The Longest Road (Book 1)

by Thompson, A. S.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this system, but I think I figured it out,” Billy said.

  “What are ya, som-kind o’ genius or som-thin?” Frank replied sarcastically.

  “No, I used to be an electrician, ’cause there were no stupid-ass hillbilly jobs left,” Billy quipped quickly. “Anyway, I think this system uses a solar generator and some sort of state-of-the-art filtration system, which would explain why the spa is not only running, but clean.”

  Jessica splashed her feet in the water. “Shoot, if only we could just turn it—”

  “On,” Billy interjected, twisting a knob in the corner of the room.

  Immediately, the spa light turned on and bubbles began to appear from the jets. Billy and Alex took off their shirts and hopped in, splashing water on everyone. Making up for lost time, they did two rounds of what they called “cannonballs,” which consisted of taking in a hit of marijuana, pounding a beer and a shot, then exhaling. Within minutes, they were right up to speed with the group’s inebriation.

  The spa took about twenty minutes to heat up to a relaxing 101 degrees, but no one cared or even noticed. They were too busy swapping road stories, alcohol, drugs, and, in some cases, bodily fluids.

  Steam clung to the double pane glass around the pool, with some escaping through the broken glass door. The combination of alcohol, pot, and heat began to mellow everyone out to a more relaxed beat. By this point, Mike was chest deep in the spa, surrounded on both sides by the Texan girls. The girls had both taken off their bathing suit tops, complaining that they were too itchy.

  Frank sat on the other side of Jessica, continuing to take hits from the blunt and sips from his bottle. Stoned and drunk, both Billy and Alex sat across from Mike and jealously stared at the four perfect breasts. Dan and Michelle had taken their groping into the water and had nearly started to have sex; they didn’t mind an audience.

  “Whoa, come on, guys, no one wants to see that shit,” Billy said, covering his eyes from the unwanted scene. Dan’s shorts were pulled down, exposing his hairy, pimply butt.

  Alex protested too. “Yeah, this isn’t Mexico,” he said, splashing a wave of water at them, ushering them to leave.

  The rest agreed and included moans, groans, and splashes of their own.

  Dan was unhappy with the request, but Michelle whispered in his ear. “It’s okay, baby. We’re gonna need some privacy for the things I’ve been wantin’ to do to you.”

  The couple picked up a flashlight and left through a door adjacent to the spa. They entered a shower room, where brand new tile and individual showers lined the pathway. The mirrors reflected the rays from Dan’s flashlight, exposing more of the room. With every step, their wet feet slapped against the tile as they explored the new room.

  “Fuck a room,” Dan said, “let’s jus’ get it on righ’ here.”

  Michelle was having none of it. “Daniel Messy, you’ve gotta be out of your damn mind if you think I’m gonna freeze my ass on that tile. Come on, follow me,” she said, pushing away from him and moving further down the pathway.

  Their search finally ended at a door markedMassage.“In here,” Michelle said, pushing the door open. Much to their chagrin, the room, like most else in this resort, hadn’t been finished. Luckily, it did have a nice looking leather couch wrapped in plastic. Michelle tore through the plastic.

  “Now, this is much better,” she said pulling him close. “I’m gonna fuck yer brains out, baby!”

  No more words were spoken, just moans. The two went at it, ravaging each other like animals, forgetting what easy prey they were.

  1932 hours

  Back at the spa, the party slowed, but things continued to heat up. Mike, barely able to keep his bloodshot eyes open, sat still in between the two Texan girls, loving life. Frank was in exactly the same state, only more hammered, and somehow, beyond anyone’s comprehension, getting some attention from a very drunk and high Mandy.

  Billy looked frustrated at being left out. He scooted closer to Mandy, attempting to get some attention. Alex laughed at Billy’s passive attempts and continued to stare at the girls’ amazing bodies.

  In a feeble attempt at small talk, Billy asked, “So, Mandy, where are you from again?”

  “Um, we’re originally from outside Austin,” she replied, holding out her hand to Jessica.

  “Cool, so what’d you do out there?” Billy continued, trying harder.

