Dead Cold

by Roddy R. Cross, Jr.

  “I’m sorry.” Jack had never been very good at silence.

  “What was that?”

  “I’m sorry, about Roland. I know you had feelings for him.”

  “I guess that’s just how the world is now, I just wish I had told him sooner; you know?” Destiny was drying her eyes as she sat up.

  “Yeah, I kind of do. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Angela. Most likely go crazy start thinking I’m a ghoul.”

  “Well let us hope that you never lose her.” Destiny forced a smile. “So how did you end up here Jack?”

  Reaching into one of the bags Jack handed Destiny a drink as he explained what had happened to him and Angela since the outbreak. Hearing his story Destiny found she could better relate to this man she had only met a few days before but a shared strong bond with. Jack’s story finished and Destiny told him hers; describing how she had been captured by the Reverend and rescued by Roland and tell Jack a little about their shared past.

  She found she could not control her tears as she told Jack about the day she had let Roland go. He had begged her to come with him, promised her the world and she had said good bye that day. She had always regretted it but could never let Roland or anyone else know, she hadn’t been ready to give up her life for him not yet and Roland, being Roland waited for nothing. It had been over five years when he had rescued her from the Reverend, now she had lost him again in only a few days.

  The snow had begun to let up and Jack suggested it was time for them to finish their journey back to the garage; the others were probably worried about them. Destiny agreed and the pair began to gather their things making sure they had everything. Destiny was just about the open the door when a ghoul slammed its face against the glass; its teeth attempting to bite through the glass. Startled Destiny immediately raised her SMG and pulled the trigger, the rapid clicks of an empty magazine echoed through the truck like church bells.

  Looking around in a panic Destiny found Jack smiling and she stopped wondering what was going through his mind. Without a word Jack reached under the back seat and felt around for a few seconds before pulling out a heavy black tire iron. With a look in his eyes that said “Watch this.” Jack leaned out the door as he opened it and brought the heavy iron down with all his might.

  The tire iron smashed through the skull of what had not long before been a first grade teacher whose student had bitten her. As her now lifeless body fell into the snow and disappeared into a cloud of white the two she had been attempting to attack exited the truck and began running towards the garage.

  Finally finding the big red door to the garage they both began pounding on it, looking around as they did. When the door finally lifted both Destiny and Jack rushed through collapsing almost immediately afterwards. As people swarmed around her Destiny could see Cory holding the door open and looking for Roland. She wanted to shout that Roland was gone, that Cory should close the door before those things came but she could do nothing.

  “Destiny?” Cory’s voice sounded so far away, like a dream.

  “Destiny, we need you here sweety.” This time it was Desire, she seemed nice.

  “Destiny, we need to know where Roland is.” Cory’s voice was louder now.

  “Roland?” Just saying his name was hard.

  “Yes Roland, where is he.” Cory’s voice was starting to annoy Destiny.

  “Roland Castle is dead.” The words felt like acid on her tongue as she spoke.

  Chapter 31: All Gone Now

  No one quite knew what to do now that Roland was gone. No one had appointed him but he had always been the leader and without him they were all lost. It became quickly apparent that without Roland’s single minded desire to save Emily and Cory’s girlfriend no one but Cory was interested in going after the Colonel. The others had their own places to go, Destiny had nowhere.

  That first night after Destiny and Jack got back everyone discussed their plans. Alma and her family were planning to leave the next day in the Toyota. Jack, Angela and Desire would take the truck a few days later and drop Destiny, Eve and Cory off at a nearby car dealership. After whimpering at the door for Roland for hours Eve had finally decided she was going to follow Destiny around.

  After they all ate everyone rested while Cory kept watch. Destiny had difficulty sleeping; every time she closed her eyes the image of Roland dead in the snow filled her mind. She also thought she could hear Cory talking to himself down below, but she was certain that everyone else including Eve was upstairs. Eventually she lost her battle with exhaustion and finally succumbed to sleep. She thought she heard Cory say “We have to go after her” as the world went dark.

  The next morning Alma and her family packed a few of the supplies and left in the SUV. There were no tearful farewells, they had only met these people a few days before and their only connection had been Roland. Alma did take Destiny aside where no one else could hear before they left.

  “You miss him don’t you?” The older woman’s face was soft and caring.

  “I do, more than anything.”

  “If you want you and the dog can come with us, there’s room in the car for you.”

  “That’s really sweet of you, but I think I should stay and help Cory find his girlfriend.” Destiny smiled, surprised at the other woman’s compassion.

  “Okay sweetheart, well you be careful now. Don’t do anything stupid, please?”

  “I won’t Alma, you be careful too okay?”

  The older woman smiled and hugged Destiny, and for a few seconds the world didn’t seem so miserable. After that she was gone, the Toyota disappearing into the snow as the big red door slammed shut behind it. Destiny turned around to find Jack and Cory arguing, both men trying to make themselves look bigger than the other.

  “We have to go after them and that is my truck!” Cory was gesturing wildly at the red Dodge.

  “Dude it ain’t your truck alright, it was stolen from a dealership and belongs to nobody. Understand?” Jack had refused to say Roland’s name since getting back.

