The Orphans Series Vol. 1: The Orphans

by M. Evans

  Shaun crooked his head a little sideways at him. "Really? You just pulled a gun in my house at who you thought was my dad? Yeah, I'll make sure I get right on a call to you when I see him. Besides, we won't be here. Like I said, we're trying to get back to the hospital. Leave a note for him if you want."

  Thompson went into the kitchen quickly and jotted a note for Frank, advising him he should contact him first.

  Ellie looked at Shaun, mouthing, "What the f..." and doing a gun impression with her right hand.

  He shrugged. "Hey," he asked aloud, "can you get Tina to get Lucas to give us a ride?"

  Ellie shook her head. "No luck. I got a text from her before the cell phones stopped working. She said that she, Greg, and Lucas were going to the welcome home gathering at the high school."

  Thompson came back in and spoke before Shaun could. "What's Greg doing at that? That kid hates all sports!"

  Shaun thought about the answer and didn't mean to actually make it verbal. "Yeah, but he loves the girls' volleyball team...!"

  Ellie smacked him in the chest shaking her head and Thompson murmured, "Yeah, that actually makes sense."

  ****

  Phil, the bus driver, took the easiest way into town he could. Usually, a drive from Ames was painless, but this afternoon seemed like he had been driving for hours. Getting stuck in a two hour delay on the interstate behind an overturned semi did not help--especially with the accompaniment of eighteen screaming, hyper, teenage girls. Had he left just twenty minutes later, the interstate would have been shut down and he could have taken the highway to the connecting interstate.

  The conference head people made sure all the participants in the volleyball tournament got a sendoff worthy of heroes. Phil absolutely could not wait to get home to watch the basketball game on TV, then pass out on the couch after putting himself in a food coma from his wife's roast dinner. He looked in the rear view mirror and laughed at the girls. He spoke into the radio at the other bus following behind them, "Hey, Tony! You wouldn't know that these girls just won a national conference...!"

  "Why's that?"

  "They're all passed out! I don't think the few hours on the interstate stuck in that accident helped anything. Must've been too much excitement with the high of winning and then the low of waiting."

  Tony laughed, feeling groggy and shaking his head to try and stay alert. He looked into the rearview mirror and noticed all of his passengers were sleeping as well. "Phil, I think the welcome home rally is going to scare the hell out of 'em when we pull into the school lot."

  ****

  Greg was standing on the curb in front of the school with his thumbs stuck in his pockets. He was trying to not be overly noticeable about his appreciation for Tina's well developing figure. She was wearing a tight denim short skirt and a tight white shirt. Greg looked at his own attire--a faded black t-shirt and a ratty old pair of blue jeans. He smiled, loving being a guy. "Kind of sucks that Shaun and Ellie couldn't make it today. Sounds like his dad is being a d-bag."

  "Wow. Great. That is a really a great description. Thank you for the insight. I was hoping that Shaun ... I mean that they could be here, too."

  "He called my place earlier looking for another ride back to the hospital. He said something about how his dad was supposed to take Ellie and him back, but his dad blew him off."

  Lucas laughed immaturely at the reference. "Ha! Blew him.... I could've given 'em a ride. How come no one ever calls me?"

  Tina commented, "Maybe because they would rather live. They'd have to be half crazy to ride with you, Lucas."

  Lucas puffed up what chest he had. "Greg rode with me! What does that say about him?"

  Greg came up between the brother and sister hanging an arm around each of them. "Oh, hell! We all know I've got a screw loose!" He pointed. "Hey! There's the buses!"

  The band started playing a victory march as the bus pulled into the parking lot. Everybody who lives in town with a tie to the school was there and cheering the girls' victory on. It was a united effort-‑ everyone had school foam fingers and signs for their favorite players. Had the girls been awake to see it, they might have had tears in their eyes.