  “Jess and I were models,” Mandy answered, clearly more interested in the last blunt Mike was beginning to light up.

  “So, Mike, how about we finish what we started earlier?” Jessica asked as he took in a big hit from the cherry-tasting blunt. Like a cat, she quickly pounced on him, straddling him and pressing her lips to his, taking the second hand smoke.

  “Yo, Bill, fuck this. Let’s bail,” Alex mouthed to his cousin, while pointing to the exit.

  Billy tried to save face. “All right, I’m gonna call it a night,” he said, pretending as if he didn’t care.

  Both he and Alex hopped out of the spa, put their shoes on and headed out. Still heated over not hooking up, Billy stormed out first, cursing under his breath.

  As Alex stepped through the emergency exit, he turned back to Mike. “Hey, dude, be careful. Don’t stay out too long. We’re off early, all right?”

  Mike’s arms were wrapped around Jessica’s tight body. Choosing not to disrupt his own make out session, he just threw a wave goodbye in acknowledgment.

  “Lucky bastard,” Alex said, smiling as he put his Angels hat on over his wet hair.

  Billy and Alex didn’t take any chances while navigating back to the RV. They had their guns drawn and maintained constant vigilance, as much as two impaired guys could.

  Back inside the pool room, the remaining four continued their minor blunt-driven orgy of kissing and touching.

  “Ah, shit, this is the life,” Frank announced, simultaneously exhaling a deep hit of cherry flavored pot. “We should jus’ stay here and never stop partyin, if ya ask me”

  The two girls concurred with moans of relaxation. They rung out their wet hair and tied it in knots.

  “Hell yeah! I say we just post up here for a little. After all, I got all I need,” Mike said referring to both the blunt sitting on the side of the spa and a beautiful girl on his lap.

  “Oh, you are too cute and sexy,” Jessica said, biting her lip. She continued kissing Mike, then reached under the water and grabbed his groin, taking things up a notch.

  All parties were in ecstasy, until Mandy began to panic.

  “Ahh! Wait, do ya’ll hear that?” she screamed, obviously scared. “Is that one of them out there?”

  She jumped off Frank and backed up to the middle of the spa, accidentally knocking the last joint into the water. Slightly concerned, Frank leaned over to turn off the radio. Faint sounds of moaning could now be heard by everyone, but no one else looked concerned.

  “Damnit! Hear what?” Mike said, holding up the now ruined blunt. “That was my last one.”

  “That?” Frank asked, referring to the most recent scream-type-moan.

  Jessica swam over to console her friend. “Oh, Mandy, you are so precious. That’s just Dan and Michelle gettin’ it on.”

  Finally realizing the sounds were in fact sexual, and not those of the bloodthirsty undead, Mandy eased up. “I’m such an idiot. Jess, feel my heartbeat, it’s racing a mile a minute,” Mandy said putting Jessica’s hand on her bare chest.

  Well at least the eroticism didn’t die out with the blunt, Mike thought, staring at the girl-on-girl action.

  Jessica saw Mike’s gaping desire and decided to play along. “So you like this? You want more?”

  “Hell yeah! This is what I am talking about,” Mike agreed, ecstatic.

  Jessica grabbed Mandy by the hand, and both straddled Mike like back at the clothing store, kissing and grabbing him all over. Frank sat idly by, watching, too intoxicated to care.

  “It’s a shame you don’t have mo
re pot,” Mandy whispered in Mike’s ear, adding a slight nibble, “or else we could stay out longer and see where this goes.”

  “Yeah, just thinking about what Dan and Michelle are doing is getting me so wet. I haven’t had sex inso long,” Jessica whispered into his other.

  There was no way Mike was going to lose this opportunity. Not only were these girls perfect 10’s, but he also hadn’t gotten any in a long time. He, too, continued to kiss, lick and run his hands up, down, and inside the two. He may as well have been dead, because by any man’s standards, this was heaven.

  “Actually, I think I do have some left,” he said. “So, should we see where this night takes us?”

  Both girls grabbed his groin. “I think you know our answer.”

