by Maxey, Phil
“Are they changed?”
Daryl shook his head. “This one just looked torn apart.”
Landon looked at the surrounding void and the mesmerizing continuous flow of white particles from above. “So the things are out here too…”
Daryl stood back up. “Looks that way. How long we been walking?”
He looked at his watch, one that Jess had given him. “About twenty minutes.”
“Twenty? Feels like an hour. How far you think we’ve walked?”
“Maybe a few miles. I’ll quickly check in with Jess.” He held his radio to his mouth. “You there, Jess? Over.”
“Yes. Here. Have you found something? Over.”
“No.” He thought about mentioning what was lying in front of him, but thought better of it. “Nothing yet, but there’s a farmer’s—”
“Hey look…” said Daryl.
Landon turned around. At the edge of visibility sat a dark block-like shape in the distance. Across the field.
“What’s happening? Over.”
“Might be a house. We’re going to head over to it. I’ll check back in soon. Over.”
“Okay, be safe…”
He placed the radio back in his pack, then with Daryl stepped over the fence. The snow in the field was even deeper than the track, almost coming up to their knees. The colder ground allowing it to lay even higher. They trekked forward, moving around the mounds.
The silhouette of buildings were now visible against the lighter night sky.
“Think I see some vehicles,” said Landon, his breath easily visible.
Despite their limbs feeling like dead weight, they increased their speed across the ground, quickly arriving at another fence. This one consisting of wooden beams, which they—
A boom echoed out as splinters of wood sprayed across Landon’s face, a few making it through the fabric and into the skin of his cheek. Both men immediately threw themselves to the ground, becoming half buried in the snow, their packs and weapons rattling on their backs. A ping fractured more of the wood, another came with a thud as it sunk into the ice then mud.
“You hit?” said Landon.
“Err… no… I don’t think so. You?”
“Same.”
They both lay for a few more seconds. There were no more gunshots.
Landon gradually raised his head until he could see over the top of the ridge of ice he was encased within. There was still no light from the buildings, which were roughly fifty yards away. The largest, a house sat center with two smaller structures on both sides. But closer were two snow covered vehicles. A pickup and sedan.
“What should—”
“Sshh…” said Landon. “I think I… footsteps. Someone’s coming.” He reached for his rifle, pulling it closer to him.
“What should we do!”
Landon scoured the surrounding darkness. Whoever they were had them completely covered through whatever scope they were using. Going back the way they came wasn’t an option, but staying put wasn’t either. The outbuilding to the right, seemed the best hope. “Building close to you. We run for it. Maybe we get there before they get here.”
“Okay.” Daryl pushed himself upright with his frozen appendages then sprang forward, his pack jostling on his back, and ran over the snow as best he could.
Landon went to do the same, when a whoosh of a bullet split the air near the running younger man, but Daryl kept on trampling over the ice covered ground. Landon caught the flash. It came from the hood of the sedan. And then he saw the dark form of a person emerge and move forward, their arms raised as another shot exploded. Daryl was already around the outside of the building and Landon was sure he heard an expletive drift on the wind towards him. He tracked the man move towards the building.
Keep moving to the right, go on… keep going…
Landon got up slowly, his eyes straining to see the shape moving in the dark, then stepped to his left as the man moved further right. Moving as discretely as he could, he kept a fix on the man, moving around behind him, until he was on the more solid ground of a front yard. Just as the man reached for the door of the barn, he jogged forward.
“Uh uh,” said Landon. The man swore again, freezing his movement.
“Thought I saw two. Should have trusted my gut.”
“We’re not here to hurt—”
A click came from behind Landon. He sighed, recognizing the sound of a gun being cocked and was sure the man in front of him was smiling.
“You might want to lower that rifle,” said an elderly woman to Landon.
The older man started to walk forward when a crunching of snow came to the side. Daryl was pointing the barrels of his shotgun directly at the man’s chest.
“You ain’t gonna shoot me, son.”
“Nobody’s shooting anyone!” said Landon.
“Why you fella’s here?” said the woman.
“Looking to steal from us, that’s why Mavis!” said the man.
“No. Not steal. Buy, barter. We need fuel for our vehicle.”
“Pfff… you ain’t got anything we need,” said the man.
“Hold your horses, Noah. We don’t know what they got, do we?”
“I’m going to lower my rifle,” said Landon. “I’d appreciate it, if neither of you shot us… but if you do. Probably a good thing you know that I’m an officer of the law. Out of Denver. I can get my badge out if you need to see it…” he shivered, but it didn’t bring any more feeling to his body. He lowered his gun and nodded to Daryl to do the same, which he did. Landon turned to the woman. She was dressed in thick black winter coat, with long gray hair tied in a ponytail.
“I’m going to need to see that badge,” said Mavis.
*****
“I won!” shouted Josh. He showed his cards to Grace, who smiled then to Tye who frowned.
“That you have,” she said. “One more game, then I want to get at least thirty minutes of sleep before the next crisis.” She looked at Owen sat on the other side, leaned back, his eyes closed. She wanted to help him, but his wounds went far deeper than the physical. She turned back to the table and picked up her cards.
