When Winter Comes | Book 2 | Buried

by Willcocks, Daniel

  Commotion from the sofa. The groggy renderings of a child waking from sleep, mixed with the feral growls of wild animals.

  Harvey and Sherri leered at each other from opposite ends of the sofa, eyes narrowed as though they hardly recognised each other. Their teeth bared and eyes dark. They crouched with their arms raised, fingers curled into claws as Damien pawed at his tired eyes in the middle of them and let out a sleepy yawn.

  Tori threw a glance back at Alex who sprinted past her on the stairs and stopped a short distance from the back of the sofa. “Harvey? Sherri? What are you doing?”

  It was a pointless question, and one that was answered without words as Harvey whipped his head towards Alex and snapped his teeth. Sherri took this moment of distraction to pounce onto Damien, straddling his lap as she stared down hungrily at her son.

  “Tori. Gun!”

  Tori readied the rifle, all of the extra padding making it difficult to sufficiently bend her arms. She awkwardly brought the sights up to her eyes as she aimed the gun at Sherri’s head. “Alex? What the hell is going on?”

  Alex held Harvey’s gaze, the pupils so dilated that there was no white left in his empty eyes. There was a sly grin on his face as Harvey coiled back, preparing to pounce and strike. “It’s got to be something in those darts. Harvey? Talk to me, buddy. Tell me what you’re feeling.”

  Alex slowly brought his own gun up, nestling it into the crook of his shoulder as he lined up the sight at Harvey’s face.

  Harvey growled.

  Sherri growled in reply, licking her lips as Damien struggled to surface to wakefulness. He wriggled beneath her, giggling, as though this was all some kind of parental prank.

  “Oh God,” Tori muttered. “You don’t think…”

  Alex gave a slow nod, concerned that any sudden movements would trigger something he couldn’t control. “I think we now know the reason why the others have left the area.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Alex sighed. “I’m saying that maybe those darts breed more of these damn things. Why stick around when their new recruits will do their dirty work for them?”

  Damien pushed against the sofa, fighting to sit up properly. “Damn is a naughty word.”

  Sherri growled, her face moving closer to Damien, saliva pooling in the corner of her mouth and dripping onto her son’s cheek.

  “Mum? Mummy, what’s wrong with you? Mum!” Damien finally exploded, a terrified scream coming from his innocent mouth as he kicked and flailed beneath her weight, realising there was nowhere to run. This wasn’t a game he wanted to play anymore.

  The scream was the trigger Alex hadn’t been hoping for. The first domino to set several things happening at once.

  Harvey leaped at Alex in a way that he couldn’t have imagined possible for a man of his age. Not the stunted, clunky movements of a fifty-year-old attempting to jump from the back of the sofa, but with an animalistic grace that confounded Alex’s brain and caused him to hesitate. Harvey’s hands grabbed the rifle and deflected the shot as Alex’s finger squeezed the trigger and sent a bullet careening into the ceiling. The weight of Harvey fell upon him. They crashed to the, the rifle pressed against Alex’s throat with a strength that he couldn’t quite believe.

  Tori’s scream joined Damien’s as Harvey leaped, yet she kept her eyes fixed on Sherri whose open maw now bore down on her son. Damien cried for help, his head disappearing from view as Sherri’s weight pressed down. Her twisted face disappeared behind a curtain of tangled grey hair.

  Tori lowered the gun, finding she couldn’t bring herself to shoot. Instead, she grabbed a fistful of Sherri’s hair, pulling her away from Damien. Sherri growled and swiped a hand at Tori, only catching the thick material of her coat. Her eyes blazed as she lowered herself for another bite at her son.

  Damien’s cry filled the room as Sherri reared back with gritted teeth, her mouth decorated in a modest stain of blood.

  “Tori!” Alex groaned from the floor, trying to fight off the weight of the man on top of him. He could make out the horror of Sherri from the floor as he called out, “Take her down. Get her off him!”

