The Hunger (Book 2): Consumed

by Jason Brant

  It made him care for her even more. She was normally independent, so concerned with her own survival, that seeing her stand up for people she’d only just met deepened his feelings for her.

  They’d left the impromptu meeting without coming close to an agreement.

  Lance understood the arguments for both sides.

  Wiping out the Vladdies made sense—they just didn’t know how to do it.

  He could feel the tension in Cass’ muscles as they lay on the bed. She’d been quiet for the past hour or so, but he could tell by her breathing that she hadn’t fallen asleep.

  “You agree with me, right?” she asked after awhile.

  “Yes.”

  “But you also agree with him, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.” He sighed. “We need to do something to protect this place—I’m with you there. But if a bunch of us goes looking for nests, we’ll leave everyone here open to attack. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t, you know?”

  “I do. But I can’t just sit here and wait. I have to do something.”

  As if on cue, the siren song of the damned echoed through the clearing.

  “We’ll never get a moments rest,” Cass said. “Not until they’re all dead.”

  Lance held her close until sleep finally took him an hour later.

  The next day was more of the same.

  They worked outside, setting up defenses and developing lookout schedules. Small groups ventured away from the compound, searching for survivors and scrounging for supplies.

  They reported that the amount of daywalkers had dwindled dramatically. There were many of the newly infected from the safe zone in Greensburg, but the numbers were much smaller in every other direction. While that meant that the day had grown safer, Lance understood that the numbers of Vladdies increased as the daywalkers fully converted.

  Ten more people came into the camp by noon, begging for sanctuary. Brown never hesitated.

  Two motor homes were pulled beside the trucks and a dozen people piled inside, sharing the beds and couches. People hung cloves of garlic from the windows and doors.

  They tried to hail the man on the radio in the afternoon. He didn’t answer. His broadcast went out at the same time as usual, but they couldn’t get through to him. He warned about the escalating activity of the horrors that roamed the night. The Vladdies were broadening their range as they searched for food, just as Brown had predicted.

  Cass continued to argue that they needed to do something about the vampires.

  Brown held steadfast that they couldn’t spare the manpower until they took care of Ralph.

  On their third day at the compound, Cass grew quiet.

  Though he tried, Lance couldn’t get her to say more than a few words to him. She moved about the area in a sullen silence, her eyes glassy as if her thoughts were elsewhere.

  When he asked what was wrong, she mumbled and walked away, refusing to engage with him. As noon passed, his concern deepened because she still hadn’t opened up to him.

  There had been no word from Ralph, which had Brown on edge. He slept little, constantly in contact with the people standing guard around the fence. Eifort rarely left his side after that. Though she never said it aloud, Lance knew that she feared Ralph would come for them soon.

  Lance, on the other hand, felt more at ease with each passing day. They had something positive going at the compound. They were building a community. Building a future. If not for Cass’ sudden silence, he would have been content to rest on his laurels and wait for Ralph to appear.

  The Wildman of Monroeville answered their hails early in the evening.

  They stood in the back office with Brown at the radio. Cass stood over Lance’s shoulder, leaning against the doorframe.

  “Who is this?” A voice crackled through the tiny speaker on the radio.

  “My name is Emmett Brown.”

  A pause. Then, “I don’t have time for games. Stuff your jokes up your ass.”

  “I’m not playing around. That’s my real name. I want to talk to you because we have a common enemy.”

  The Wildman didn’t respond.

  Brown pressed on. “Ralph and his Minutemen. My friends and I have captured his compound outside of Greensburg.”

  “So you’re the one who stormed the castle? Some badass work there, no doubt. Punched the king right in the dick.”

  “You know about us taking over?”

  “Of course, I have eyes everywhere.”

  “Then why haven’t you answered us before?”

  The Wildman laughed, high and screechy. “And who are you? I don’t know what kind of man you are or what you want with me.”

  “I want to help you kill Ralph.”

  “And how do I know you aren’t someone pretending to hate him? How do I know you aren’t trying to set me up?”

  “I—”

  “Even if you were serious, you’d have to realize that piece of shit is probably listening to us right now.”

  “I do, but—”

  “Besides, I’m like Switzerland, baby. I don’t get involved in other people’s bullshit, even if it seems like I might make out like a pig in shit.”

  Lance frowned. He wasn’t sure that he even understood what that meant. The man was bizarre.

  “You’re doing good stuff, so it seems. Keep on the path of righteous, or some shit, but don’t come to me for this kind of garbage. I pass along information and that’s it. I’m the Internet of the world. Oh, and Ralph? I know you’re listening, you piece of shit. Suck a dick.”

  A series of clicks came over the airwaves. The Wildman didn’t respond again, despite more pleas from Brown.

  Cass stormed from the room without a word, leaving Lance with Eifort and Brown.

  “Well, I guess he isn’t going to help us.” Lance turned to them. “Do you know what’s going on with her? She won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

  Brown and Eifort shared a glance, but didn’t respond.

  “You’re going to give me the silent treatment too? What the hell?”

  “It’s not my place to tell you,” Brown said. “You’ll have to talk to her.”

