LZR-1143 (Book 4): Desolation

by Bryan James

  Ky leapt forward, but Kate had twisted as she fell, hands finding the grasping arms and pulling the creature forward. She cursed at the noise, but couldn’t help it. It had a death grip on her hair and she had to have it in the open to take it down.

  Her hand found the large knife on her hip and she pivoted once more, grimacing at the pain as a decent sized handful of hair came off in the creature’s hand. A single forceful swipe relieved the pressure as the thing fell back against the trees, its rotten face bearing a semblance of confusion as it lost contact with its target.

  “Oh that’s just effing gross,” said Ky. “Even for us. That’s just wrong.” She had raised her rifle, but was staring at Kate’s head.

  Repulsed, she reached up, knowing what she’d find. The creature’s hand was still tangled in her long hair, fingers filthy with blood and dirt wrapped in her locks.

  A fit of anger overtook her, irrational and quick, and she turned to the creature that had stumbled forward, remaining hand grasping for air as it lunged toward her. Her hand took its shirt in a balled fist, pushing it back several paces until it was backed against a tree. Kate picked her spot carefully, finding this tree for a reason.

  Gently, almost as if she were lowering a baby into a bassinet, she pushed the creature against the resistance, feeling the body tense briefly as the jagged edge of the two inch thick broken limb pushed into its back and through its torso. A bulge of dress shirt darkened with blood precisely where the zombie’s heart sat within its chest, cold and still. Pushing it back against the limb, she applied pressure until its back was against the trunk. It flailed and moaned, shaking the tree branches and moving the green foliage behind it. Absently, she noted the blue oxford shirt over khaki pants, finding it amusing somehow that the shirt was still tucked in.

  “Okay, to the left,” Kate said, making the call as dozens of creatures honed in on the noise. “I think our odds are better toward the river. We’ve got no cover toward the road. Our friend will draw more of them here while we’re moving away.” She gestured to the impaled creature, prevented from removing itself by the gentle upward angle of the broken limb.

  Behind them, the moans were filtering through the trees like a gentle rain, urging them on. The constant crash of clumsy bodies falling over deadfall and crooked trees and branches was music to their ears as they again managed to outpace the following dead with their more nimble capabilities.

  “Look, to the right,” Ky pointed and Kate sighed heavily.

  Finally, a break. The trees that had toppled to make the imposing wall had fallen perpendicular to a large concrete berm—likely a flood control measure before the river had turned into an ocean. It was still standing, although under several feet of water. But a gap showed clearly beneath the trees and the standing water. Only ten feet away from the narrow gap, the river raged and threatened to encroach more, even as they approached.

  “Go, check before you get through the other side. I’ll watch our backs,” Kate managed, still wrestling with the undead hand hanging from her head.

  “Yeah …” Ky looked back, allowing herself a grin. “You sure you don’t need a … hand … with that?”

  Kate groaned, but couldn’t keep the smile off her lips.

  “I’m fine, thanks.” She tore the last finger from her hair and tossed the appendage into the water that was getting closer as they spoke. “Go!” Her finger pointed imperiously at the gap.

  “Going, going,” she tossed back as her slim form pushed through the water and under the logs.

  As she took in their situation, Kate inhaled deeply. Dozens of creatures were slowly making their way through the debris on this side of the downed trees. No telling how many were coming from the direction of the road and were closing in on the other side of the barrier. The river roared in anger, as if frustrated that its slow encroachment wasn’t more aggressive. Her finger tightened on the trigger of her carbine as four creatures came into clear sight out of the foliage closest to them.

  “It’s clear … for now. Come on through. Hurry!” Ky’s whisper was urgent and low.

  Time wasn’t on their side. No time to fight. Not now. Grunting once, as if to signal that these four were luckier than they had any right to be, she bent over and ducked under the ceiling of the wooden tunnel.

  ***

  I fell down hard as the land slipped away beneath me, feeling the rusty metal scrape a layer of skin from my face as I slid down the sloping hull on my back, Romeo’s weight heavy on my chest.

