A smile split her face in two. “Oh, trust me, darling, it won’t be what you’re thinking.”
I noticed her necklace made of human teeth, ears, and wound together with hair. A wave of nausea washed over me. The teeth were from corpses they’d killed them in the forest? But then I looked past her and saw Charles, Arik, and Kiki. They stared with fear in their eyes.
I followed their gaze to see piles of human bones sat in the far corners. The woman smiled again, this time showing her teeth, each filed to a point. When she said have us for dinner, she meant it.
No way!
I struck out with my palm and hit the guy right in the chest. He stumbled back, giving me enough time to grab my handgun from him. I moved to pull the trigger, but an image of Zach burst into my mind.
He looked older, maybe late twenties. Standing near him was a girl Kiki’s age, a boy, an ebon-skinned woman, Zach’s uncle Beauregard, and a man I didn’t recognize. Their faces blurred in and out as I stood off to the side and looked at my wedding ring. The diamond was huge. I glanced back at Zach and his wicked smile chilled me to the bone.
Everything moved so fast. The little girl snapped her fingers, and the woman exploded into bloody mist. Zach shot Beauregard in the face, sending him over the side of the building. The next thing I knew, I was near the edge. The child’s face warped with hatred, and with one hand, shoved me. I plummeted to my death, trying to understand why she was so evil—What made her that way?
“No!”
A flash of light consumed me, and I lifted my eyes, finding myself back in the real world.
I should have pulled that trigger, but I didn’t, because killing another human was the first step to becoming the same as monster Zach. Because I didn’t have the guts to pull that trigger, the cannibal’s rifle whacked me across the face, and my whole world turned black.
LEVEL 08:
WITHOUT HEROES
The girl in my vision needed to die, I knew in my heart. She had a fondness for evil, and the mysterious man from the building top. What happened to the woman that exploded? And how could Zach kill Beauregard? These visions plagued me and caused nightmares for an eternity.
“Wakey-wakey, girlo! Time to meet the boss,” a thick accent woke me from my torture.
She dragged me from a dark hole, my shoes scraping the ground. A burst of light burned my eyes as she brought me into the cavern with the lake.
I wanted to scream for help, but found my mouth stuffed with something foul. My friends were nowhere. Instead, the cavern filled with loincloth wearing, psychopaths.
The girl dragging me had dark skin and dressed in a one-shouldered loin cloth; she belonged in a Tarzan movie. When we reached the water, she shoved my back, and I landed on my knees.
The ebony girl cut the ropes binding my hands. I yanked out the gag and found it covered in thick hair. My stomach turned as I vomited in my mouth. I tossed it as I stood and faced my captor. She wore her hair in dreadlocks, and had chiseled muscles, despite her short stature.
“Where are my friends?” I brought my fists forward. “Tell me!”
She frowned and closed her eyes. “Don’t be making this worse for yourself, girlo!”
“I want to know where they are!” I swung, but she kicked my legs out from behind me. Pain shot into my knees as they cracked against the ground. I tried to struggle, but the girl held me still; She proved far too strong. I set my jaw as she gripped my chin and turned my head. Any second she’d snap my neck, and feast on my flesh. After surviving for half a year in the ZPoc, a teenage, jungle chick was my executioner. Life sucked. “Please, I don’t wanna be killing ya, girlo!” She trembled as she held my head. Was she afraid?
My eyes landed across the water. Two human legs and a torso were on a pole, rotating over a fire pit. I had no way of telling whom the legs belonged to, but the torso was smaller, and could have been Kiki’s.
“No!” I struggled back to my feet, fighting the cannibal girl.
“I’ll do it!” She gritted her teeth. “I swear, I will!”
A loud clap boomed through the chamber. Every one of the two-dozen cave freaks turned and looked to where they’d imprisoned me. Atop one path, stood a man in a fur cape, and revealing loincloth. He held a spear in one hand and a bag of skulls in the other. Women with tinier clothing, flanked him. They each left nothing to the imagination. He descended the path, and the women walked on their knuckles and feet. Correction, they belonged in Tarzan. My eyes darted between them. “You’re all batshit crazy!”