  Lance felt his frustration rising. He didn’t like that everyone knew some secret, yet refused to confide in him.

  He went back to their bedroom and found Cass lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling again.

  “What’s wrong with you today?” He removed his .44 and tossed it to the nightstand.

  “I have a lot on my mind.”

  “We all do, but what you’re doing to me right now is bullshit.”

  Cass lifted her head and looked at him. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m trying to figure out what I need to do.”

  “What do you mean?” Lance stripped his clothes off and threw them in the corner. He climbed into the bed beside her, propped on his elbow. He was exhausted from the hard day of work. His muscles relaxed as soon as he hit the sheets and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay awake for long.

  “I—” She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m sorry.” She rolled over, throwing an arm across his chest.

  Lance wanted to ask her more about what bothered her, but he felt himself slipping away. She kissed his cheek as he neared the precipice and he smiled faintly.

  He awoke the next morning to an empty bed and a heavy pounding on his door.

  “Lance! Get up!” Brown repeated himself from the other side of the door and continued beating against it. “Let’s go!”

  “What?” Lance rolled out of the bed and slipped his pants on. He’d lost a significant amount of weight over the past month and had to tighten his belt another notch.

  “It’s Cass.”

  “What about her?” Lance’s head snapped toward the closed door.

  “She’s gone.”

  Then he noticed that her axe and bow were missing from the corner. She hadn’t worn either one during the day since they’d arrived at the compound.

  He crossed the room in two giant steps and un
locked the door, pulling it open.

  “Gone where?”

  “We don’t know.”

  Lance grabbed his pistol from the nightstand and stuffed it in his belt. He followed Brown out of the room. “How do you know she’s gone? Maybe she’s just scavenging for supplies or something.”

  “She took a truck, a pair of night-vision goggles, a shitload of flares, and a bunch of explosives.”

  “She what?” Lance ran his hands through his hair. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  They walked into the room with maps and schematics. Lance had started to call it the command center. Eifort sat by the large map on the table and spoke into a walkie-talkie. When she saw them walk in, she shook her head at Brown.

  “We’ve been trying to get her on the radio since she left, but she’s not answering.”

  “So she took a walkie-talkie as well?” Lance paced by the door, fear settling in the pit of his stomach.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t understand. Why would she leave without saying anything?”

  Brown stuffed his hands in pockets. “We think we know why.” He peered at Eifort.

  “Tell him,” she said. She pressed the button on the side of the transceiver again and tried to reach Cass. “Lance is here now, please pick up.”

  “Tell me what?” Lance stopped pacing and stared at Brown. “Stop fucking around and tell me what’s going on.”

  “I didn’t want to tell you yesterday, because Cass clearly wasn’t handling the news well. I figured it would be best for her to work through it and then figure out what she wanted to tell you.”

  Lance gritted his teeth and waited.

  “She’s pregnant, Lance.”

  Lance’s jaw went slack. The room swam before his eyes as a wave of lightheadedness washed over him. Brown reached out and grabbed his arm, guiding him to a chair at the end of the table. Lance collapsed into it.

  “Pregnant?” he asked, his voice small.

  Brown nodded. “I had her take a test yesterday morning. The nausea she kept experiencing was morning sickness.”

  “But I can’t have children. Liz and I tried for years. My little guys have low motility or something like that.”

  “She said something similar, but the results are pretty conclusive. She took three tests.”

  The emotions coursing through Lance ran the full gamut. He was overjoyed that he would be a father, but scared of raising a child in such a harsh environment. He wanted to laugh, cry, and scream all at once. It didn’t help that Cass had taken off without telling him about the pregnancy.

  His confusion manifested on his face and Brown knelt down beside him. “I’m sorry for not telling you. I never thought she would leave like this.”

  Lance snapped his head around, his mind clearing. Cass was gone and he thought he knew what she was up to.

  “You realize what she’s doing right?”

  Brown nodded. “I think so.” He walked over and inspected the map. “She’s going into Pittsburgh to hunt for nests.”

  “You’re goddamn right she is! She wanted to take care of the Vladdies when she was worried about the women outside. Now that she’s pregnant too, she’s not going to stop.”

  Lance stood, ignoring his still-wobbling knees.

  Eifort tried to get her on the radio again, but no answer came. She tossed it to the table and sighed. “She’s a real pain in the ass, you know?”

  “Tell me about it.” Lance looked down at the map. He forced himself to focus on finding her, rather than dwelling on the fact that she left without saying a word to him. Without telling him he would be a father.

  He leaned forward, focusing on the circles and the pin in the map. “Did anyone ever figure out what this pin is?”

  Brown nodded. “I think it’s the North Side Station.”

  “The what?”

  “Remember all the construction the last few years by the stadiums? They were boring out a tunnel under the river for the subway.”

  “Oh, yeah, I remember that.” Lance snapped his head up. “The subway? Of course!”

  “It’s safe to assume that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of vampires, or whatever you want to call them, hiding out down there. It’s vast, it’s dark, and it would allow them to move around the area under the stadiums during the day.”