  “I was with Roland when he took it that makes it mine!”

  Destiny was glad neither man had a gun.

  “I don’t think so and why should I get myself killed to rescue your girlfriend? I’m taking the truck as close to Newfoundland as I can get it, you don’t like it too bad.”

  “Both of you calm down, as if things aren’t bad enough already we don’t need you two making it worse.” Destiny stepped between the two men worried they might come to blows.

  “But, we have to go rescue her.” It seemed like Cory meant everyone had to go.

  “Whatever man, you want to risk your life. You go right ahead but I’m not going with you.” With that Jack walked away and up the stairs.

  “She’s counting on me though.” Tears were coming from Cory’s eyes and without a word to Destiny he turned and walked into the office.

  “Guess I’m on watch then.” Destiny said to Eve as she turned and headed back to the big red door.

  Once again Destiny could have sworn she could hear Cory talking to himself while he was in the office. When he finally emerged several hours later he seemed to be back to normal, at least as normal as anyone could be in such a crapsack world. He apologized to Jack and things seemed to be fine for a few days.

  On the day they were supposed to leave an avalanche of snow fell from the roof and buried the garage doors in ten feet of snow. They would either have to dig a path out or they would be forced to walk abandoning the truck. Jack and Angela were willing to abandon the truck and walk to the nearby dealership.

  “We can’t leave the truck, there is no way we can carry all the weapons inside it and we’re going to need them!” Cory was screaming into Jack’s face.

  “To hell with the weapons man, it’s gonna take at least three days to dig out of here and we don’t have enough food to wait around!” Jack was doing his best to shout louder than Cory.

  “Guys this isn’t worth it!” Destiny was easily drowned out.


  “No! We have to dig it out!” Cory ran over to the open door and began furiously shoveling the snow with his bare hands.

  “Cory, stop.” Desire put a hand on the man’s shoulder only to have him swing around and punch her in the face; knocking her down.

  “Oh, that’s it!” Jack shouted as he charged Cory and tackled him around the mid section.

  As Jack wrestled Cory to the ground and did his best to hold him there Destiny grabbed some rope from the back of the truck and rushed around to help. Desire had recovered from the punch to the jaw and was doing her best to hold Cory’s legs. Cory was screaming and fighting with a fervor that only those with nothing to lose can attain. He began to fight even harder as Angela showed up and the four of them began to tie his arms and legs behind his back.

  “I have to save her!”

  “He’s lost his damn mind.” Jack stood up as soon as Cory was tied. “We should leave him and get the hell out of here.”

  “We can’t just leave him here, he’ll die.” Fear gripped Destiny even as she spoke.

  “So? What does that matter?”

  “If we start killing everyone what’s the point?” Destiny knew what was coming as soon as she said it.

  “Roland killed lots of people if I’m not mistaken, and you weren’t complaining when I shot that crazy guy in the store.” Jack’s face was hard and Destiny knew the situation was bad.

  “Roland was different and that was different. This is our friend and he’s not crazy he’s just worried about the only person he has left.” Destiny was pleading with Jack now.

  “She’s right baby, if we kill him are we any different than those things outside?” Angela had her arms around Jack’s chest as she spoke.

  “Fine but we should lock him up until we figure out what to do with him.”

  “Okay, well he’s tied up let’s put him in the office while we dig the truck out.” Destiny could tell Jack wasn’t happy with the arrangement but knew he would go along with it.

  “That works, but I think we should have someone watching him at all times just in case.” Jack and Destiny began to drag the still struggling man towards the office.

  “Agreed.”

  Cory was placed under watch for two days while the other four took turns guarding, digging and sleeping. The lower temperatures outside and the slightly warmer temperature inside caused the snow to constantly thaw and freeze making digging more difficult. Late on the second day the snow had finally been cleared enough to allow the truck to exit the shop. It was time to pack up and get moving; Angela was watching Cory who had been quiet for the two days since being placed in the office.

  A scream cut short told Destiny why as she turned to see Cory standing behind Angela his hand covering her mouth, a large knife in the other caressing her neck. Destiny and Jack both had weapons which they both raised immediately only stopping when Cory pressed the knife point against Angela’s throat drawing a few drops of blood.

  “Now, now, how about you put those down so we can be real civil, okay?” Cory’s voice was cold and flat now.

  “Cory just let her go and we can work this out.” Destiny placed her gun on the ground and stepped back her hands in the air.

  “If you hurt her I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch.” Jack seethed as he too placed his gun on the floor.

  Cory waved the knife in the air side to side. “You’re not very nice you know that, now we are all going to get in the truck and we are going to go rescue Breanna, understood?”

  “I don’t think so you piece of shit and the second you let her go I’m going to kill you!” Jack was foaming at the mouth in rage.

  “See, now you shouldn’t have done that because we were all getting along till now.”

  Before anyone could move Cory plunged the large knife into Angela’s chest and pushed her towards Jack while taking the gun out of her hand. Caught off guard Jack was knocked over by Angela and they both collapsed in a heap on the floor. Destiny was reaching for her weapon when the click of a hammer told her it was too late.

