Demon Ash

by M. J. Haag

  I swatted at the arm holding me.

  “Stop. Put me down.” The fey listened, but he stayed close to my side.

  “Get the kid to the house,” I yelled. The man, who still held the boy in his arms, heard me and sprinted in that direction.

  The rest of the fey moved toward the fence, ready. On the other side, the infected pushed harder against the metal barrier. One fell. The infected behind him stepped on his back, reaching closer to the top.

  Metal groaned. Fear clawed at me as the gate’s hinge twisted under the weight of so many infected. Infected spilled into the yard. The nearby fey met them with a brute strength that sent the first infected head flying from its body.

  “Protect Mya and the child,” Molev’s voice called out from somewhere in the fray.

  The fey beside me nudged me back toward the house as infected swarmed the men nearest the gate. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the fight as fey began to disappear under the swell of bodies pouring through.

  Bud continued to yell for weapons. Weapons wouldn’t help against these kinds of numbers. Only the fey could.

  Not a single infected made it a step in the direction of the house—my direction—because of the number of fey lined up to meet them. The sickening sound of tearing flesh filled the yard. Heads began to sail through the air as the fey pressed forward, clearing infected from those in the front. Heads weren’t the only thing flying. With a thunderous yell, one of the fey sent a body flying over the chaos. The limp headless infected landed outside the fence.

  In the melee, I saw an infected slip between two fighting fey and go for Bud. I opened my mouth to call out a warning at the same time Bud saw the infected. The man grabbed Butch and pushed his friend toward the creature.

  The infected pounced on Butch, and Bud turned to sprint into the barn.

  In horror, I watched Butch struggle with the woman. Bodies blocked my view for a moment, and the fey with me nudged me further toward the house. There were still infected pouring in through the gate, though.

  “Go help them. I only need one of you. We can’t afford to lose any of you. Go!”

  Half the fey guarding me broke off to help their friends. I caught sight of Kerr racing toward Butch and the infected that had him pinned against the barn. He ripped the infected away from the man by grabbing the infected woman’s hair and shoulder. His biceps bulged as he separated head from body. As Butch slowly slid down the barn’s wall, Kerr turned back to the fight.

  Within minutes, the fey eliminated the remaining threat. Bodies littered the blood-stained ground, and the fey began tossing infected parts over the fence.

  I shuddered at the sight and focused on the men by the barn. Bud had reemerged, and Butch still sat on the ground, a hand pressed to his shoulder.

  I strode over to them.

  “What happened?” I asked. Blood seeped through Butch’s fingers and shirt.

  “Nothing, demon-bitch,” Bud said.

  “He was bit,” Jerry said.

  “Fucker pushed me,” Butch panted, pulling his hand away to reveal the bite on his shoulder.

  Gnarled, torn flesh flapped against the remaining skin and blood poured from the wound. I held in my gag and focused on Butch’s face. I didn’t know what would happen to him. Every person who had turned infected that I’d witnessed since this thing started had been because a hellhound had killed them. But I knew from Charles, a bite from an infected caused the sickness to spread, too.

  I squatted down in front of Butch and met his pained gaze.

  “How long do you have?”

  “Not long,” Jerry answered for him.

  I reached out to put a comforting hand on Butch’s leg, but Drav stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

  “No, Mya.”

  I hadn’t even realized he’d joined us.

  “What happens now?” I asked.

  “Give us the location of the guns so we can put this fucker out of his misery,” Bud said.

  I stood and looked Bud in the eye.

  “I saw what you did. I wish I had the strength to hit you in the face and break your damn nose.” No sooner had the words left my mouth than Drav’s fist darted forward and made my dreams come true.

  Bud howled in pain as blood poured from his nose.

  Ignoring him, I squatted back down by Butch.

  “Thank you for that,” he said.

  His breathing hitched, and he groaned in pain. Drav jerked me back, well out of the man’s reach.

