The Sixth Extinction America Omnibus [Books 1-12]

by Johnson, Glen

The trip to America, to follow their favorite bands, took years to save for, and months to plan. They worked it out down to the last day. They were traveling from state to state by bus and train. They were planning on seeing 36 Crazyfists, Reel Big Fish, HIM, Slipknot, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Weller, Embrace, Muse, Incubus, The Seahorses, and 30 Seconds to Mars. The complete trip would take them on a hectic two-month race across thirty-nine of the fifty states that would also encompass some of Americas most famous landmarks.

  They had only been in America for four days, and had just seen the first band: HIM in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and were about to head by Greyhound bus to Newport Music Hall in Ohio, Cleveland to watch Stone Sour when the infection broke out. They were in a cheap motel just outside of New York City.

  They sat in their budget motel room that had cigarette burns on the sheets, and a patchwork of carpets on the floor, with a musty smell hanging in the air, watching the news break on the old-fashioned tube television while they ate from a fast-food brown paper bag and readjusted their backpacks because they were way too heavy.

  All buses, trains, and planes were canceled due to the government’s concern of the infection spreading.

  The sisters sat in their budget room and watched the series of events unfold, like a horror movie.

  At first, they kept in contact with their family and friends back in England, until the Internet failed, and they could no longer get their laptop to log on to the motel’s server.

  At least there was a small glimmer of hope, eight days in and England was still uninfected – their families were safe, but for how long?

  The failure of the Internet hit them hard; it was their only means of contact with everyone in England.

  They rushed to a payphone out on the cracked tarmac of the motel’s parking lot. It was no good; the phone lines were intermittent. When they did manage to get through, the line was hissing and cut out before they could even figure out who had answered the phone at their parent’s house. All other attempts to use the phone failed.

  Just on the other side of the highway was a collection of high-rise apartments.

  They watched out their dirty window as people packed up their cars with belongings and headed out to join the long queue of traffic on the freeway.

  Within days, they heard the fighting on the streets and the riots.

  They knew they had no choice when they heard a gang of youths start to smash their way through the rooms at the motel.

  The manager had vanished days before. They were the only two left in the collection of shabby motel rooms. They had nowhere else to go.

  They collected their things and made their escape before they were noticed. They didn’t know how the youths would react to finding them, and they didn’t want to find out. The day before they had collected large kitchen knives from the manager’s apartment over the reception area. However, they would rather not have to use them to defend themselves.

  They had no idea what direction they headed in, but luckily, in their packs was camping gear – they planned on camping to save money. They slept in fields and by a river after scavenging enough food to last them a week, which they carried in a cloth bag, holding a handle each as they walked along. It was while they were rousing from a cold night’s sleep, while hearing strange screams off in the distance, during the night that they woke to a boat anchored twenty meters out in the river.

  Smokie’s group found them. They were welcomed on board. They had found others who were also trying to survive as the world around them turned to chaos.

  Rachel shouted for her sister to duck as she used her fist to sideswipe a naked child, she believed the move was called a haymaker – her boyfriend back in England watched a lot of WWE. The child went down hard, and she used a heavy boot to crush its skull.

  “Fucking gross!” she shouted over the mayhem around her. “BLATES!” she screamed.

  To one side, Terrance kicked a creature in the chest, sending it reeling backwards, before decapitating it with the spade.

  Sarah could hear the sound from the outboard engine of the boat getting louder. It sounded like it was heading back to the beach. She didn’t have time to look.

  Don’t come back, you fucking idiots! Run away! Save yourselves! Fucking nobjockeys!

  They were both already exhausted from running down the road.

  Sarah didn’t know how much longer she could last. She noticed her sister was also waning.

  Why the fuck didn’t we get on the first boat? Then again, does it matter if it’s heading back.

  A woman next to her lost her face as a creature ripped it away with serrated teeth.

  192

  Mollee, and the others

  On the beach

  Somewhere in New York State

  Mollee’s arms were a blur. Unlike the others, she didn’t retreat onto the treacherously loose stoned beach, instead, she continued to fight on the grassy embankment, giving her a sure footing. She hacked at the charging creatures with all her strength and anger.

  Beside and behind her, the others fought with what flagging strength they had left. After the two-mile run, most of them were exhausted to the point of dropping to the ground – they thought they would be heading out to the safety of the boat. However, they knew the instant they lowered their weapons, they would be dead – ripped apart by deformed, hungry mouths.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this; we are meant to be heading for the cargo ship on the boat.

  The head of a creature to Mollee’s right vanish with the accompanying sound of a rifle shot. She nodded her thanks to Donna.

  The Shapter sisters were back-to-back, swinging weapons like windmills, as they shouted abuse at the creatures around them, as they kicked and lashed out at those closest to them.

  “Fucking America!” Sarah shouted. “Why the fuck did we ever want to backpack this country?” She uppercut a naked woman, sending her reeling backwards. “I could be in the fucking Costa Del Sol! I would still be fighting for my life, but at least it will be warm, and on nice sand!”

