Hell happened (Book 2): Hell Revisited

by Terry Stenzelbarton

With one hand on the wheel she used the other to grab the 30-30 from the dash. The beasts were beside the truck and reaching the door that was still open. With one eye on the road and the other in the rear view mirror, she could see one of the beast’s hand on the frame. She aimed as best she could while driving and trying to watch the road and shot the thing in the face as it’s head appeared. She could feel the rear duals as they drove over the fallen whatever it was.

  She checked both mirrors and couldn’t see what happened to the second beast. She hoped it had ceased chasing her and was pretty sure the damn things couldn’t run at 70 miles per hour, the speed she dared drive the RV right now. She started to breathe normally again, but the hackles on Chopper’s neck were still up and he was growling and barking at the passenger window. She checked her mirrors again and still didn’t see anything.

  Amanda put the rifle back on the dashboard and petted the dog’s back. She jumped when the dog barked, as if startled. She wasn’t about to stop the RV and close the door that was flapping in the slipstream, preferring instead to put a lot of miles between herself and those nightmares.

  Chopper barked again and Amanda thought she saw something out the driver’s side mirror. She wasn’t sure, but there was movement where there shouldn’t have been. She placed one hand on Chopper’s back and slammed on the brakes of the RV. The truck’s anti-lock braking system kicked in and from overhead, a body went flying off the top of the truck.

  Chopper started barking ferociously through the windshield and Amanda gunned the RV. The beast had time to skid to a halt and get back to its feet when Amanda’s front bumper caught the it just as it was crouching to leap at her.

  For an instant Amanda saw the dead black eyes before it was knocked down in front of the accelerating RV. It skidded on the pavement, flesh scraping off and blood flowing from a gash in its side, but it was still trying to get up when the driver’s side front tire ran over it, followed a heartbeat later by the rear duals.

  Amanda continued accelerating until she felt safely away from the horrors. Her hands were shaking and heart was beating loud enough she thought the dog could even hear it.

  Ten miles later she slowed the truck to a more reasonable speed and stopped just long enough to close the rear door. She had been scared, but between her and Chopper, who had stopped barking now and instead lay down in the back, they’d survived another day.

  The GPS’s voice startled her and she realized in her escape from the beasts, she’d gone off the route, but there was no way she was going to turn around so she drove on until she got to the intersection of US 79. She drove her RV in a big circle looking in the distance to make sure there was nothing out there, before parking in the middle of the highway for the night.

  It took half an hour to clean up the mess that she’d made in the living area, but once everything was back in place, Amanda felt calm enough to get some sleep. She took Chopper out and he ran around happily, which gratified Amanda. The dog didn’t seem afraid, so this would be a good place to stay for the night.

  Amanda checked the damage outside the RV and there were blood stains along the one side, but the shot she’d taken missed the truck completely. In the front, there was a dent in the hood, but nothing she was worried about. She’d feared that she might damage the condenser or radiator, but there was only a small crack in the plastic grill work along with the dent.

  Fortunately the headlights were still working.

  Chopper found a rabbit to chase and was tearing off down the road, but he gave up when the little animal dashed off the road at a right angle. The big dog couldn’t make such a turn so gave up the chase and came back to the RV. Amanda got down on one knee and ruffled the dog’s big head. He tried to lick her face, but she kept his tongue at bay. “Good boy, Chopper. Good boy,” she told him. “Now why don’t we try to get some sleep?”

  He followed her into the RV and she started turning off the equipment she didn’t need. She left the truck running for the night, rather than use the heater in the living compartment. If Chopper woke her in the middle of the night, she wanted to be able to make a quick get away.

  There was a CD player in the sleeping area so she put in a new CD before getting into bed. Chopper lay on the floor tonight, finding it more to his liking than the kicking from Amanda during the night. The two survivors fell asleep to Coltrane.

  Amanda slept fitfully, awakening twice when Chopper got up to move positions. Amanda got up and looked out every window but saw nothing but stars and her own RV’s headlights.