  A moment later, Butch hunched over. He clutched his stomach and threw up. The other men jumped backwards as bile and breakfast splattered on the ground. Butch kept dry heaving.

  “Butch?” Jerry stepped forward, but Tucker stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  “Don’t, there isn’t anything we can do.”

  “FFFFFuuccck,” Butch moaned, straightening enough to lean back on the barn.

  His eyes watered, and tears fell down his cheeks. My stomach became queasy as I noticed blood coated around his mouth. In a moment, he fell forward onto the ground. He made no noise, and the area around us became utterly silent.

  “Butch?” I said.

  A muffled groan came from the fallen body at our feet, and slowly Butch got back to his feet. His milky white gaze swept over us, his mouth opening and closing listlessly.

  Seven

  Drav stepped protectively in front of me and immediately removed Butch’s head. Crisis averted, he tossed the head to Kerr and turned to me. For a moment, my brain couldn’t process how quickly Butch had gone from a person with an attitude to a mindless abomination. There were so few of us. One bad decision, one bite, just took another. At a loss, I stared at Jerry and Tucker as a nearby fey stepped forward and removed Butch’s body.

  “You wanted to know what the world was like?” Bud demanded in a nasally voice. “What you missed? That is what you missed.”

  Something flickered in Jerry’s gaze. Anger. Maybe hate. I felt the same toward Bud. Without acknowledging the asshat’s comment, I addressed Jerry and Tucker.

  “You’re both still welcome to come with us; but if you decide to stay, watch your backs around him. He’ll push you next if it means saving himself.”

  I turned to go to the house and stopped short at the sight of Drav and Molev standing in front of me. Blood and gore caked their hands and arms.

  “You guys are a mess. Do you want to shower?”

  “No. It will take too long, and we will probably need to do this again before we reach the next safe place,” Molev said.

  I nodded slowly and glanced at Drav.

  “You’re not carrying me like that.”

  “I’ll shower.”

  We walked together to the house. The sight that greeted me in the kitchen made my eyes water. The fey, with a content look on his face, stood in the center of the room, holding the little boy he had saved. The boy’s head rested on the big man’s shoulder. One arm looped around the fey’s neck, and his little hand gripped the man’s braid. He sucked the thumb of his other hand, his tear-streaked face turned toward us.

  His gaze kept flicking between me, Drav, and Molev.

  “Go get cleaned up,” I said to Drav. “The less people in here right now, the better.”

  Drav went upstairs, and Molev retreated outside once more. The boy sighed gustily, the exhale hitching a bit from his recent crying.

  “Hi there,” I said softly. “My name is Mya. What’s your name?”

  He stared at me for a moment before pulling his thumb from his mouth just long enough to say, “Timmy.”

  “I’m so glad we found you, Timmy. Because this house has a lot of food, and we need some help eating it. Would you like to help me?”

  He shook his head no.

  “That’s okay. I’m just going to make some food, and if it looks good, you let me know.”

  I went to the sink and wet a clean washcloth, which I handed to the fey.

  “For his face and hands if he’ll let you. We need to get
any infected blood off or he might turn, too.”

  The fey frowned and took the cloth.

  Turning back to the cupboards, I searched until I found some peanut butter, jelly, and crackers. At the last second, I put the peanut butter back and just fixed a plate full of jelly crackers and set them on the table. My luck, the kid would have peanut allergies or something.

  The fey still held the washcloth, and Timmy didn’t look any cleaner.

  “Here,” I said, holding out my hand. The fey gave me the cloth.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Byllo,” he said.

  “Okay. Timmy, Byllo’s arms are getting tired. Can you sit in a chair for just a few minutes?”

  Timmy lifted his head and looked Byllo in the eyes.

  “They are not tired,” the man said. “I could hold you forever.”

  “Not helping, Byllo. What do you say, Timmy? If you sit in the chair, you can have some of those crackers I made.”

  The boy looked at the table, and his eyes lit up at the sight of the crackers. He wiggled in Byllo’s arms, and the man bent to set him on a chair.