  There was a huge array of people ranging from families to elderly supporters of the school athletic teams. They all cheered together to welcome home the victorious girls' volleyball team, waving their signs and watching as Phil's bus swung into the parking lot. The bus looked like a wild man was driving, swerving wildly from side to side, but no hands outstretched from the windows. The only noise coming from the oncoming bus was the diesel engine. As it got closer, the swerves became wider and wider until the wheels were off the ground. The bus crashed on to its side, sliding across the school parking lot and shooting sparks everywhere as it slid to a stop.

  The onlookers watched in horror, momentarily frozen in shock, wondering how a day so great for these girls could end in such a horrible accident. Families and teachers ran for the bus, screaming and calling to the occupants. The second bus barreled into the parking lot and everyone froze. It was driving in a straight line for all of the bystanders and gaining speed. The principal pointed at the bus screaming at everyone to run. The screams filling the air would haunt any survivors for the rest of their lives. The terror of this day would end no time soon.

  Greg, Tina, and Lucas had watched in awe when the first bus came to a crashing halt. As the second came nearer and never slowed down, Greg grabbed Tina and Lucas by the collars, pulling and screaming at the same, "Watch out! It's coming straight for us!"

  The bus roared into the parking lot, mowing through the crowd which was trying to free the girls from the first bus crash. It turned into a vicious killing machine, unbiased at who it took. The principal was struck by the second bus as he dodged to the side. The red outstretched stop sign decapitated him. The school bus came to a hard stop by crashing into the side of the brick school--the front ten feet of the bus disappearing in the building.

  Everyone was running frantically toward the buses, completely confused. The bus lying on its side was smoking. It had a gas leak and was shooting fire from the undercarriage, sending balls of black smoke into the air--it was on the near verge of explosion.

  People were trying frantically to help others, whether it was someone hit by the bus or someone trampled as the crowd had tried to turn and run. Jude, an off duty firefighter, ran to the overturned bus and climbed up onto it so he could reach the back door's emergency exit latch. He pulled it down and the door swung open.

  He didn't know that this one act of heroism would be the beginning of the end. He had just unleashed pure hell on the crowd of onlookers.

  Jude stood in the doorway, yelling, "Are any of you girls hurt!? Does anyone one need a doctor!?" He shined a small flashlight into the dark space--it was darkened by the windows which had been painted over with words of hope and cheer. The second set of windows were resting on the concrete.

  "We need to get you out of here," he continued. "The bus is on fire! Is anyone injured!?" He couldn't see well until, out of the darkness, bloody hands reached for him. He reached at them, thinking these were the arms of survivors trying to escape ... until they grabbed him to pull him in. "Huh!? Hey, let go!"

  Besides his screams, no other words passed his lips again. The former girls’ volleyball team made short work of him. His carcass was picked to the bone in minutes leaving nothing to turn.

  Lenny, another volunteer fireman, had been making his way through the terrified crowd when he saw his partner get yanked inside the burning bus. He immediately ran to his aid. He was confused by what was going on, and why he wasn't seeing the girls coming out yet. He ran up and climbed onto the side of the bus, kicking out one of the windows. The light coming from over his shoulder illuminated the space.

  He saw Jude, or what was left of him, lying on the floor. He gasped as he watched a pack of girls surrounding his bloody skeleton--his torso had been almost picked clean, his face was barely recognizable, and his clothes were st
rewn about, shredded and bloody.

  The girls looked up, sniffing the fresh scent. Lenny's sweat was dripping in through the window. Once the girls locked eyes with him, they could do nothing but focus on him, their previous victim having nothing left to offer. He stared back, unable to get past his friend lying there with all of his skin missing and the group of girls who had been feeding on him.

  His sense of survival was making him contemplate leaving all of them, forgetting his oath as a fireman. He stared in shock at the skeleton for a moment longer. He didn't expect an answer but yelled at the girls, "What happened to you!?"

  He was about to dive off the side of the bus just as the girls jumped, exploding through the glass windows and landing next to him. One pushed through, pounced on his shoulders and ripped the skin from his cheeks. Another pulled on his shirttail and latched on to the fat on the back of his neck.