  She was glad when morning finally came. She had parked so the sun coming up would wake her. The adrenalin rush from the night before made her feel stiff. She needed to stretch. The temperature read 42 degrees, which was cool, but better than Alaska so Amanda decided on a short run. She put on her tennis shoes and the loosest fitting clothes she could find in the clothing she’d picked up. She hadn’t thought to find running clothes. A loose pair of jeans and a tee shirt would work for now.

  Chopper was already by the door when she was ready. She started her run in one direction chosen at random and ran slowly for ten minutes before turning back. Chopper, who had to take care of business, was just catching up with her as she headed back toward the RV.

  She was feeling like her head was clearing so she continued on past the RV for another 10 minutes before turning back. The cool air felt good and the dog running beside her made her feel as safe as she’d been since leaving Fort Wainwright.

  She slowed to a walk and looked around her as she finished her run. It had felt good and her muscles had relaxed. She was parked in the middle of nothing where two highways crossed. She couldn’t see any other cars or trucks and the only animals she’d seen were far off in the distance.

  She felt both alone and comforted by the solitude.

  Chopper nudged her hand, assuring her she wasn’t alone.

  “Good dog,” she told him. “Let’s get you something to eat before you start on my hand.” She got his bowls from the RV and filled them both. For breakfast she made herself some instant coffee, something she hadn’t had since the Army chow hall had closed, and some pears from a can. She also heated some water and made a passable bowl of oatmeal which she sprinkled with sugar. It wasn’t a breakfast of champions, but it would do.

  Taking care of a few other things which needed attending, Amanda was back on the road, headed south on 79 toward Sturgis, according the GPS. She set her goal for Rapid City by the end of the day. Rain was moving through but it didn’t dampen her spirits. She had her music on, a happy dog in the passenger seat and a full belly.

  The day went by as quick as the miles.

  During a pit stop for the dog in the late afternoon, she played with the GPS and saw she would be driving near Mt. Rushmore. She’d never seen it and since she’d be in the area before sunset, she was going to see the monument before continuing.

  She parked in front of the tourist attraction and looked up, as millions of others had done. She was awed by the workmanship and majesty, but after seeing it once, she was ready to move on.

  Amanda refueled the truck and drove for a little while before stopping on the interstate near the town of Wall, South Dakota. She’d decided that until she needed to, she’d stay away from improved areas and truck stops. She drove under the I-14 overpass and, just like the night before, parked in the middle of the road. There was a water tower in the distance, but from where she parked it was all she could see.

  “Good enough, Chopper,” she said to the dog as he got out of the seat and ready get outside. She also got out of the RV, despite the light rain that was falling. It was a cold rain, but not heavy. It felt good for about two minutes before she went back inside and left Chopper to his own fun of romping after scents he picked up.

  She fixed herself a dinner meal and looked at the map on the GPS. She hadn’t gone a lot of miles this day, but she was still making progress. She figured by tomorrow she’d make it to Omaha or even if she pushed it, Kansas City.
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  She wasn’t sure if she was in a hurry to find out if her dad or brother had survived or wanted to keep not knowing. Part of her wanted to hurry home, while another part wanted to never know and to perpetually dream about them being alive.

  Chopper played outside after finishing his second bowl of food for the day. Amanda cleaned the dishes and put things away before settling in to write in her journal. It was comfortable in the front seat because she could write on her laptop, listen to the music she’d chosen and watch as Chopper played at chasing small animals, none of which he could seem to catch, but he didn’t stop trying.

  Amanda thought, at first, something was wrong with CD player when she heard strange sounds. She’d been listening to Luke Bryan while she typed and it sounded funny to her so she popped the CD out of the player.

  That’s when she heard a crackling voice. “Is there anyone out there,” the male voice asked. “This is Dan Sullivan calling on channel 19, is there anyone out there.” Amanda started shaking. It was a voice that sounded desperate, but Amanda was still reminded of the Canadians who had killed Shep.