  “Hold on, Timmy. First, we need to wash your hands and face, right?” The boy held his hands out to me and waited patiently while I wiped them and his face.

  “There’s a spot on your face this washcloth isn’t getting. Is it okay if Byllo lifts you up so you can wash in the sink?

  “Yes.”

  Byllo carefully picked the boy back up and held him steady while Timmy and I worked together to wash his hands and face with soap at the sink. By the time we finished, Timmy’s stomach growled continuously.

  “While you eat those, I’m going to see what we have to drink.”

  Based on how the boy looked, he’d been without food for a while, and I worried it would be the same for fluids. I poured a cup of water and set it in front of him.

  “Byllo, can you go to the barn and see if there are any cans of evaporated milk and maybe a bag you can use to carry them? Ask Jerry. We’ll need some for Timmy.”

  The fey left. Timmy paused his eating to stare at the door.

  “Byllo will be right back,” I said, sitting. “He’s going to get some stuff so you won’t be hungry or thirsty at the next place we stay.”

  The boy shifted his gaze to me, concern lighting his eyes.

  “How old are you, Timmy?”

  He held up four fingers.

  “That’s pretty old. I bet you know a lot of stuff. I know a lot, too. Have you noticed how some people are sick and not acting very nice?”

  He nodded.

  “My mommy, daddy, and sissy got sick.”

  “Aw, Timmy…” Struggling not to cry, I cleared my throat and gently smoothed my hand over his head. “I’m really sorry about your family getting sick. Byllo can’t get sick. He’s strong and fast and very nice. So are all his friends. After you’re done eating, we’re going to go look for the rest of the people who aren’t sick.”

  “Do I have to wear a rope?”

  “No. Never again.” I wanted to ask him about that but doubted it would do anything more than scare him. “Would you like some peaches or pears to eat next?”

  “Yes, please.”

  I smiled and grabbed a can of each.

  Drav entered the kitchen one slice before Timmy polished off his can of pear halves.

  “Drav, this is Timmy. Timmy, this is my friend Drav. He’s really nice like Byllo.”

  “Hello, Timmy,” Drav said, approaching us.

  “Your eyes are funny,” the boy said, staring up at Drav.

  “Not funny,” I said. “Just different. He can see better at night.”

  A look of terror crossed the boy’s features when I had said night.

  “It’s okay, Timmy. You’ll be with us now. We’ll keep you safe.” The words barely left my mouth when Byllo came in, followed by Bud, Tucker, and Jerry.

  “Like hell you’re taking the kid or the fucking supplies. Both stay with us,” Bud said.

  Timmy stared at him with wide eyes. Byllo set the two cases of evaporated milk on the counter and came to stand beside the boy.

  “If the fact that you just pushed your friend into an infected to save your own skin isn’t enough of a reason to disqualify you for child care, the fact that you swore is. Leave, Bud, before one of these guys makes you.”

  Bud stormed out.

  “You’re welcome to whatever you need,” Tucker said. “We’ll be pulling out right after you do. We’ve got a place we can go.”

  He didn’t need to say it was a place where we wouldn’t be welcome. I could see that in his eyes.

  “I hope you get there safely. Tell them everything, Jerry. And be honest about it.”

  “I will,” he promised before heading out the door.

  “We need to leave, Mya,” Drav said.

  “I know.” I looked at Timmy. The boy had a smudge of jelly on his chin. Much better than infected blood.

  “You ready, sweetie?”

  His nod set in motion a swift departure. Byllo carried Timmy and stayed close to Drav, who carried me. No one spoke as they sprinted out the corpse-riddled gate and down the road. All of the men remained alert as we passed the discarded rope and trees.

  The sound of an engine roaring to life behind us made me cringe. After what we’d just gone through, I couldn’t help but feel on edge.

  Molev motioned to Ghua. Ghua nodded and, along with five others, broke off from the group and slipped into the trees. Staying true to the ingrained need to remain quiet out in the open, I said nothing.