  Regardless of everything, her sister shouted her agreement.

  “Oh, a cold Pina Colada would wash down a treat, right about now,” Rachel stated as she kneed a man before forcing a knife into its swollen neck.

  The people who joined them on the island were grouped together, as if still not trusting the strangers.

  Lindell and his brother Terrance fought like machines, their strength seemingly inexhaustible.

  Troy, Alex, and Frank stood in a circle, each watching the others backs.

  Fuck ‘em, each for themselves, Mollee thought as she forced a knife up through the underneath of a teenager’s jaw, up into the brain pan.

  Next to her Andy swung a large fist into the side of a head. She could hear the skull crack.

  Mollee ducked as a naked man flew over her head. She raised a blade and used the man’s momentum to gut him like a fish. It landed in a wet splash, with its intestines and blood pouring down her back, soaking her flimsy dress.

  Why are there so many heading this way? Have the towns and cities been overrun and the only place left for the infected is to head out into the countryside?

  A scream right next to her made her turn. It wasn’t an animalistic roar of rage, rather; it was Rachel Shapter, the youngest sister being bitten on the neck from behind. Blood spurted up into the air as the creature hit a main artery and started to shake its head from side to side, like a rabid dog, causing as much damage as possible, and tearing a chunk free.

  “Nooooo!” her sister Sarah hollered as she forced a blade through the savage young girl’s eye that was latched onto her sibling’s throat. She then dropped her weapons to grab her falling sister and cradled her in her arms.

  “End it,” Rachel whispered, as blood spurted from the wound and poured from her mouth as she dropped onto her knees. Tears flowed down her face mingling with the blood.

  “You know I can’
t,” Sarah muttered that could just be heard over the fighting around them. “You know I can’t let you leave on your own, baby sis.”

  As she said that, Sarah made no attempt to fight off a creature that sunk its maw of a mouth onto her back. She twisted in pain, but didn’t let her sister go.

  “Ya fucking muppet!” Rachel managed to whisper as blood popped on her lips.

  “I love you too sis,” Sarah managed to say as the creature dug in deeper as it gripped her back in its vice like grip.

  Mollee witnessed what happened. She knew there was no other choice. She took one step to the right and placed a blade over both the sister’s throats.

  The sisters were aware of the blades. They didn’t flinch; they just locked eyes with each other, and held each other tighter.

  “I love you, and I will see you on the other side sis,” Sarah said.

  “Love you,” Rachel muttered weakly, with a bloody smile.

  Mollee sliced both their throats at the same time.

  193

  Alex, and the others

  On the beach

  Somewhere in New York State

  The swarm of creatures poured from the woods.

  Why didn’t I get on the first boat; Alex wondered? I could be watching this from the safety of the water.

  He had just witnessed what had happened to the Shapter sisters, and how Mollee cut their throats while showing no emotion. He knew it needed to be done, but still, it looked like she didn’t even flinch.

  Everyone has lost someone, but has losing her grandmother Tish, sent her over the edge? And how is she still moving around, she must be freezing in that flimsy dress?

  The sound of the returning boats hull ground up the pebbles. The occupants jumped out to offer support.

  All apart from Naomi who sat in the back of the boat, as far away from the beach as possible.

  The small dog hopped from the prow and started racing around the creature’s feet, while snapping at their ankles and causing confusion.

  Naomi climbed from the boat, to try to turn it around, so she could get back out onto the safety of the water. A dead body bumped up against her leg. She paid it no mind, all she was worried about was her own skin.

  It was no good; the boat was too heavy for one person.

  “For fuck sake!” she hollered.

  Naomi could see Sue standing just up the beach, aiming her large Magnum handgun – that was only moments ago pointed in Naomi’s face. Sue expertly blasted holes through the creature’s heads. Sue had to be careful, the large caliber bullets went through two bodies at once. On a couple of shots, she took two creatures down together.

  Alex’s handgun was out of bullets. He pushed it into his trousers, in case there were more bullets on the cargo ship. He then rushed toward the boat. Lying down, over eight feet in length was a setting pole, used for pushing the boat away from the main ship before starting the engine. It had a metal cap on either end. He grabbed it and started to use the heavy pole like a spear. Even though the end was blunt, with enough force, he pushed it through a creature’s mouth and out the back of its head. He pulled it free and swung it sideways so hard; the force crushed the skull of another naked creature and forced it down hard onto the pebbles.

  He could see Lindell out of the corner of his eye swing the metal pipe like a baseball bat, his thick arms rolling with muscles, as sweat flicked from his face.

  Stu was swinging both machetes at once, cleaving both arms off an infected man in one swipe, before bringing them both back up along the man’s chest and through its face.

  A creature propelled itself off a bank and flew through the air, landing directly on top of Smokie. She was knocked to the ground below the creature’s thrashing body.

  194

  Stu, and the others

  On the beach

  Somewhere in New York State

  Stu was instantly at Smokie’s side and forced a long blade down into the creature’s spine below the skull and twisted, before it had chance to latch its teeth down onto her arm that she was using to keep the frantic creature at bay. The creature lost the ability to move, as Stu pulled it away, before finishing it with a decapitating cut across the neck.