  In a split second, Mike was up and out of the spa, shoes barely on, not caring about the tent he was pitching. He picked up a flashlight and a bottle of tequila and headed for the exit.

  “Okay, give me five minutes,” he said stumbling through the door. “And you better not start without me.”

  Frank turned the stereo back on. Unluckily for them, his favorite song played. He turned the volume up to its maximum level. The remaining three leaned back in relaxation, waiting for Mike.

  If anyone had been remotely sober, they would have realized that the moans they could hear were no longer entirely sexual, and weren’t all coming from the direction of Dan and Michelle. They were surrounded.

  1949 hours

  Despite his inebriated condition, Mike managed the run back to the RV in no time. As he approached, he saw Steve on the roof, sitting in a lawn chair. Steve’s right eye was glued to the scope, scanning the perimeter.

  Steve’s Winchester rifle was equipped with a few special accessories: a Schmidt and Bender 5-25X56 scope, a light enhancer for night hunting, and a suppressor. Everyone knew that it was his baby. In a range up to 500 feet, he could hit any target within millimeters. After that distance, and depending on conditions, it was a matter of centimeters.

  “Done for the night?” Steve called out, setting his rifle down.

  “No way, just getting started,” Mike responded, panting. “Your older brother is about to have a threesome. Jealous?”

  “You are ridiculous,” Steve said, but Mike had already gone inside.

  Collin lay passed out in the top bunk, curtain closed to block out the light from the TV in the back. Alex and Billy sat on the pullout bed in the back, PJs on, playing a game of Madden football.

  Mike headed for one of his many secret stashes, a small nook behind the top food drawer. He flung the cupboard open, reached in past a box of Cheerios, and pulled out a small baggie containing two pot nugs and some papers.

  “Yes! I thought I still had some left!”

  Billy heard the sounds and peeked his head out from the back. “Have fun, asshole,” he shouted.

  Mike turned to Billy and threw him dual rock and roll signs, then flung the cabin door open so fast it slammed back into the RV. He was already crawling under the noisemakers before Steve could talk.

  “Watch your ass out there! And don’t be out too long, we’re bailing early. We don’t want to come looking for your punk ass!”

  Mike didn’t bother to turn; he just stuck up his middle finger in reply and continued his sprint back to the spa, to heaven.

  Meanwhile, back in the massage room, Dan and Michelle were finishing up with round three, ready for more. The room looked as though a tornado had blown through. The couch cushions were all over the place, the drywall was speckled with tiny holes, and the bottle of whiskey they had brought with them was shattered. Their one flashlight-lantern was knocked over near the corner, barely lighting the room.

  “Oh, baby, that was amazing!” Michelle moaned in ecstasy.

  “Hells yeah, babe, I done think that last time were the best one,” Dan added, walking away from the adjacent wall, where they had just finished.

  Michelle sat against the wall and stretched her toes. “Why don’t we just stay here for a little while?”

  “Well yeah, I was thinking maybe startin’ up again in a few minutes,” Dan said, picking up the broken bottle.

  “No, silly, I mean this town. It seems safe enough.”

  Upset over the loss of his liquor, he discarded it to the far corner of the room. “You know what? Yer right. We should stay here. I don’t see why not,” he started to rant. “Why does that one guy make all our choices—”

  Suddenly, they both jumped at the sound of glass being shattered outside the massage room.

  Michelle shuffled into the center of the room. “What was that?” she asked, obviously scared.

  Dan was just as startled, but tried to remain a manly man. “It was probably just Frank messin’ round. You know how he gets when he’s drunk, that dumb-ass.”

  “Well, aren’t ya gonna check it out?”

  Dan sat on the couch for a second, waiting to hear anything else. Michelle hid behind him, crouched up against the arm of the couch. She gave him a nudge. “Well, aren’t ya?”

  “Damn, woman. Yeah, guess I am.”

  He pulled up his shorts and walked over to the flashlight as more sounds echoed into their room. Michelle sat nervously, hugging a pillow and covering up her naked chest.