  The sun rose and some of the tension left me as miles swiftly passed under the fey’s feet. It wasn’t just our progress that soothed me, but little Timmy. Having him with us worried me, but it also made me feel so much less alone. I looked over at the boy as he sucked his thumb and dozed in Byllo’s arms. The man kept glancing down at the kid, too. He wasn’t the only one. They all did with a mix of curiosity and awe in their expressions. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to only know adults and then discover an adorable tiny version existed.

  We traveled for almost an hour before Timmy woke and started fidgeting. I called a stop, helped him go to the bathroom, and gave him something to drink. Byllo was right there to pick him up again when it was time.

  The boy never really made a sound. Seeing someone that age so subdued felt unnatural. What had the child gone through before we’d rescued him? Still, not a single bite marked him. That, along with the rope, could only mean one thing. The infected had known to use a healthy human as bait.

  When we reached the blockade of cars outside of Ardmore, blood smeared the faded blacktopped surface. The wide path of red veered to the left into the trees.

  Molev slowed the group, keeping well back from the vehicles, and silently motioned left and right. Twenty men broke off in each direction. Just as they left us, a single person stepped into view further down the road. The creature emitted a creepy as hell sound that made me want to run the other way. In seconds, grunts and groans came from the woods on either side of us. However, nothing emerged.

  A creak of metal drew my attention to the line of cars. The trunk of a vehicle slowly opened. The back door of another unlatched.

  “Byllo, turn Timmy away so he doesn’t see this,” I said softly as the first fey man stepped forward.

  Molev didn’t mess around with the infected crawling from the blockade. He ran forward into the line of cars, pushing the two central ones wide apart. He didn’t stop there. Gaining speed, he ran for the infected leader while the remaining fey cleaned out the cars.

  After hearing Ghua’s story about how they’d been led into a trap, I appreciated Molev’s foresight to kill the apparent infected leader immediately. He tossed the head aside and motioned for us as the fey dispatched the final infected from the cars.

  The men who’d disappeared into the woods reappeared, dirtier than before. One had a bit of gore stuck to his cheek, and I hoped the new place we were headed ha
d more than one bathroom.

  It took hours to reach our final destination. Hours of moving quickly and quietly. Hours of watching the trees beside the road for signs of infected. However, other than that first group, we never saw any more up close.

  All that effort seemed such a waste as I studied the building before us. Sure it had a protective fence and space enough where we could all fit and be safe during the night, like I’d specified. However, the cold distribution factory was far from the cozy farmhouse we’d left behind.

  Molev led us up the drive to the gated entrance.

  I glanced at Byllo, who walked nearby with Timmy draped against his shoulder. The boy’s sleep relaxed face made me smile slightly. He obviously felt safe with Byllo. I just hoped the little guy wouldn’t freak out when he woke and saw our new temporary home.

  The clatter and groan of metal drew my attention back to the gate where Molev and a few others forced their way in.

  “Wait here,” he said.

  He motioned for a group of ten. They moved toward the building and disappeared inside through the main doors. I felt safe enough in the open, held securely in Drav’s arms, but I wasn’t so sure how I’d feel inside.

  The place felt creepy in its abandonment. Semi-trailers sat forgotten at docks that would never again be used. Cars remained in the parking lot for owners who would never return. Nothing moved except the dried grass that had grown up around the fenced perimeter. No sound reached my ears except the soft shuffle of the fey’s feet as they kept watch.

  While we waited, the sky began to cloud over. Without the sun, the temperature dropped. I shivered in Drav’s arms and knew Timmy would be getting cold, too.

  Not long afterward, one of the scouts returned.

  “We removed a few infected. Molev says to come in,” he stated.

  A couple of the men stayed behind to close the gate while the rest of us entered the building. The high ceilings of the warehouse produced an echo of our footsteps as we passed the metal shelving lining the factory floor. Untouched by the chaos outside its doors, the shelves in this place still had boxes and boxes of now useless electronics.