  Tori turned between Alex and Harvey, and Sherri and Damien, uncertain of what to do. “But…”

  “Now!”

  Tori made her decision, spurred on by the young boy’s cries. She leaped over the sofa and came up behind the unaware Sherri, lost in her own thoughts of darkness, and wrapped her arms around her chest. With a quick tug backwards, Tori caught Sherri off-balance and brought her crashing into the coffee table, before rolling onto the floor.

  Alex twisted his head from side to side, avoiding the snapping jaws of Harvey. There was nothing left of the true Harvey that Alex could see. Whatever poison was pulsing through his veins, it had well and truly taken over, and all that was left was the attack.

  Strings of saliva connected Harvey’s lips to Alex’s cheeks, and Alex wondered if that was some kind of primal guidance system, drawing Harvey ever so slowly towards him.

  Harvey snapped again, his teeth catching the slightest edge of Alex’s lobe. For an awestruck moment, Alex felt the tug of his ear as Harvey threw his head back, but it wasn’t enough to do much damage. A mere crumb, teasing the palate ahead of the feast.

  It was enough for Alex to fight back. He drew his knee upwards, catching Harvey in the one weak spot that all men share, causing his body to cripple momentarily as Harvey folded into a ball.

  Alex shoved, sending Harvey rolling beside him as he scrambled to his feet and ran for Tori and Damien.

  Damien curled himself into a ball in the corner of the sofa, a perfect mimic of his dear old dad, tears streaming down his cheeks. He yelled out in surprise as Alex scooped the boy in his arms and held him close. “Tori, it’s time to go!”

  Tori nodded her agreement and ran around to the back of the sofa, bringing the gun once more to her eye to cover the others as they ran for the door. Alex didn’t bother waiting to see what was out there in the storm, all he knew was that he had to get out of there. Something had taken Harvey and Sherri, and that something wasn’t going to relent until they were all dead.

  Or worse.

  The storm met them with its eager embrace, but the residual heat and adrenaline temporarily shielded them, if only for a moment. Damien clung delicate arms around his neck, his woollen pyjamas already growing damp under the onslaught of the snow. Alex cast a glance over his shoulder to check that Tori was with him…

  Which was when the report of the rifle crashed around them. Alex covered Damien’s eyes with a gloved hand as Tori took aim at the man clawing at her feet, gripping onto the cuff of her trousers and desperately pulling them towards his snapping jaws. A second report exploded, staining the open door with patches of blood and ichor as Tori turned on her heels and ran to catch up with them both.

  8

  Cody Trebeck

  Davidon’s drawer was filled with a variety of snacks. All of them unhealthy, sugar-filled, and containing some of the explanation as to why the school janitor had put on so much weight over the years, taking regular days and weeks off to attend his medical appointments at the Denridge surgery.

  Still, Cody was thankful for the opportunity to provide his body with some form of nourishment, as were the others. Sophie and Kyle argued about the best ways to distribute what he had found, but settled at last with a system that allowed them each two bars to enjoy, while they left the rest in the drawer to discuss later. The only downside of all of this being that there was nothing to clear their throat of crumbs with after.

  “This is ludicrous,” Cody chuckled, the delirium of exhaustion coupled with the rush of sugar running through his system. “Your town is surrounded by snow. Snow is water, and we can’t even drink that.”

  Travis lay down on the hard, dusty ground, his head propped up by the thick material of his hood. Beside him, Kyle sat with his back against the wall, chin resting on his chest as sleep finally took him. “You want a snow cone? Why don’t y
ou follow in Kyle’s footsteps and try to get out of here? I’m sure those things aren’t still waiting for us.”

  Cody didn’t miss the sarcastic tone of his voice.

  Sophie sat across from Cody, Amy resting her head on her shoulder as she slept. Her brow was furrowed as she studied Travis, concern in her eyes. “Why do you do that?”

  “Do what?” Travis’ eyes were unfocused, his voice croaky and weak.

  “Act like an ass when he’s around? I know you. I’ve seen you in the halls and around the gym. You’re nice when he’s not near you.”