  After a moment’s thought, she reached for the microphone.

  “This is Amanda, calling Dan. Come in Dan, over.”

  There was silence on the CB, so Amanda reached for the squelch dial and turned it to just far enough, she could hear the static.

  “This is Amanda, calling Dan. Come in, Dan, over,” she repeated and waited.

  “Oh my God,” the man on the other end said. “I’d almost given up hope of reaching anyone! Amanda come in! Are you really alive?”

  “I am Dan, and it’s good to hear another voice,” she said, wondering if it was the truth.

  “Sweet Jesus, Amanda. We’ve been alone for weeks now and had given up hope. Where are you and are there more people with you? We’re in danger and we’re all scared.”

  “Slow down Dan,” Amanda told him, working out what to say. “I am not alone and I am in South Dakota right now. How many are there of you and where are you.”

  The vagueness of her answer didn’t seem to bother him. “There are six of us holed up here in a house by the grain mill,” he told her, assuming she knew where the grain mill was, which she didn’t. “It’s me and my daughter, three other kids and Audrey from the motorcycle dealership.”

  Dan talked like Amanda should be familiar with the area. She gave him the bad news. “We are headed to Alabama. We’re not from around here.”

  “Please wait! Don’t go. Please, you got to help us,” he begged over the radio. “We’re all a little scared. There were nine of us, but three guys who went out for food never came back. Jimmy, one of the older boys, said there was something in the buildings killing people. We’re running out of food now. Help us please!” The desperation in his plea was evident.

  “Hold on, Dan. Wait for me to talk with my partner. Don’t go away.” Amanda didn’t want to be a liar, so she called for Chopper who was tracking still another rabbit that had outsmarted him. The dog looked up and ran toward the RV.

  “Someone wants our help,” she told the dog. “What do you think?”

  Chopper wagged his tail as she pet his head and scratched behind his ears. Dan sounded desperate, but not like he was in any danger right now, so she thought it might be better if she waited until morning to make face to face contact. That’d give her time to think this out and prepare.

  “Dan, this is Amanda, come in, over.”

  “This is Dan. Where are you? You’ve got to help us. We only have enough water and food to last two or three more days. We’re afraid to go outside at all. We don’t have any weapons to defend ourselves from the monsters. Please, you’ve got to help us.”

  “Dan, slow down. I’m not going to leave you. Do you have transportation at all?”

  “There are cars all over the place, but we’re afraid to go outside. There’s something out there killing people and we’re afraid. We’ve barricaded ourselves in the basement of my house and we can hear something upstairs moving around.”

  That changed everything for Amanda. If the man was barricaded in a basement, the only way out was through the beasts that had chased down her RV. One of them had survived being thrown off the truck at 60 miles an hour and was still coming at her when she ran it over. If the beasts really wanted to, they’d find some way to get at the people barricaded in the cellar. It also answered the question of why he was talking like he was whispering, making it hard for her to hear him.

  “Okay, Dan. You’re going to have to tell me exactly where you’re at and I’ll see what we can do.” She told him, hoping he didn’t notice her use of pronouns.

  “We’re in the basement in my workshop, all the way in back,” he told her.

  “No Dan. I’m on the interstate. I need your address.”

  “Oh, sorry. I thought you were from here,” he apologized and gave her the address of his house. It was ten minutes from where she was parked.

  Amanda got Chopper back on board and turned the truck around, making up a plan even as she drove to the address. The sun had set, but it was still light enough to see, even without headlights, but they came on automatically so she left them on.

  The house was on the corner lot in a residential area.

  When Amanda arrived in the area, she looked first for an escape route that was as strait as possible for her to get away in the RV in a hurry. She kept Dan on the radio, telling him what she saw to make sure she had the right house.