I felt my captors grip loosen, and I thrashed, breaking free. I rolled and snatched the only weapon I could find; a small rock. Everyone ignored me and kept their eyes on the caped man.
He stared in my direction and laughed. Every cannibal joined. With a guttural bellow, he spoke words I couldn’t understand. I stared at him with narrowed eyes. He stood tall, with long brown hair, and a thin beard. Around his neck, he wore a pendant made of bones.
The obvious leader held his hands out to the sides and asked a question in their language. Everyone in the chamber cheered and jumped, clapping their hands.
“What the hell is this madhouse?” I hurled the stone at the insane bastard.
He frowned as the rock hit him dead center between the eyes. Unphased, he continued to stare at me.
“Assface!” I threw him my middle finger. “See if you understand that!”
“Such a foul-mouthed child,” he spoke in a regal voice. Before the ZPoc I suspected he did documentary narration. I narrowed my eyes. “So, you speak English?” He gave an extravagant bow. “What do you take us for, barbarians?”
“You’re right! Barbarians are way better than you bastards. You. Eat. People!”
“This much is true, yes. We enjoy the taste of meat but prefer beasts. If there were any left, we’d stopped eating human.”
“Grow damn veggies!” I moved to charge, but my guard kicked my knee out, and put me in a headlock.
The leader raised his hand again in pause. “It’s okay Dyonna, let the misguided girl have breathing room.”
Dyonna released me, and I stood again, glaring. My eyes shot back to the asshole. “Misguided? You ate my friends!”
He scrunched his face. “I, Krool, and my clan don’t oft kill another human for food.”
“And the body parts on the spit?”
“One of our clan fell to that undead grizzly. Thank you for taking care of it. Nasty bugger.”
I balled my hands into fists. “Where’s Charles, Arik, and Kiki?”
He offered a shrug. “They live, if they prove skilled.”
“Dammit, stop playing games!”
“Alas, games are the only way to stay occupied; this world is void of life. Do you want to play a game?”
I flipped him two birds. “I lost the games thanks to you! And I refused to play yours, so screw yourself and let us go!”
“Your friends’ lives are out of my hands now.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Once they’ve entered the Gauntlet, there’s only one way out.”
I furrowed my brows. “Shit breath! I’ll kick your ass!”
“Such a dirty mouth, on one so young. Your dead friends will arrive tonight, and we’ll feast. I’ll give you the honor of having the first bite.”
“Go to hell!” I lunged, but Dyonna grabbed my wrist.
“Tis a shame, child. I’d hoped to make you one of us. You’re so pretty. But you’ve worn on my patience. Perhaps you will be the first of your friends on the menu.”
A cannibal jumped to his feet. “One isn’t enough. We need more. Many of us haven’t eaten in days!”
“No worries, my brothers and sisters!” Krool held up a hand. “There will be plenty more. We have discovered a small clan in the northern reaches.”
Every freak in the room gave monkey hoots and hollers. Krool gave a bow and led the procession out of the chamber. Once they exited, save Dyonna, she seized my hair. “This gonna get you killed.” “Don’t touch my hair, bitch!”
“They gonna grab you; the dead ones!” Dyonna pushed me after the group. “Human or Beast, they’ll get ya.”
“Why do you care?”
Dyonna stayed silent as she pushed me further into the cave. As we walked through the dim light, we came to a long hall. Heavy stone slabs served as doors. Dyonna pushed the first open and motioned for me to enter.
I rolled my hand. “Ladies first.”
“No games, girlo.” She grabbed my arms and shoved me across the threshold.
I twisted and landed in a pile of leaves. “Ow! I will break your face!”
She pushed the rock across to seal the exit but stopped a few inches short. I waited, expecting her to close it, but after several anxious moments, I realized she’d left. I crawled over, wedged my fingers, and pulled open the barrier. Why did she let me go?
The hall appeared empty, but voices came from my left. I exited and snuck to my right. The voices continued to follow, and before long, one shouted in that guttural language. They found out I escaped!