  When Greg saw this, he lost the ability to blink and was speechless, watching as the girls quickly made their way around the bystanders, taking them one by one. They moved so quickly it was hard to see what they were doing at first. The unfortunate townspeople made the easy mistake of thinking they had been injured in the crash since there was no lack of blood or carnage. After the third girl had jumped on a do-gooder who was trying to help an injured elderly woman, Greg had come to the quick conclusion something was horribly wrong.

  He recognized most of the people in the parking lot. Everyone he saw fell into two categories: some were being attacked, running for their lives, or being eaten alive, and some were cold blooded killers who were not selective about who their next meal would be.

  He saw one of his dad's deputies, a man he knew as Henderson, trying to pry open the rear door of the bus which had crashed into the wall. He was yelling "Don't worry girls! I'll get you out! Hang tight." He couldn't see the carnage that was going on around the other bus.

  Greg cupped his hand around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Don't pull the latch!"

  It was too late. Henderson pulled the latch and the door exploded open, slamming into his face sending teeth and blood everywhere. He flew backwards with his arms waving and landed on his back, cracking his head on the cold, hard concrete. He looked up with blurry vision, tears filling his eyes as the girls bore down on him.

  Greg looked around the lot knowing there was probably little he could do. He hoped he could reach someone. "We need to call for some sort of help ... like a swat team or maybe a God damn army! And we need to get somewhere safe! These things are pickin' off anyone close to 'em!"

  Lucas hadn't been able to take his eyes off of the horror in front of him. "I'm out of here! Screw help! I'm going home! This is messed up! What happened to them, for God sakes!?"

  "I don't know, but you'd better keep with us! I think safety in numbers is a good idea!"

  Lucas pointed at a group of the volleyball girls and looked at Tina. "I'm gonna get my gun from home and go to the basement until this blows over! Tina are you coming with or staying here!?"

  "I don't care where we go, but we need to leave!"

  Greg looked around the parking lot, waiting to be able to make a break for the car. "Let's call the police! Those guys have lost it!" He pointed at Henderson's squad car. "Seriously, there's a shotgun in there and probably a set of keys! We can take the car to my dad's house or the police station! If we try to get somewhere by foot, there's no tellin' what'll happen to us."

  "I'm out of here with or without you guys. Tina you better get home or dad is going to be pissed!" He turned and ran for everything his pudgy body was worth, immediately catching the attention of what used to be Amber, a black haired sophomore, and Emily, a blonde haired junior--both hungry for more food and unsatisfied by the firemen. They were delighted by the jiggling meal running from them.

  Lucas' face was beet red before he was half way to his rundown car. He turned around, checking behind himself, realizing he had girls in hot pursuit which something out of the norm. Unlike him, they were not suffering from being out of shape. He was regretting being lazy since football had ended in the fall, and knew he was screwed if he didn't shake them soon. The woman just ahead of him brought a smile to his face because she was breathing heavily and running in the same direction. She had car keys in hand, ready to dive into her car and doing her absolute best to get away from the school. Lucas recognized her as Debra, a crabby old lady. Lucas was focusing solely on the very important fact that she was the only person within a hundred yards running slower than he was. Lucas ran for everything he was worth getting within a few feet of the woman.

  She had heavy makeup running down her face from the tears. She looked at Lucas pleading, "Save me! Save me! What are those things?"

  Lucas was not the compassionate type. "Save you with what!? I'm running for my life! I'm outta here!" Lucas got a glance of a hand coming within a foot of his shoulder heard a primal growl from behind. He looked at Debra who was quickly losing steam as he was trying to pass. "Sorry lady!" He gripped the purse strap on her shoulder and yanked down, throwing her off balance.

  She miraculously fixed her falling momentum and corrected herself, staring back at Lucas in terror.

  "I'm totally going to hell for this!" Lucas panted, and he kicked her foot hard.

  She fell and skidded to a stop. Her outstretched hands turned to bloody mushy palms, her knees were skinned. Lucas hurdled her heavy panting body. Seeing the look of shock fear and anger spread over her aging face all at once.