  The ship was shaking as if possessed. I flailed and grasped for purchase on the flaky skin of the giant beast but it was no use. My legs went over the edge first, and I made one last try for the edge of the ship, tearing a jagged gash in my hand as I caught on a piece of torn metal. Then I was falling.

  Romeo’s whine was loud in my ears as we tumbled from the side of the ship, past the exposed keel, and into a whirling pool of rapidly moving eddies and dark, frothing water at the base of the beached vessel.

  My head whipped back as we slammed into the water and I saw stars as the impact jarred my spine. Romeo thrashed in the harness, and I struggled to find the release for his restraints. The water slammed me against the hull, pulling my large pack to the side and dragging us under the turbulent waves.

  I found the release, freeing the squirming animal from his prison on my chest as his claws raked against my arms, drawing more blood as I pushed up for the surface of the water.

  Gasping for air as I reached the dim light of day, I inhaled ash and coughed, pulling myself through the powerful eddies and making for the shore. Romeo had already outpaced me, having reached a log that had been pushed against a pile of debris.

  A loud, tortured groan escaped the dying ship above my head and I echoed the sentiment, knowing what I’d find when I looked up.

  The large ship was continuing its ponderous turn, the keel descending above me like a slow-moving sword of Damocles. The hillside above lent chaos to the scene, spitting rocks and trees out into the river as the flood waters surged around the behemoth.

  “Move!” I shouted to the dog, who had claimed temporary safety on the log ahead of me. “Further. Keep swimming!” I grabbed his harness and dragged him back into the water, pushing his haunch with my boot and struggling against the weight of my pack in the rough tides.

  A large wave hit me as we made our way into the deep water, hoping to use the current to escape the ship. I turned, wishing I hadn’t.

  The wave had been caused by the massive weight of the ship falling faster and displacing water as it came down. I saw the portholes in the side of the ferry come closer, imagining the damned souls inside getting a second chance at chowing down on my water-logged ass.

  Turning, knowing that I wasn’t fast enough, I redoubled my efforts to swim away from the danger.

  Suddenly, I was lifted up by another torrent of rushing water, pushing further away from the ship into the center of the channel. The side of the riverbank had given way completely, widening the flow of water and allowing more through on the sides of the ship.

  It bought us the extra twenty feet that we needed.

  The surge of angry water slammed us forward ahead of the huge ship as it entered the river, keel-first. Metal scraped against rock and the damaged bow tore trees from the river bank as it fell.

  Romeo disappeared several times in the torrent, only to continually reappear, small red head bobbing valiantly in the flood waters, jowls huffing with exertion.

  I was within fifteen feet of him when the creature struck.

  I had no warning. I was struggling through the raging waters, pack still pulling me down, then a hand was on my neck, dragging my head back and to the right. My feet kicked and I thrashed with as much energy as I could devote to the cause, but I couldn’t see. And the cold water had numbed my senses, keeping me from being able to navigate by feel.

  Something slammed into my stomach, and a sharp pain tore through my calf. The hand gripped my neck tighter, and I final
ly found a grip on the dead flesh.

  I squeezed, feeling as if I were strangling an eel that had been lying dead on the beach for weeks. It felt ripe and plump, ready to burst. Flesh came loose in my hand as the grip finally weakened and relented, and I kicked strongly behind me, finding that only one leg was working properly. The cold was gradually seeping into my muscles and I knew I had to get out of the water soon.

  I never saw the creature. It disappeared behind me in the flood of dirty water as I struggled forward. My eyes strayed to the shoreline, looking in vain for Kate and Ky, knowing they were miles away by now. The water was moving too fast.

  In the distance, I heard the popping sounds of more gunfire.

  Kicking for the shore again, I tried to dodge the debris in the water, but was pummeled by the sheer volume of wood, metal and flotsam that had engorged the waterway.