With no point in sneaking, I burst into a sprint. The foot slaps of the enemy followed. As I made it to a corner, I turned and rushed the next hall. Ahead, there came a light.
I ran full speed, putting my legs to work, and crashed right into Dyonna, who caught and stopped me. She grinned; the light had come from her torch. Just beyond her was a ledge. I lifted my fists, ready to brawl. “You get one warning. Get out of my way!”
Dyonna shook her head. “I can’t. Ya see, I need a partner.”
I looked back over my shoulder. They were coming. “A partner for what?”
My eyes widened as she wrapped her arms around me. “For the Gauntlet.”
With that, she stepped back and pulled me over the cliff.
LEVEL 09:
SILVER STAR
The fall only lasted a few seconds. Our descent came to an abrupt end as we crashed into twigs, which shattered beneath us. Dust filled the air and found its way in my lungs. I choked.
Dyonna arched her back and moaned. “You okay, girlo?”
We were deep in a cave, and my lungs wanted to exit through my throat. How could I be okay?
“I’ll survive.”
She squatted next to me and offered her hand. “Good. We work together and we can survive this.”
“Where are we?” I took her hand, and she helped me to my feet.
Dyonna lifted the torch and waved it. “This be the Gauntlet.”
We were in another cave. The walls were natural, rocky, and wet, with the floor made of muck. The tunnel continued straight and given the limited range of Dyonna’s torch, we saw darkness not far ahead.
I glanced back and wanted to vomit. The fragile objects, having broken our fall were bones; skulls, ribs, spines, femurs, and others I didn’t know.
I gagged. “I dislike it here.”
She shrugged. “Wait till ya see it further. I bet it gets worse.”
“Why did you bring me?”
Even through the dark, she had piercing, strong eyes. “It was the only way for you to survive, and me too; once I let ya out of your cell.”
With a great sigh, I faced her. “Thank you, but we have to find my friends.”
“Sorry, but they done for, ya?” Dyonna held up a hand. “But hey, at least you survived.”
I grabbed her shoulders. “I can’t abandon them!”
She shook her head. “I ain’t riskin’ my life for no one.”
I narrowed my eyes and wanted nothing more than to mount the stupid loincloth-wearing bitch and smash in her face. But I needed her help and might not save my friends if I rushed into the Gauntlet alone.
“We’re going!” I stomped past Dyonna, and she grabbed my arm.
“You thinking just to stroll in like that? They’ll get you for sure!”
I looked into the darkness, expecting a group of corpses to attack. “Who are they?”
“Calls themselves the Lonely Ones.” She too, looked around, scared.
A chill ran over my skin and climbed my spine. Whoever the Lonely Ones were, their name alone scared the hell out of me.
“Who are they, and how do we avoid them?”
“Let’s move sneaky like, ya? Then you won’t need to know who or what.”
The ebony warrioress walked by me, taking every step in stealth. I didn’t hear her; maybe because she walked barefoot, or because she’d trained.
I followed the girl as quiet as I possible, but the thwocking of the mud sucking around my shoes didn’t make it easy. To abandon my shoes again, I’d keep as a last-ditch effort. I didn’t fancy being barefoot.
We walked for ten minutes before Dyonna stopped and turned back. “You’re the noisiest in the damn world, girlo!”
“Sorr-E! See any sign of a Lonely One or my friends?”
My companion held up the torch. She didn’t look as strong; she looked terrified.
Fear welled. “What’s wrong?”
She waved her torch. “There be signs of them both.”
There were plenty of footprints in the cave muck. Most of them were from bare feet, which I assumed were Lonely Ones. The others were three distinct boot prints, the tiniest had to belong to Kiki.
Hope filled me. “Let’s hurry and follow them!
“Wait! There be a problem.”
And there it went. “What now?”
“The tracks go there.” She waved the torch where another tunnel split.
I furrowed my brows. “And?”
“Sure way out of the Gauntlet is that way.” She showed a second path. “There be wind.”