  She found out the room he was in had one small window, but it had security bars. He was a wedding videographer and did all his editing in the basement of his house, so had no tools to get out through the bars. He’d used furniture, the water heater and water softener tank to block the first door to the upstairs, and a full washer and dryer to block the second. So far the monsters hadn’t even tried to get at them.

  She drove by the house three times as it slowly got darker outside. She saw the window to his workroom with the bars. She asked Dan how he’d put them in and he told her they were in sunk in four inches of cement around the window.

  “Could I pull them out with my truck and you guys escape through the window?” she asked him.

  There was a long pause. “Yea, that will work Amanda. But I warn you, there’s something upstairs and if it starts coming for you, you better be able to run.”

  “Okay, Dan. You get everyone ready to get out that window. I’ll be back in five minutes. I have to go find something.”

  Amanda drove off and found a semi with a chain to pull the bars off. She hitched it to the front of her RV and laid it around the driver’s mirror. When she was ready, she called Dan on the CB and told him what to expect.

  “We’re ready for you Amanda,” he said, but there was something in his voice she didn’t like.

  “Dan, we’re going to make this work. Just be ready because we’re going to have to be fast,” she reassured him. “Here I come now.” Amanda circled the block so she could have as straight as approach and escape as possible. She drove to the window and jumped out of the RV, grabbing the chain and looping it through the bars. She was almost back into the RV when she heard a crashing inside the house. She put the truck in reverse and pulled the bars out of the ground and away from the window. Chopper was barking and growling.

  Dan had the first kid out before she’d gotten stopped. The first was a little girl about eight years old and she started running for the open door of the RV, tears running down her face. She put the truck into drive even as the next three children came through the window followed by, who she presumed to be, Audrey. She’d told Dan that they had to be prepared for a fast get away and she’d stay with the truck and to remind the children to get in the RV and move all the way to the back.

  Amanda grabbed the microphone and told Dan to hurry. Audrey, who looked like the kind of woman who would work at a motorcycle shop was grabbing up the last boy, who had tripped. They were almost to the truck when she saw the man struggling through the small window.
He had just about gotten out when a hand grabbed at his leg through the window, then another and a third.

  “Go!” Dan hollered at her. “Get out of here!” he screamed kicking at the monsters that were pulling him back in. The kids were all in the truck now and screaming and crying. “Hurry, before they get you! Go!” Dan screamed.

  Chopper was barking through the windshield and in the space of time it takes for eyes to blink, Amanda grabbed the 30-30 from the dash while throwing the truck into park.

  She was out of the truck, glad she hadn’t put her seat belt on after putting the chain on the bars. Dan had been pulled partway back into the cellar, and he was screaming from the worst pain she could imagine. She ran up to him and started shooting into the heads she saw in the window in the bright lights from the headlights. She shot until the gun was empty and then grabbed Dan by his shirt’s collar and pulled him away. His left leg was a bloody mess, she saw bone, and pants were ripped and he was still screaming. She was able to pull him free of what was in the basement, even as the hands were reaching for him again.

  Dan was a portly man and Amanda helped him to his feet, Audrey coming back to help, before the mutants could regroup and come after them.

  Amanda shoved the man through the side door of the truck and told Audrey to take care of him. She ran back in front of the truck to remove the chain from the bumper of the RV. If she didn’t unhook it and the truck ran over the chain it could cause the truck to wreck or be damaged so none of them could get away from the hell that was coming through the window.

  It took Amanda the count of three to get the chain unhooked. She was going to pull it all the way off, but the first of the monsters was now in the window. It was struggling getting its hips though the hole, but it was making progress. She could see the blackness of its eyes and the desire to consume her. Its jaws were snapping open and closed and dripping with blood from Dan.

  She couldn’t wait any longer and she had to go.

  Swinging back into the driver’s seat she had the truck in drive and foot on the gas pedal even before her door was fully closed. She saw the first monster just clearing the window as she got on the street with the RV. From there, it was a straight drive for Amanda and she watched for pursuit in her driver’s side mirror.