  Finally, my numb feet found a sandy pathway, where gentle eddies of water in a small inlet were protected from the surging flood by a row of large rocks. My hands, numb, shriveled and virtually useless, scrabbled for the rock shoreline. Vaguely, I scanned the woods in front of me, seeing nothing but fallen trees beneath a thick coat of ash.

  In the sky behind the trees, an angry red cloud was spreading across the sky.

  “That just can’t be good,” I muttered, my words slurring together as I sat down heavily, tripping against something that shot a laser of pain up my leg. I leaned against the large pack strapped to my back that I had somehow managed to retain. My rifle, waterlogged and heavy against my chest, came off after a brief struggle against the carabiners that held it to my harness.

  “Looks quiet, I suppose. What’ya think, boy?” I looked around for Romeo, then realized I had lost him in the raging river.

  I had lost everyone.

  I considered feeling despair. Even loneliness.

  That’s when I saw my leg. A two foot piece of rusty rebar jutted from the meat of the left calf muscle. I took it in, bemused and lightheaded, noticing the already significant size of the pool of blood beneath the injury. The leaves below were saturated in the thick crimson, and I wondered briefly at the sudden explosion of noise in the trees around me was a danger.

  Then the darkness took me.

  CHAPTER TEN

  New friends, new adventures...

  My entire body was blasted with the pain as sharp agony lanced up my spine. I awoke, gasping for breath, covered in a cold sweat.

  It took me a moment to realize that my hands wouldn’t respond.

  I pulled at my wrists, my brain covered in fog, as my bleary eyes adjusted. It was dark, but a fire was roaring to my right. My pack and my weapons were piled across the small camp site well out of reach. I heard movement behind me and tried to turn.

  My hands were tied behind me, I realized as the feeling began to return to my extremities. I looked down, searching for the source of the intense pain that shot through my body. I found a thickly bandaged calf with far too much red showing through the fabric.

  The memory shot into my brain like a torrent of electricity. My leg. The rebar.

  I allowed my head to fall back to the earth, still trying to scan behind me for the source of the noise.

  “I’ve seen worse.” It was a thick, gruff voice that sounded like it was attached to a gravel mixer. Amidst several heavy footfalls near my head, the speaker appeared, his grizzled head appearing upside down as I stared up. A thick gray beard that had never met a comb or a razor jutted out of a firm jaw underneath bright blue eyes. A camouflaged trucker’s cap topped a rangy mane of silver hair, and the dark green fatigues he wore over a thin frame seemed to hang too loosely.

  “You’ve done worse to yourself shaving, you blind fart,” a woman’s voice interjected, not unkindly, from beyond the fire.

  “Quiet, devil-woman,” the man said, pulling up a small log and sitting down next to my head. He cocked his head slowly and continued to stare. He pursed his lips as if thinking, then whistled suddenly.

  A red blur shot from the other side of the fire and I was covered in slobber, Romeo’s thin body shaking with happiness and relief, his short tail moving at nearly the speed of sound.

  “I thought I lost you,” I said quietly to the dog, leaning my face into his and feeling the vibrations of his body through his darting head.

  The man grunted once, as if satisfied with something.

  I looked up at the sky.

  “What … what time is it?”

  The man shrugged.

  “After midnight.”

  “My friends,” I managed, my throat raspy. “I had friends …”

  “I heard gunshots back about eight hours ago or so. Lots of ‘em. Even some fifties. Coulda been them, I guess.”

  I let my head drop back, still trying to wrap my mind around where I was and how I got here.

  Eight hours.

  Shit. They could be anywhere.

  And fifty cals? If that had been near them, they had found some help. But I wasn’t naive enough to believe that anyone with a fifty caliber machine gun was necessarily altruistic. Especially around an attractive woman and a young girl. I needed to get back to them.

  “Ask him, Ethan. You’re not gonna be satisfied ’till you do.”

  “I’m getting to it, Rhi,” he replied, stressing her name as if in doing so, it contained some power over her. Some power to make her leave him alone.