Jess sat in the driver’s seat, looking out into the constant steam of white flakes.
He’s out there… anything could happen… Can’t do this without him…
Her knee bounced up and down, with her hand grasping the radio. She looked at her watch. It was almost time for him to check back in. Almost. Despite the fact that they were marooned in the middle of a blizzard, lost in a forgotten part of Colorado. That monsters literally were roaming the countryside, and her husband had left them looking for fuel. Despite all of that, she still fought to keep her eyes open. Like most she had been awake for over twenty four-hours, something she hadn’t done since Josh was born. Luckily Sam slept well as a baby, but her son cried throughout the night.
You could have killed everyone. Falling asleep at the wheel…
She shook her head to rid herself of the thought and to try and stay awake, then looked at her watch. Another minute…
The cab’s drape moved back. She looked up at the smiling face of the doctor, who reached forward, placing a hand on her forehead. “I’m fine,” she said. Grace then moved her fingers to Jess’s neck and studied her watch.
Jess looked at the red marks just visible at the top of the doctor’s hand. “You’re immune. I’ve seen those marks on somebody else…”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” said Grace pulling back and sitting in the passenger’s seat. “But you’re exhausted. You need to get some rest.”
“Maybe when we’re back on the road.” She caught the doctor’s anxious expression and smiled. “Someone else can do the driving.”
Grace looked out through the ice encrusted window to the darkness. “I still can’t quite believe it. It all seems so—”
“Unreal?”
Grace nodded. “There were many good people at the center. People I’ve worked with for years…”
> Jess noticed the lack of a ring on the doctor’s finger. “Do you have someone?”
Grace smiled again, but this time it was not the smile of a doctor to patient but more awkward. “Ah, no… well not for a while. But friends…” she sighed. “Been in Rocky Pine for over a decade.” She shook her head again, then looked at Jess, leaning towards her slightly. “You’re doing a good job.”
For a moment Jess wasn’t sure what the doctor was referring too, but then saw her gesture towards Josh. “Thank you. It’s not been easy.”
“Parenting never is.” Grace looked back to the darkness. “And in this situation…”
Jess went to talk again but the words got stuck in her throat which tightened as tears came to her eyes.
Grace briefly squeezed Jess’s hands, who then wiped the wet from her face with her sleeve and both women sat in silence for a moment until static came from her radio which she immediately raised to her mouth. “Landon? Are you—” Two small sparkling dots of light appeared in the distance.
“On my way back. Over.”
CHAPTER FIVE
11: 51 p.m. Highway fourteen. Coopers’ farmstead.
The mug of coffee was almost too hot for Jess to hold, but she did so anyway. The brown liquid was not enough in itself to keep her awake, she needed the slight burning sensation as well. She was sat with everyone else in the large kitchen which belonged to Mavis and Noah Cooper. An elderly couple that had lived in the farmhouse for over fifty years, and oddly, despite both of them seeing a monster lay waste to their cattle did not become one as well.
Josh, Tye and Sam all eagerly ate their second piece of apple pie. Mavis had informed them all that this year had been a good harvest for the orchard, and they still had plenty left in the cold storage below.
“This is great,” said Josh to Mavis, finishing up his last slither of pastry and fruit filling. She smiled.
“Thank you for the hospitality,” said Jess. “We didn’t think there were any people left out here…”
Mavis was leaned back on a country style cabinet, containing crockery and frame photos behind glass panels. “We saw the news reports on the television, heard the same on the radio from the president,” she sneered. “Didn’t think it was real until the commotion from the field out front.”
“What did it look like?” said Sam.
“Nasty looking thing, big as the cows, maybe bigger!” She shook her head, sighing. “We drove it off, but not before it got all of them. A hundred head of cattle, slaughtered in ten minutes… if that. It didn’t even eat them. Just chopped them up and moved on to the next. Strangest thing I’d ever seen… like it was angry at them or something.”
“It couldn’t absorb them…” said Jess, then regretted her internal thoughts becoming loud.
“Uh?” said Mavis. The kids also looked at her.
“The virus changes life forms… but not just… changing, also absorbs. Takes the material and builds something new with it.”
“Right…”
Jess could tell none of what she had just said made any sense to the older woman. She smiled. “I’m glad you and Noah chased it off. There are others out there though. More might come this way.”
Mavis snorted and started to reply when the kitchen door opened and Landon and Noah came in, shaking the ice from their hats. Both had bundles of clothes.
Noah nodded to his wife. “These fancy winter clothes going to come in real handy. I gave them a few gallons of fuel for them. Seemed fair.” She nodded back her approval.
Jess looked at her watch. It had been a few hours since the motorhome slid to a stop, and they weren’t any closer to Missouri.
Landon saw her concern and turned to the couple. “We better be getting back on the road.”
“Wait right there,” said Mavis. She disappeared into a nearby hall, then descended into the basement.
“Where you folks heading?” said Noah.
“East,” said Landon without expanding on the sentiment. It seemed enough for the old man.