  Unsure of what to expect, Dan grabbed the handle and turned it slowly. The door opened silently, and the light from his flashlight reflected on all the mirrors in the shower room. He crept forward and scanned the room slowly, allowing his eyes to adjust to the poor lighting. The sound of wooden planks falling shifted his attention to a far, dimly light corner of the room. The area, heavily layered with plastic tarp and littered with construction materials, was slightly detached from the rest of the shower room.

  “Hey, Frank, that you buddy?” Dan called out in a high whisper.

  A figure ran by, startling Dan and causing him to drop the light. The lantern blinked twice, then turned off completely.

  “Shit!” Dan cursed under his breath.

  “Danny, what happened, babe? Why’s there no light? I’m scared, baby,” Michelle called.

  A grunt came from the direction where the figure had run to, twenty feet away. Thinking it was Frank and no longer concerned, Dan picked up the flashlight and began the “hit it and fix it” method, his agitation escalating to anger.

  “Damnit, Frank! You done made me drop my flashlight, asshole! Don’t worry, baby, I’m sure it’s just Frank being a stupid ass.”

  As he turned to walk back to the massage room, another grunt came, this time much closer. His strikes against the flashlight turned the light on and off sporadically. “How many times I gotta tell ya, ya can’t watch us do it! Fuckin’ A,” Dan exclaimed, not even bothering to turn.

  Dan reached the massage room door, and the noise, now less than two feet away, morphed into heavy breathing and the sound of something being dragged.

  Dan was now ready to put his friend in place with his fist. He turned to hit Frank in the face. “Damnit, Frank, I didn’t wanna hit you,” he started to say, hand curled into a fist.

  Immediately, he dropped the light and froze in shock. It wasn’t Frank. On the contrary, it was a group of infected appearing all throughout the shower room. The sound of heavy breathing and dragging was a Mexican woman dragging her mangled body; her legs were torn off, and shreds of skin dangled behind her like the end of a mop.

  “What is it, baby?” Michelle asked.

  Before Dan could speak or move a muscle, a man in full sprint tackled him into the massage room, kicking the flashlight backwards toward Michelle. The light skidded to the corner and came back on, but internal shorts created a strobe-light effect.

  It was over before either knew it. The first infected man had already latched on to Dan’s neck. Before hitting the ground, the man severed Dan’s carotid artery. Blood showered the room, splashing on the lantern, couch, and nearby wall. Dan lay on the floor, unable to react as he held a shaky hand to his wound and coughed up bubbles of blood. The crawling wo
man latched herself to his leg and began gnawing on his ankle.

  At the sight of her boyfriend being feasted on, Michelle jumped up on the top of the couch in fright, then froze.

  Three more undead had already hopped over Dan’s body and rushed toward her. Within a matter of seconds, they had mutilated her naked body; pieces of hair were pulled out, chunks of flesh bitten into, and both breasts clawed and scratched. Numerous veins and arteries were torn and exposed.

  Even if Michelle had managed to get up and run, or if they had been smart enough to bring a gun with them, it wouldn’t have made a difference; there were simply too many infected. Collin was right. Their luck had run out.

  2002 hours

  Michelle’s screams were brief and suppressed from the distance, walls, and music.

  “I am so jealous. I just really want to have some sex,” Jessica said in response to the muffled screams of what she thought were sexual cries. “I don’t even care with who.”

  “I know. Where is Mike at?” Mandy responded, twiddling her hair and grabbing herself. “I’m ready to go now!”

  Impatient and sexually frustrated, both girls turned to Frank. For whatever reason, both seemed to find Frank attractive. Maybe they were too high. Maybe it was the bad-ass image Frank and his tattoos portrayed. Or maybe they just had daddy issues. Whatever the reason, they couldn’t wait any longer. They splashed over to him and began caressing and touching him.

  “Fraaaaaaaank,” they said in girlish voices.

  Frank was completely hammered and fatigued from the spa. No words spoken, no questions asked. After a few minutes of kissing and caressing, the girls turned their attention to each other. Smiling seductively, each slowly took off their bathing suit bottoms and flung them at Frank.