope, it’ll be her.”
Renee leaned down and looked at Storm. “Go find Hope, girl. Go get her.”
She watched as Storm understood what they needed her to do and started sniffing the area, going from body to body on the ground till she found the scent she was looking for. As the dog wandered around, it looked like she was retracing the battle that had taken place, going in the order Hope had dispatched the fallen slabs, until she reached the last body and then turned and ran towards the woods on the other side of the field, eventually disappearing into the thick trees, barking the whole way, as if she wanted them to follow.
Morgan and Trip showed up just as the dog disappeared into the opposite tree line, and both bent over with their hands on their knees trying to catch their breath. Hunter turned and looked at the pair who were noticeably a few years younger than him. “Come on, you two. We got some more running to do.” Hunter slapped Trip on the back.
“Just go ahead, and we’ll … we’ll make sure this area is secure first before we follow,” Trip answered, out of breath.
Hunter just shook his head and turned to chase after David and Renee, who had already started running across the field in pursuit of Storm. With his tall frame and longer legs, he quickly made up ground, and almost caught them as they made it to the tree line. Before he, too, disappeared into the woods, he took one last look back at Morgan and Trip, who were at least standing up, but still trying to catch their breath.
Renee could still hear Storm barking, and it sounded as if she had stopped running for the moment. This caused Renee to have a sudden burst of speed, believing it meant Storm might have found Hope. It took her almost a minute to catch up to the barking dog, but as she did, she found Storm standing next to Hope, who was down on both knees. Lying on the ground next to Hope was Scooby the deer, and she was petting its neck. Next to Scooby were two headless slabs and Hope’s machete.
“Are you all right?” Renee asked as she slid to the ground next to Hope.
Hope didn’t say anything. She just gently laid the head of the dead deer onto the ground and sobbed, putting her hands up to her face.
As David and Hunter arrived, they looked down at the deer and saw Hope crying.
“What is she crying for?” Hunter said. “It’s just a deer. There are hundreds of them throughout these woods.”
Hope stood and walked over to Hunter and punched him in the gut hard enough to knock the wind out of him, causing him to drop to one knee.
Renee jumped up and walked past the doubled over Hunter, shaking her head at the gasping young man. “Jerk,” she said as she caught up with Hope.
David stood by and watched the entire scene take place and just shook his head as he extended a hand to help Hunter up. “I am not cut out for dealing with all this teenage crap.”
“Hey, do you mind catching me up on what the hell just happened here?” David barked as he followed Renee and Hope back towards the field.
The two girls just kept walking. David could see them talking to each other, but they were keeping it to themselves. He decided they would tell him when they were ready, or maybe not, just as long as they were safe, he felt he had done his job.
David and Hunter retraced their steps back out of the woods, collecting Morgan and Trip on the way. “Come on, let’s get back to camp and secure the area just in case there are more lurking around,” David said as they followed the two sisters back to camp.
As David crossed over the last bridge into the camp, he stopped and lifted the small drawbridge over one of the three streams and rivers that secured their borders and effectively cut off access to their site. He looked over at the other two bridges and found both of them already secured, which meant he was going to have to listen for Benjy’s return after nightfall to let him back across. Satisfied that the bridges were secure, he headed over to Hope to see if she was ready to talk yet.
“Hey, looks like you had a good time out there today,” he said as he approached Hope from behind.
“It is what it is,” Hope remarked while continuing the security preparations.
“Me and you haven’t had much of a chance to talk this last month. I’m here whenever you’re ready.” David tried to give Hope a hand.
“Why did you let him get taken?” Hope blurted out.
“What?” David answered, even though he had fully heard her.
“My dad. Why did you let him get taken? You were his best friend. How could you stand by and watch him get drug off?” Hope angrily asked as she turned to stare at David.
David paused for a second, caught completely off guard by the anger in the little girl he had known for her entire life. “I don’t think you have a clue about what you’re saying, girl. You were out cold for almost that entire event. So, whatever you think you know, you might want to get some more facts before you accuse someone of something.”
“I know you were there when dad was overrun. You told me that much yourself. Why did you not go after him?”
“I had to make a decision. We were seconds away from being completely surrounded. It was him or you kids. Your sister, your brother, my son, even you. I made the choice your dad would’ve made if our roles were reversed. I loved your dad like a brother, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish it had been me in his place. But somehow the universe saw fit to keep me here and take him away from all of us. Also, unless you have forgotten, we all lost someone dear to us that night. I lost my wife, Jacobs’ mom. Melinda lost both her parents, and Vince lost his, too. You’re not the only one suffering. So, drop the attitude and talk to me about how you feel, but don’t ever again accuse me of abandoning him.”