Labored footsteps came from the stairs to the basement and Mavis appeared with three more plates wrapped in foil. “Here’s two beef and another apple.” She noticed her husband roll his eyes. “We got enough to feed a small army down there, Noah. We won’t miss it.” She handed them to Jess, who was now standing.
“Thank you again.”
*****
3: 05 a.m. Outskirts of Trailstone.
Flurry’s of white swept past Landon’s view of the road they were on. The howling gales and the hum of the engine being the only noise as he was fairly sure everyone else was asleep. Even the kids. He glanced over to Jess, her head to one side on her puffy winter jacket, eyes closed and felt relief at seeing her get some rest.
He looked back into the raging winter storm outside and blinked. It hadn’t been the first time he had been awake for more than a day. During the past year, his first as a detective he had pulled double shifts on a number of occasions to get a case closed quickly, something Ben… emotion started to take a hold in his stomach so he pushed the memory of his old friend to one side, and focused on the plan.
Drive east…
It was a simple and yet he had almost died twice during the last few hours.
We’re not going to make it…
He shook his head again. “Going to make it,” he whispered under his breath. “Got no choice.”
He still didn’t quite believe that candy had saved him and his family, although he didn’t have a better answer as to why they hadn’t changed like everyone else. Perhaps they were all naturally immune. Jess said some of the population will be. She also said the virus might target certain genes, making some people more susceptible to it than others, but without a lab and hours slaving over a microscope she wouldn’t know for sure. He glanced at her again. He admired her almost as much as he loved her. When they first met he bought her a T-shirt, with the slogan ‘All this and brains too!’ which she refused to wear, apart from once on his birthday. It should have said ’All this and brains and humility, too!’ he thought.
She’ll figure this out… just need to protect her and the kids… Get to Missouri… Take one day at a time… Just four and a bit left. We can do it…
He eased down on the brakes as they approached a crossroads. Two routes were just visible within the headlights. He steered to the left and continued. A white fence almost buried under the snow came and went, as did the dark tubular shapes of grain silos. He looked at his watch which told him they still had eight more hours of driving. At least. Which would put them near the twenty-four hour mark from when they last ate the chocolate.
Cutting it close.
He wanted to increase their speed, but it was taking all of his concentration to keep the hulk of a vehicle moving in a straight line. If they ended up in a ditch, in the storm, it would mean the end. Literally. So he kept their speed as close to thirty as he could.
As he focused on the road, he missed the first few buildings sliding past in the gloom. When one showed up in the cones of light, only a few yards to his left he told himself he was at the edge of a town and kept on driving, but then he caught glimpses of silver plating from a modern store and its parking lot.
Should have turned right, not left. We’re in a town…
He glanced to his right once more.
Still asleep. Could turn around…
It was an idea, but he also knew there was a very real chance of getting stuck. He looked at the speedometer.
We’ll drive through. Be on the other side before anyone…
Dark mounds became visible at the edge of the main beams and his heart rate spiked. He thought they were moving, but as he slowed he could tell they were stationary. Vehicles which were blocking his path forward, and to the left. He slowed some more, almost to a stop then took the only option open to him, the road to the right.
I’ll take the next left, get back on track. Will be okay. Small town, not a lot of people. Shouldn’t be many monsters and
in this—
He caught the mass of shadow out of the corner of his eye too late.
CHAPTER SIX
3: 15 a.m. Trailstone.
Sound and fury erupted in Jess’s brain before her eyes flicked open. Something sticky was running down her forehead, but as she raised her hand, she glanced to her left, seeing Landon lurched forward, his head up against a crack in the windshield.
“Landon!” she shouted then immediately turned in her seat as groans and screams were coming from the living area behind.
“It’s trying to get in!” shouted Sam.
A single light flickered in the roof of the cabin, and the air was thick with the smell of rotten eggs. Jess scrambled to undo her belt, moving out of her seat while her right hand shook Landon’s shoulder, trying to wake him to consciousness. Her focus was on getting to her children, one of whom was buried under backpacks and plastic plates that had fallen from above. Rushing forward she fell to her knees and pulled the fabric bags from Josh who sheepishly looked up at her.
“It’s coming back!” shouted Daryl.
Just as she turned to look at the window, glass shattered with a roar that was more than just the gale force winds, and barbed appendages of moist skin sliced through the air above her head, smashing into the wall behind her.
Meg and Daryl both fired simultaneously at the octopus-like arms that flailed through the narrow room, while Jess screamed at them to stop. But the air was thick with more than gas as the noise from the creature, storm and panic was too much for her to be heard.
Bullets tore chunks from the thing which whipped across the space, tearing through the flimsy walls and cupboards. Suddenly its arms withdrew, taking with it the entire side window.
“Gas! The pipes ruptured! Stop firing!” screamed Jess.
Meg and Daryl looked at her, their eyes wide.
She turned back to the driving cabin, Landon was still slumped forward and began to move in that direction when something slammed into the side of the vehicle, shunting it sidewards and throwing everyone inside against the left wall as if they were dolls.