  “Thanks,” Smokie said, out of breath, while climbing to her feet. Her headphones had been knocked off and swung from the lead around her waist. However, she didn’t have time to slip them back on; she was already fighting off the next infected human.

  Sweat poured down Stu’s face. His arms were aching, but he had no choice, the moment he lowered the weapons, he would be dead.

  His eyes caught the wet, falling apart Kermit the frog glove puppet, and he remembered his beautiful daughter Hanna, who was still missing.

  Only five and wandering in this chaos.

  He knew, deep down, there was no way she could still be alive, but the moment he admitted it to himself that she was dead and gone, would be the day he gave up and lay down to die.

  Thinking of Hanna spurred him on, giving him a second wind. He imagined every creature he attacked was the reason his wife Clare, and other two children, Amber and Clark were dead; this gave him the strength to keep swinging the heavy blades.

  He noticed the people from the boat were now fighting beside him. He didn’t hear the boat return.

  You should have kept going; he reasoned, at least some of us would have survived. He wouldn’t have thought any less of them. In fact, it made him mad that they had returned. Now they were all back on the beach. If they kept on going, an empty boat could have returned to pick up more of them.

  A gunshot next to his right ear made his ears ring.

  The cargo ship is just behind me, just off shore. Safety, and a promise of a new beginning. So close yet so far away.

  The story of his life.

  He could see a few people toss their weapons down and run out into the surf. They were going to risk swimming the cold, choppy water to reach the cargo ship, rather than try to fight off the creatures on the pebbled beach.

  He swung a blade across a bloated throat. Warm blood splashed across his chest and neck.

  That’s for you Clare.

  The horde raced from the trees, pouring from the undergrowth down toward the waterline. However, the numbers were diminishing.

  I have to keep going. I can rest when I am dead. I will fight beside my friends, and together we will survive.

  Stu remembered a line from his favorite TV show – Firefly. He recalled an episode where Zoe was holding a young man, an ex-military Browncoat friend whom she fought beside, and he was dying in her arms. The man Tracey said, ‘When you can’t run, you crawl. And when you can’t crawl, when you can’t do that…’

  ‘...you find someone to carry you,’ Zoe finished.

  Amen sister. Amen.

  Something caught Stu’s eye – something on a subconscious level. A shiver ran down his spine.

  His attention was drawn to a naked, skinny small child just emerging from the trees. There were a dozen creatures left, but this one stood out; this one was familiar.

  195

  Bachman and Emma

  Zone 4

  The underground bunker

  Quirauk Mountain, Pennsylvania

  Bachman stumbled forward, landing hard on his palms. The jolt knocked the wind from his lungs, and for a split second, he was worried his collarbones would snap under the pressure.

  They held.

  With his foot, he kicked backwards, slamming the door closed behind them. He knew it wouldn’t hold back the large creature that was chasing them, but he hoped it would be too large to fit through the small entrance.

  As he looked up, he noticed the door they crashed through entered a cavernous barn, it was on an industrial scale.

  Emma stood close beside him. The sound of her rubber wetsuit squeaking, as she peered around, was the only sound, apart from their heavy breathing, that is, until the creatures inside started to react to their presence.

  They were surrounded by thousand
s of cows.

  There were rows and rows of metal bars that where there to hold the cattle in place. However, the animals had collapsed as they started to change, and after the infection deformed them, and they started to transform; they expanded out, with the black tentacles covering everything, wedging them in place.

  Metal bars were warped as the weight of the creatures pushed against them. Guts and bones littered the concrete floor where their intestines had exploded. Long tentacles spread out across the ground and ran up supporting columns and dangled down like deformed Christmas decorations.

  A loud crashing sound announced the chasing creature had reached the door. With another slam, the door flew from its hinges and cart wheeled past them. The front section of the beast was reaching through the entrance, but its wide shoulders were stopping it from getting too far.

  “Fuck!” Emma shouted, with her eyes wide with fear. She hadn’t looked back, and even though she could tell it was large, from the way it tossed the other animals, and the heavy sound of its body moving over the ground; she was still shocked at the sight of the creature as it was ramming its shoulders into the concrete doorpost. Cracks started to run up the wall from its constant pounding.

  “Is that a shire horse?”

  “I don’t know, or care?” Bachman replied as he scrambled to his feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

  A twisting, muscular neck thrashed through the opening, with long tentacles withering from a ripped open horse face.

  The cracks started to widen as the creature started pounding its large shoulders against the doorframe. Its hoofed legs clacked against the concrete ground, and its spidery legs scrambled for purchase as they dug chunks out of the thick concrete.

  Bachman and Emma raced towards the large barn entrance.

  To either side was the rows of cattle that now looked like mounds of deformed flesh.

  They stepped through the gore and kept clear of the beating tentacles that slapped the floor that was plastered in stinking, congealing blood.