  “That’s where she’s going.” Lance grabbed the pin and pulled it out. “She’s nuts. How does she think she can kill them all by herself?”

  They shared a glance, everyone remaining quiet for several seconds. Though no one said it aloud, they all knew he would go after her.

  “When did she leave?” Lance asked. He walked from the room, waving for them to follow him. He grabbed a walkie-talkie from the table on his way out.

  “About an hour ago,” Brown said from behind him. “Someone came in and said that they saw her carrying weapons to a truck. They waited to tell us until she left because they were scared of her.”

  Lance grunted. He understood that.

  They walked outside using the front door. A dozen men and a few women stood around a handful of trucks beside the driveway. The hoods were up, each with at least one person bent over the grill, working a wrench.

  Two women holding pistols in their hands walked by, calling him Mr. York as he went.

  Lance stopped at the driveway and turned around. “I need a truck and a rifle.”

  Brown stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled around them. The people by the trucks perked up at the sound. One banged his head on the hood above him.

  “Barrett, Tarpley, we need you two over here!” Brown turned back to Eifort. He nodded at her rifle. “How many more of those do we have?”

  “A shitload, but they need cleaned and oiled. They’ve been down in the bunker for a while.” She held her rifle out to Lance. “Take this one. I’ll fix up another later.”

  “Thanks.” Lance took it from her and inspected the safety and the action.

  She handed over two clips she had in her cargo pants.

  Two women jogged over from the trucks, wiping grease from their hands on shreds of cloth.

  “Yeah, Doc?” The first to arrive had red hair and a deluge of freckles covering her nose and cheeks. Grease covered her hands and one of her forearms.

  “We need the most reliable truck you’ve got,” Brown said.

  “Well, the Tundra runs pretty good, but—”

  “Get it for us, please.”

  “But—”

  “Time is of the essence, Tarpley.”

  “Sir.” She jogged off, shouting for someone by the trucks to join her as she ran around the side of the cabin.

  The second woman, Barrett, stopped in front of Brown. “What can I do?”

  “Do we have any chains we can spare?” Brown asked.

  “I think so.”

  “Good, get one and put it in the bed of the truck Tarpley is bringing around.”

  “You got it, Doc.” She walked back to the trucks she was working on.

  “Chain?” Lance asked.

  “In case you run into cars blocking your way. You can pull them off the road. If you have to take a detour or go on foot, even for a short period of time, you won’t catch up to Cass. You’re going to be hard pressed to gain any ground as it is with her having such a big lead.”

  “Good thinking.” Lance hoped the route he chose would be the same one Cass had taken. If so, they would run into the same roadblocks. But if she took another road, he could only hope to catch her at the subway station.

  Hopefully, the chain would help minimize the distance he had to drive.

  An engine rumbled from around the side of the cabin, getting louder as it approached. A white, filthy truck came around the corner and slid to a stop in the grass in front of Lance. It had large, newish looking tires on it. A lift kit had it sitting so high off the ground that Tarpley had to climb out of it backwards.

  She ran around the front and looked to Brown. “Anything else?”

&
nbsp; “That’s it, thanks. You’re doing a nice job on these.”

  “Thanks, Doc.” She looked at Lance. “Don’t ding her up too bad, OK? These things are as good as gold to us now.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Lance said.

  She helped Barrett drag a chain to the truck before they went back to work under the hoods of the other vehicles.

  Lance turned back to Brown and Eifort. “You guys take it easy back here. Don’t work yourselves to death. I’m talking to you, specifically, Doc.”

  Brown extended his hand. “Bring her back safe.”

  Lance brushed his hand away and gave him a big hug instead. He did the same to Eifort.

  “I won’t be able to convince her to come back unless she feels we’ve killed enough of the Vladdies. You know that, right? And the odds of us accomplishing that are slim to none. This is probably a one-way ticket.”

  Brown lowered his eyes and nodded his head. “I understand.”

  “There are three of you now,” Eifort said. “You bring them back. I don’t care what it takes.” She put her arm around the doc. Her eyes misted, but no tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “Goodbye, my friends.” Lance moved around the truck quickly, afraid he would get emotional if their farewell lasted any longer. He climbed into the driver’s seat, having to use a handle attached to the body to heave himself up.

  He started the engine, listening to the big V8 purr on the other side of the dash.

  Brown and Eifort came around to the driver’s side.

  Lance put his window down and leaned out. “Hey, Doc?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When this baby hits eighty-eight miles an hour, you’re going to see some serious shit.”

  A smile spread across Brown’s face. “You’re a hell of a character, Lance.”

  “I had to get one more in there—just in case.” Lance put the truck in gear and gunned it. The back tires tore up the grass as he steered toward the driveway.

  He honked the horn as he went, making sure no one meandered in front of him. In the rearview mirror, he watched Eifort wave as he drove around a bend in the driveway. He prayed he would have a chance to see them again, though he knew it was unlikely.

  The truck barely slowed as he swung it onto the road. Its tires squealed as he mashed the accelerator to the floor, heading west.