  Travis blew air between his lips, then stifled a yawn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Kyle’s my boy. I’m his. We got each other’s backs.”

  Sophie debated arguing with Travis, then decided against it. She rested her head on the wall and stared up at the naked bulb. The reflection pooled in her eyes and made them glitter like stars.

  Travis chuckled.

  “What?” Cody asked.

  “Ah, it’s nothing. Just hilarious that she can’t see how much you like her. If I had someone staring at me like a serial killer, you think I’d have noticed by now.”

  “Likes who?” Sophie said.

  Cody shot Travis an intense look.

  Travis waved a hand, then let it fall to the floor. “Nothing. As you were, Goldilocks.”

  Sophie sat up straighter, gently disturbing Amy who smacked her lips and adjusted her shoulders. “Who do you like, Cody?”

  Cody’s heart stopped, the breath sucked out of his body. He grew warmer and colder at the same time as he struggled to meet Sophie’s gaze. “Oh, no one. Well… Not no one.”

  “You can tell me,” Sophie said, a soothing tone to her voice.

  Cody struggled to find the words. He couldn’t believe that Travis had put him in this position. He wasn’t even sure he liked Sophie all that much, not really. How long had he even known her for? A month? Maybe two? It would be crazy to think that he could develop a crush on someone strongly enough to supersede the feelings he felt for Holly Marsh.

  But he did, didn’t he? If anything, the last few hours with Sophie had only strengthened that ache in the pit of his stomach that made him yearn for her. Before, she had been nothing more than a pretty girl in the upper year who had been nice to him on a couple of occasions. Now she was a pretty girl stranded in an underground room with him after proving she could hold her own on the basketball court, and who also had the guts to put an asshole like Kyle in his place when he stepped out of line.

  His eyes flickered to the soft red mark on her cheek.

  “Cody?”

  She tilted her head at an angle that exposed the smooth skin of her porcelain neck. Her eyes were pools of beauty which dripped onto the rest of her body and made her skin glow. Cody wanted to tell her how he felt, considered letting the truth fall from his lips…

  “Holly Marsh.”

  The words left his mouth before he could stop them. They flew away with the virility of a butterfly, desperate to find its place in the world, too late to ever be contained by Cody again. He lowered his eyes to his lap, tearing his gaze away with a sudden embarrassment that burned his insides.

  “Oh…” Sophie muttered, yet there was something in that tone. Disappointment, perhaps? “Who’s she?”

  Cody directed a leer at Travis, but found that he was already fast asleep. His chest rose and fell peacefully while he left Cody to pick up the pieces of the bombshell he’d dropped into the room.

  “A girl that I knew from home,” Cody said, unsure what else to do but be honest. “In my year. She sits across from me in math and we hang out at lunch sometimes. She’s pretty and fun and smart.”

  “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

  “She’s a lot like you.”

  The faintest trace of a smile flickered across Sophie’s face. “I’m not sure how to take that.”

  Cody let out a soft laugh, spurred on by that smile. “I’d take it as a hell of a compliment.”

  Sophie’s smile grew. Colour rose to her cheeks and now it was her turn to look away.

  They sat in silence for a long while, observing the sleeping group around them and unable to communicate the things rolling around in their heads. It was only when Brandon started snoring loudly, his body folded into a strange Z shape as he slipped from his sitting position to the floor, that they both tried to stifle their laughs with their hands.

  Sophie sighed. “Tell me honestly, Cody. Do you think we’re going to be okay?”

  “What do you mean? Of course we are,” Cody said, not fully believing his own words. “Why are you asking?”

  “I just mean that… I guess that people don’t really realize how bad a situation is until it turns from bad to worse, right? We could hole ourselves up in here for as long as it takes for those things—those wendigos—to disappear or for people to find us, but what if they don’t come? You heard Brandon, what if the storm outlasts us? How long is this food going to feed us for? We can’t live on that. How long until we need to drink water, or one of us needs to go to the toilet?”