  “Doesn’t sound like it,” she answered quietly. The slide of a rifle being charged shot through the small space and I realized that she wasn’t knitting on the other side of the fire.

  The man leaned forward and grabbed Romeo’s harness gently.

  “Okay boy, come here,” he pulled the dog back, and Romeo licked his hand once before laying down closer to the fire. I suddenly noticed how cold I was and shivered involuntarily. The sun had fallen behind the mountains, and the night was far colder than it had been in the week preceding.

  It wasn’t just the coming of winter, I realized. The volcanoes were having an instant effect on the temperature in the region, as the ash and smoke blotted out the sun’s rays.

  A gentle breeze stirred the trees above us and a gentle dusting of ash fell to the ground, adding to the thick blanket around us, as the man spoke.

  “I guess you can figure out, we found you like this, all messed up. You was passed out on the side of the river, half covered in water with that piece of pig iron stickin’ out of you.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the offending piece of metal, which was sitting near the crackling fire. A log burst in the flames and sent a shower of sparks into the crisp air.

  “If it weren’t for your friend here, sittin’ next to you shiverin’ and whinin’ like he had lost his best gun, we wouldn’t have stopped. One more wounded asshole by the side of the river ain’t shit these days. But this one,” he gestured toward the woman across the fire, “She thought that if the dog liked you, mayhap you were the decent sort.” He grunted as if he thought her too kind-hearted.

  The woman was now standing and moving across the shadows cast by the flames. Her wrinkled face was serious and she carried a small carbine that had just been oiled, and glistened in the fire light. Short gray hair framed a face that might have been friendly once. Dark pants and a thick black sweater covered a body that looked like it had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. She carried a .9mm pistol on her hip.

  “You had the bearing—and the weapons—of someone who mighta been in the military, so we thought we might take mercy on your ass. But we don’t brook no funny shit, and we can leave you out here in a blink. Hundreds of those things around here—the earthquake and the eruptions got ‘em all stirred up.” His hand strayed to a .357 strapped to his hip.

  “So, how about you tell us a little bit about how you ended up here, and we’ll decide how we want to play this.”

  He scratched Romeo’s ear absently, and I sighed. My vision was still clouded and I shivered again, looking into the fire as I considered my options.
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  “Okay,” I said finally. “But could I get a drink of water? This might take a bit.”

  ***

  It took me a full thirty minutes to recount as much of the story as I could without getting into details. I glossed over the mental ward and stuck with the more conventional pieces, including the vaccine and the events in Seattle. But the minute I talked about the vaccine, their eyes got hard, as if shutting out the possibility of hope because it was too hard to be let down. I finished as my throat started to rasp in the dry heat of the fire. I blinked several times in the silence as I waited for a response.

  “Shit, boy.” The man, Ethan, spat into the fire and looked into the darkness. “We’re supposed to believe that story? You musta hit your head something fierce on your way down the river.” He rose from his wooden perch, knuckling his temple with his left hand, as if working away a headache.

  “If you think I believe that, I got a story I wanna tell you about this fish that got away yesterday.” He guffawed slightly at his own joke, and the woman, Rhi, interjected.

  “Son, how the hell are we supposed to take you seriously with you spouting off crazy crap like that? We did you a solid pulling you from that water, and bandaging you up. And you come at us with this cockamamy bull flower?” She shook her head as if truly disappointed. I watched her as she walked closer, eyes questioning.

  She was still on the hook. For some reason, she wanted to believe me. I took a chance.

  “My leg. Take the wrapping off my leg. Remember, one of the side effects of the vaccine I mentioned—healing. Take the bandage off and look.” I looked up at her, watching her dubious eyes shift to my bloody leg and back to my face.

  “Cut me some slack here,” I groaned plaintively. “If I were making up a story, couldn’t I just have easily picked something more mundane? I could have been a commuter trapped in a car, or a guy who escaped from his office building. Instead, I told you about a grand adventure across the continent, complete with a super-hero creating vaccine. I swear to you I am not making this up.” I paused, watching her face.