“I’m fine. I’ve said what I needed to say.” Hope threw down the pile of fencing she was carrying and stormed off towards the shed.
David threw his hands up in the air and turned back towards setting up the defensive measures. As he picked up the fencing Hope dropped in front of him, he let out a burst of profanity, all while carefully looking around to made sure none of the smaller kids were within earshot. As he started setting up the fencing at the end of the bridge, he heard footsteps coming up from behind.
“Hey, you need a hand with that?” Hunter asked as he approached David.
“Yeah, let’s get this done so I can get back to the garage and hit something with a hammer,” David answered as he unrolled the fencing at Hunter’s feet.
“That didn’t look like a happy talk over here a minute ago. Anything you want me to do?”
“Nope,” David answered. “She just needed to blow off some steam, and I was a convenient target. That girl has been through hell lately, and I think it’s starting to take its toll. Just give her some space.”
“I’ve tried talking to her, letting her know we’ve all been through the same kind of loss she’s experienced, but has shut me out every time. I think she just needs a good kick in the ass to snap her back to reality.” Hunter locked the fencing into place
.
“Well, big guy, if you think you can handle it, why don’t you go and give her that kick in the ass? I’m sure she wouldn’t hurt you too bad if you did. Me, I’m not so sure I would even try that anymore, not after the growth spurt she’s gone through. She looks like she could kick both our butts without breaking a sweat. In fact, I’m hoping she doesn’t remember the one spanking I did give her when she was little, and I caught her writing on a wall with a marker when we were babysitting her.” David looked around to make sure all the defenses were in place. “Now let’s go get some supper going, so when Benjy gets back we can get caught up on all the happenings outside of here.”
As the pair of men headed towards the main house, Hope peeked out and watched them disappear inside. She then turned and flipped open the keypad to unlock the door into Benjy’s underground lab. As the trapdoor slid open, she quickly headed down into the lab, sealing the door behind her.
Chapter 5
The Bultmoore House was a legend in the South. With its extravagant design and grandeur, it stood out as one of the largest and most expensive homes ever built in the United States. Sadly, though, it was not currently living up to its status.
Hutch had arrived in Ashville, South Carolina, late the night before, and one of his first stops was at the famed residence. He had remained hidden, just out of sight, until the morning light came. He had slowly pulled his van into sight and started to survey the situation before going any closer. He could see that just like everywhere else, the place had not been spared the touch of the zombie plague. There were decayed remains scattered all over the formerly magnificent lawns and gardens, and there were signs of a fire on the east side of the house. Two distinct sets of tread tracks indicated tanks had rolled across the lawn, meaning some sort of battle had taken place here.
After carefully positioning himself for a fast getaway, depending on the situation, Hutch turned off the van and twisted to retrieve something from the rear of the vehicle. He pulled out a small remote-controlled four-wheeler and placed it on the ground outside the van. With the controller in hand, he activated the power and slowly drove the off-road truck towards the already opened front door of the mansion.
Behind Hutch were ten more of the toys he’d picked up at his first stop, a hobby shop, as he pulled into Asheville. The hobby shop had been left mostly un touched, since it didn’t contain any food or essential survival gear. He scavenged as many of the devices as he could, and spent all night assembling them and charging the batteries with his van’s electrical system. He outfitted them several different ways to handle whatever situation might be out there. For instance, the one he was piloting to the front of the house at that moment was fitted with a camera mounted on the hood, which was relaying the scene in front of it back to him onto a small monitor placed on the dash.
As the small truck rolled into the house, it switched over to night vision and showed him the devastation witnessed outside was mirrored on the inside as well. The elegant furniture was destroyed and strewn all throughout the house. Paintings that were probably worth more than Hutch’s yearly salary were ripped and had fallen to the floor. Glass was shattered all over the place, probably from a magnificent chandelier or something similar. Though no signs of any slabs so far made him hope that they may have long ago abandoned the building in search of more food.
For fifteen minutes, Hutch piloted the remote vehicle through room after room and found nothing to make him think that the place was inhabited. That was until he drove up to two tall doors and found a chain wrapped around the doorknobs with a lock on it. He stopped the truck while looking at the sight on his monitor, when suddenly the doors started to bounce as if something on the other side was trying to push them open. Strangely happy at the sight, he nudged the vehicle forward until it bumped into the doors, and then backed it up to see what happened next. As he thought might happen, the sound of the remote vehicle hitting the doors had excited the occupants of the room, and they pushed even more ferociously at the chained doors. Hutch watched for a couple of minutes as the doors continued bouncing outward until the chain stopped their progress, and then the doors would relax for a second before bulging out again.