  “Goodbye, Destiny. On the plus side you’ll be with Roland.” Cory’s smiled seemed to divide his face as he pulled the trigger.

  The pain in her stomach started before Destiny even heard the gunshot. It was like a great, fiery hand had reached into her stomach and was looking for something. The pain was worse than anything she had every imagined and it took everything she had not to scream. The scene seemed to be playing out in slow motion as pain overwhelmed her nervous system. She could see Jack holding Angela’s body and crying. She was aware of Eve rushing out the door; a bullet impacting the concrete behind her.

  She watched as Cory knocked out Desire with a single punch and after tying her hand behind her back threw her in the backseat of the truck. Deciding he had done all he could Cory hopped into the driver’s seat and started the truck. Jack was still cradling Angela and asking her to wake up and Destiny did not want Cory to get away tried to reach for her gun lying nearby. She blacked out from pain before she could reach it; the last thing she heard was the truck driving away.

  She awoke to Jack kneeling over her and doing his best to stem the bleeding in her stomach. There was a pillow under her head and she could see that a sheet covered the lifeless shape that had been Angela. The big garage door was still open and snow was blowing into the garage.

  “Thank god you’re awake, Destiny; I thought I lost you too.” Jack’s eyes were red and puffy and his voice was hoarse.

  “I thought you lost me too.” It hurt to talk or breathe and Destiny tried to limit both. “Eve?”

  “She escaped during the fight I’m not sure what happened to her.”

  “Angela?” Destiny felt sorry for asking.

  “The knife pierced her heart, she died before we fell. It was quick.” Tears began flowing again as he spoke.

  “I don’t think I’m gonna make it.” Each breath was becoming more difficult and Destiny knew her time was short.

  “You have to make it Destiny; you can’t leave me alone here.” Jack’s voice was pleading and child like.

  “I’m sorry…” What she was about to say was cut of by the sound of barking and voices.

  Seconds later Eve came through the door, going right to Destiny and licking her face. The pain was getting worse and Destiny could feel the world going black again. She could see through the haze of pain as four people came through the garage door following Eve. A large black man, a young Japanese man with white hair, a person in a strange outfit and Destiny could not believe her eyes when the fourth person walked through the door. A wave of pain washed over her and the world went black again.

  “No fucking way.” Jack’s voice was the last thing she heard.

  Dead Reckoning

  Chapter 1: Awakening

  Closing his one eye he waited until she was gone. He wasn’t quite dead yet but he was close and he knew it. There was no point in letting her die too; not after everything he had through to make sure she stayed alive. They were close now and there were three of them. They knew he wasn’t dead yet and they were coming to finish the job, thankfully she had gotten away.

  Closing his eye he prepared to embrace his fate and meet his maker when the sound of a small engine reached his ears. It sounded like a snowmobile and it was getting closer. Snow had started to cover his body and became quickly aware of the fact that whoever was driving was very likely to drive right over him. That made him smile; kill every ghoul around only to be killed by a living person on a snowmobile.

  Holding his breath and waiting for the end he was surprised when the snowmobile came to a stop beside him. Opening his eye he saw that the driver wore a snowmobile suit and an open faced helmet; he looked like somebody’s grandfather. Without a word the old man pulled a small caliber pistol from his snowsuit and with three shots killed the encroaching ghouls.

  Kneeling down the man placed two fingers on his neck and looked at his watch. Couldn’t this man see he was dead; his legs, arm and eye
had all been destroyed and he had been bitten. Even if he could stop all the bleeding he would turn into one of the creatures before too long. Why wasn’t this old man putting a bullet in his brain and ending his misery. Instead he just looked in his one good eye and smiled.

  “Hold on son, we’ll fix you up.”

  How could he fix the infection? Had he found a cure? These questions raced through his mind as the old man lifted him on to a makeshift stretcher that was the snowmobiles trailer. He could feel and hear the old man strapping him in and he found he could no longer keep his eye open. The last thing he heard before the blackness took him was the snowmobile’s engine as it turned around.

  The next time his eye opened he found himself blinded by bright white lights and he could tell he was still strapped down. Becoming distinctly aware of someone moving nearby he turned his head to look and saw instead his own reflection in a stainless steel wall. What he saw would have made him scream if he weren’t sedated; his legs, left arm and left eye had all been removed. Only stumps remained of his limbs and a cavernous hole where his eye had been; he was also aware of a large scar on his chest.

  “You shouldn’t be awake yet, back to sleep until I’m finished.” The voice was kindly, like what he imagined Santa Clause would sound like and he succumbed once again to unconsciousness.

  When he opened his eye the next time he immediately became aware of two things; he could see out both eyes again and he was no longer in pain. Looking over towards the stainless steel he saw that the hole in his face had been replaced with a silver metal plate with a golden eye in the middle. There was a white sheet covering his body and he became immediately aware of the fact that the sheet out lined a full body with all its limbs.

  Look for the second of the Dead Cold series: Dead Reckoning to be released in the spring of 2013.