  “I’m pretty sure I went when those things chased us.”

  Sophie laughed, that delicate hand covering her pink lips. “I’m serious, Cody. How long can we really last down here? And if starvation, dehydration, or those monsters don’t kill us, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be killing him at some point soon.” She jerked a thumb at Kyle. “I mean, can you believe his attitude? It’s like shacking up with a bratty child.”

  Cody’s stare hardened at Kyle. “I know what you mean. Look, I’m not going to say that I have any answers. Nor do I know much about this town or how it works, but I’ve seen enough movies to know that the good guys always win. We’re the good guys in this situation. As long as there are people out there looking for us, we’ll be okay. All we’ve got to do is wait it out and they will come. They will come.”

  Sophie lowered her head.

  “What’s wrong?”

  When she looked back at him her eyes were glossy with tears. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

  Cody smiled, his own cheeks colouring a little. “I’m telling you, as long as there are people out there looking for us, we’ll be okay.” They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Cody said, “Grab some shut eye. I’ll stand watch a little longer. You need rest.”

  Sophie nodded and was soon closing her eyes and using Amy’s head as her pillow. Cody leaned his head back against the chill, hard wall, the aches in his body already starting to irk him. He stood up and stretched, allowing his bones and muscles to crack and creak. The room was silent, even the hush from the storm unable to penetrate their little underground bunker. The creatures…

  the wendigos

  …had been silent for some time, but Cody knew better than to test the door as Kyle had some time ago.

  Cody took his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen. 03:54. How had so much happened in the last three hours? He imagined himself back in the cold dark of his room, struggling to keep himself warm. Never in a million years could he have imagined that he’d find himself here, stuck in the janitorial room with Brandon, Sophie, and the others. He wondered what Alex would say when he woke up to find that Cody was gone. A storm outside shutting him into the house as he hunted frantically for Cody. What if those creatures…

  the wendigos

  …were out there, too? What if they had already gotten Alex? Who would be coming for him then?

  He pocketed his phone and stared down at Sophie, his heart fluttering as her shallow breaths grew deeper. It hadn’t taken many of them that long to fall asleep, and Cody was terrified that if they all clocked out of reality at the same time that it might open a hole for the monsters to come. Someone had to stay awake. Act as guard. Let it be him.

  Cody yawned.

  That’s not a good start.

  He paced the room, moving as quietly as possible despite the thick soles of his boots. He traced a finger across the met
al shelves of the chemical racks as his mind concocted insane methods of escape that included creating concoctions of various chemicals that he had never handled before. Could they make some kind of bomb? Blow their way out of this hovel? He wandered to a box of tools and spotted a box cutter which he teased from the pile and pocketed. Who knew when something like that might come in handy? Perhaps when the others were awake, they could all find something useful to wield, should the time come and they needed to attack.

  He passed by Kyle, then stepped across Travis to examine a deeper recess cast around the corner of one wall. Over here was a dark strip where the light from the bulb could not reach, and Cody found himself holding up his phone, the flashlight activated on the back as he explored the darkness and discovered nothing but more large grey bricks, yet another wall blocking them inside.

  Only, was it?

  Something soft brushed his cheek. The delicate kiss of a frozen butterfly. His hand moved to his face and, sure enough, there it was again. Air…

  Cody moved closer to the wall, now certain that there was a steady breeze blowing through the tiny pores of the brick. He held the light closer and discovered a series of small porous holes around some of the brickwork. Beyond that was darkness, but there was definitely a beyond.

  Cody turned over his shoulder to check that the others were all asleep, then clamped his phone between his teeth and placed both palms on the brick closest to the stream of air. He gave a gentle nudge, and nothing happened. Undeterred, he pressed a little harder, and was surprised to find that the brick shifted, creating an inch-thick indentation in the wall.

  Cody’s eyes widened as he shined the light on the wall and inspected his work. He pocketed the phone, then shoved the brick again, this time with a push so forceful that it sent the brick clattering into the darkness beyond.