  He felt relief for a second until he looked behind him. Emily and Amber leapt over her as well, unable to stop their hellish momentum. He looked again, panicking, fearing the worst, but saw them turn as the smell of new blood filled their noses. The small feeling of hope Debra had for a moment when the girls had continued past her had died. Her shrieking pierced his eardrums until it gurgled to a stop.

  Lucas didn't turn back again until he made it to the safety of his car. The screams that came from behind him were the making of nightmares. He looked at the two women ripping her throat and shoulder leaving her with one arm. The two girls were drunk with their thirst for blood and meat. Debra's eyes glazed as she passed away losing massive amounts of blood from her torn open neck, bubbles growing and popping. Amber and Emily sat in a crouch gnawing on her arm and chewing the fingers off one by one, only leaving the bone and stripping everything but the skeletal hand.

  Lucas hit the lock button, reached into his left pocket for his keys, and felt nothing. He instantly had a vivid detailed memory of Tina grabbing the keys when they stopped so she could make sure he didn't leave without her. Lucas slid down in the front seat trying to think of a different plan, but thinking was not one of his strong suits.

  ****

  Frank drove quickly down the highway towards Adel. He was watching the drug taking its effects‑‑all for the worse. It had been less than one hour since Lennon got bit by Karen. His eyes were bleeding steadily and he was sweating heavily even in the air conditioned car. Lennon stared at Frank through the rearview and having a difficult time putting what he wanted to say into words. He found speaking, or even thinking, difficult. "I must look like hell, huh?"

  "You don't look so bad. We're going to get through this."

  Lennon laughed fighting his train of thought. "Well, you can't lie for shit, can you? We know what's going to happen. You're just endangering yourself the longer you keep me around. If I was in your place, I'd've already shot you. From the look on your face, I'd say, if you needed to describe your expression when you're either scared or worried about something, then this would be it."

  Frank checked the speed on the car. He was doing a good twenty miles over the legal limit. He waited before responding. "I was never worth a damn at poker, Lennon. How do you feel?"

  There was no reply. Lennon had said his last words. Frank hit the cruise control and adjusted his rearview mirror. He had to tilt it all the way to the right to get a look at Lennon. He saw him slouched over against the window and the
door. Two lines of blood were winding a path down the glass from his eyes. Frank saw the drool and knew he was done. He looked at the seat staring at the pistol and thinking about ending it for him, knowing he should. He yelled at Lennon, "Come on, Lennon! Hang in there buddy! You can make it! You can beat this thing! Come on, man! Don't quit, damn it!"

  Frank checked the time again, knowing the longer he was able to observe Lennon, the more he could tell Shaun and Ellie and the better off they would be. He thought about his promise to Lennon and knew he shouldn't take him into another city alive--or whatever this was--for fear there could be an outbreak if he escaped. At the same time, he couldn't exactly surpass the feeling of guilt he was dealing with. Knowing him and, by now, hundreds or thousands more could be in the same condition and state, completely unaware of why they were feeling like Lennon was. None of the people from Des Moines would have anyone to advise them their time acting as a civil human being was nearing a very quick end.

  He approached the city, quickly getting worried for the citizens of it. He tried his cell phone several times, growing frustrated he couldn't reach anyone. There was just no signal. He tried the police radio, but was unable to get anyone to answer it. He slammed his hands down in frustration, seriously debating if it was time to put Lennon out of his misery, but it would be good to know the time before the change happened. Knowing when one went from comatose to an all-out meat-eating animal would be helpful in the very close future. He turned on the radio and only received the emergency broadcast channel advising there was no current news and to please stay tuned.

  Frank decided the best thing to do was to get home, collect Shaun and Ellie, and get the hell out of town. There wasn't anything he needed that bad from anywhere to keep him around. He couldn't think of any friends who lived anywhere nearby. He knew there was no way that he could beat this thing on his own. He had decided already it would be smart if he stopped back at E&T to pick up his notebooks which were locked in a safe there. He wanted to get it to the government eventually and pray someone there could figure out a mass way to kill them. He didn't care for a cure because anything which had its guts hanging out of it had no chance of living anyway if the strand of disease affecting it was cured.