I glared at the tribal coward. “No way I’m ditching them!”
“That be the problem. I can’t make it without ya. There be dead ones here.”
“So, looks like you have no choice.” I sneered. “You’re coming with me.”
She breathed a heavy sigh. “I don’t like you, girlo.”
“Don’t worry; the feeling is mutual.”
I snatched the torch out of Dyonna’s hand and walked to the far tunnel, following the tracks. She caught up, and we walked side-by-side.
I stayed alert. “Tell me how you joined with those freaks.”
“Now’s not the time.”
“As good a time as any. They’ll see us coming a mile away with the torch.”
Dyonna glared with baleful eyes. “We came from a small town; Pinkton.”
“Continue.”
“When the zombie men came, we tried to fight back. Most became chow. Others, who knows? But a small group made it into the forest. We banded together to hunt animals, but they disappeared too. Almost as if they got gathered or obliterated off the map. We made our way on berries and anything we found. When food ran out, we had to eat each other when we died. Our numbers shrank by the day.”
“Where do you come in?” I glanced at her. “You haven’t quite told me any details.”
She sighed again. “I was a transfer student. Krool was my exchange parent. He was also the sheriff of Pinkton.”
“Now it’s getting interesting.”
“He lost his mind after we were low on food.” She choked. “There was an argument. The town pastor and Krool fought over leadership, and well...”
“He killed him.”
“We found him over the pastor tearing away at him with his teeth. He ate the poor guy.”
I held the torch into a new tunnel. “So, you became cannibals.”
“We tried not to, but those who resisted... Yeah, that be the way it happened.”
“Sucks for you, but you should’ve run away sooner.”
“The zombie men be everywhere outside the northern edge of the forest. They gathered there.”
I stopped and thought of the map. We’d been heading north. If the cannibals hadn’t captured us, then we might’ve walked right into them.
“Then why not east?”
“Same thing.”
“We came in through the south. You could have—”
She
shot me a glare. “Look, Krool woulda killed anyone who tried to leave.”
“So, what’s with the Gauntlet?”
“Bastard found the cave system and found the monsters living here. He decided that if anyone made it through, he’d let them leave…”
I regarded her. “How did he make it out?”
“What do you mean?” She cocked her head.
“If Krool knows the Lonely Ones, he had to of come through it himself.”
Dyonna stopped walking.
“What?”
“We never seen them, but they bring back the bodies of those who don’t make it, and pile them at the entrance.”
“Sick.” I put a hand on my hip. “So, these Lonely guys, who are they?”
She shrugged. “I ain’t got no clue.”
I kept the torch forward as we proceeded following the dozens of tracks. A loud meow froze me in my tracks.
“What the hell was that?” Dyonna crouched, looking both ways.
I peered ahead. Two shiny orbs of light glowed in the darkness.
“Do you see that?” I pointed.
Dyonna stepped beside me and leaned forward, then nodded. “No way! An animal?”
“Bubsy? Here, kitty, kitty!” A shadow darted. “Hurry!”
I took off running through the muck and followed around a corner, sliding and catching myself on a stalagmite. Again, I bounded, trying to keep sight of Kiki’s zombeast. The cat leaped and if my instincts hadn’t kicked in, I’d have fallen into a pit. I kept on the cat’s path.
“Jump!”
A seven-foot pitfall passed under me, and I landed on my knees, skidding, rolling and losing the torch. I snatched it up again and kept running.
Bubsy jumped up a wall and vanished. I hit the brakes and raised the torch to show a hollow section in the upper part of the wall. Before me sat a large rock. I tested it for balance and climbed, peeking my head into the hole. The cat screeched right in my face and swung its claws. I recoiled, avoiding the attack.
“Where’s Kiki, dammit?”
Then beyond Bubsy, I saw a small movement. The cat howled and scratched at me again, but I shoved my hand in and pushed it aside. Just beyond the aggravated feline, I found a full head of black hair. Kiki lifted her face, eyes wide with fear.
Omega Virus (Book 2): Gamma Hour Page 6