He was about to pull the remote away and continue searching the house when one of the doors hinges pulled away from the wall and came crashing down, clipping the hood of the small truck and sending it flying end over end until it landed upside down on the other side of the room. Luckily, though, the camera was still transmitting, and was still pointed at the doorway. Hutch watched as about twenty slabs staggered out of the room and started looking for the source of the noise they had heard. The slabs exiting the room had apparently been locked in there for quite a while, as most of them were showing extreme signs of decay and damage. He was a little shocked that even in their weakened state, they were still strong enough to push the door down, even if over the last year and a half they had had a little help from Mother Nature. He wondered just how long these things could survive without eating. But he quickly shelved the thought for later debate as he realized that he had just unleashed twenty new slabs onto the world and had to deal with them.
Hutch pulled back the accelerator on the remote control and watched the monitor as the sound of the engine revving up and the wheels spinning on the upside-down truck got the attention from the searching slabs.
The slabs quickly approached the truck, and Hutch grinned as he watched one of them pick it up and look right into the camera, giving Hutch a close up as he pushed the button on the detonator sitting on his lap. The screen on the monitor immediately turned to static, and then a large explosion leapt out of the roof of the building as the C-4 strapped onto the bed of the remote truck exploded.
Small debris started to rain down on the roof of Hutch’s van as he watched a large cloud of smoke billow out of the newly-installed sunroof of the house. He smiled a little grin as he leaned back and grabbed a second remote-control car and then placed it outside the van and drove it towards the house again. He changed the channel on the monitor, and the static disappeared to be replaced by the images from the new drone.
This time as he entered the building, he took a right turned as he decided to check out the other side of the house. He piloted the vehicle through room after room, again encountering a few more closed doors. Luckily, though, each room had multiple doors leading to new areas. So, after careful searching, he found his way to a large indoor pool.
As he rounded the pool, he noticed something move near the edge and started to look for a way to tilt the camera down to see what was inside. He maneuvered the truck onto a fallen piece of debris and drove up on it, backwards, which raised up the rear of the truck and pointing the camera down into the large pool. He then saw a concrete hole teeming with dozens of slabs just wandering around in the pool, directionless. He noticed that part of the roof had collapsed at one end of the room, and the debris was blocking the stairs out of the pool, so the slabs were trapped inside.
Hutch made note of the location of the room and decided to keep looking before he came back to eliminate the trapped slabs. As he exited the room, though, he caught something else moving in the new room he was entering, and was starting to turn the vehicle around when, suddenly, the truck was stopped and lifted up. Looking into the camera was a human face curiously examining the truck and its modifications. Hutch, caught off guard by the appearance of a non-infected person still being there, put down the remote detonator he had already prepared to use before a slab could damage his toy. He watched as the person’s mouth started to move, as if hoping there was also sound being transmitted with the camera. Hutch turned the wheels side to side like he was shaking his head no, hoping the stranger got the message. Then he revved up the wheels as if he was trying to say: Put me down and follow.
After a few more seconds of inspection, the stranger put the truck down and watched as it backed up and turned around, heading out the door. As the truck made its way to the doorway leading into the pool area, Hu
tch paused it for a second to see if the stranger was following. He waited for a few more seconds as he watched the monitor, and the stranger appeared back in frame and gave a thumbs up, indicating he got the message.
After a few minutes of backtracking his path to the front door, the truck finally emerged back into daylight, and right behind it, the stranger. The man stopped and momentarily shielded his eyes as he adjusted to the morning light, and then continued to follow the truck as it led him back to Hutch’s van. The closer he got, the better Hutch got a look at the man and realized that it wasn’t as much a man as an older teen, maybe seventeen or eighteen at the most. His face was covered in dirt and soot, and he looked like he’d needed a haircut for quite some time. His clothes, though, were in much better shape, showing almost no sign of wear and tear. The stranger continued to follow the truck until he finally saw Hutch’s van, and then he stopped as he realized Hutch was pointing a rifle at him.
Hutch was standing in the doorway of his van and had his rifle aimed directly at the young man. “Stop where you are.” Hutch slowly started to get out of the van while keeping an eye on the new arrival.
The stranger looked around and realized he was standing in the wide open with nowhere to run for cover. So, he threw his hands up in the air while dropping the stick that he had walked out with at his feet. “I’m not armed,” he pleaded to Hutch. “Please don’t shoot me.”
Hutch slowly walked over to him and started to circle around, making sure there were no weapons or bite marks. “You can put your hands down, kid. I’m not going to hurt you.” Hutch lowered his weapon, but kept it in a ready position across his chest just in case. “You alone here?” he asked as he returned to standing in front of the kid, realizing he was younger than initially thought.
Humanity's Hope (Book 2): Juggernaut Page 3