Midway: The Harvesting Series Book 2

by Melanie Karsak

  “Let’s go,” Ariel said, leading us upstream toward the highway. I could make out the overpass. There was a massive culvert under both lanes of highway. It was perfectly secluded, but we’d have to get wet to pass underneath. Moving quick, Ariel, followed by Puck, went to the culvert entrance.

  “Is it deep?” Chase called. I saw a flicker of worry cross his face. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t keen on getting wet either.

  “No more than knee-high but probably cold,” Ariel replied then stepped into the water. It swallowed her foot and half her leg, her sneakers disappearing under the waves.

  Chase went in behind her. “Oh, hell no!”

  Puck edged into the side of the culvert, prancing practically sideways as he tried to make his way through without swimming. His nimble feet carried him fast; he dashed ahead of us.

  I slogged in behind them. The chill of the water hit me hard: it felt like ice shot up my spine. Water filled my boots. I shuddered. My heart was beating so loud I worried I’d have a heart attack. The culvert was a massive metal pipe maybe fifteen feet in diameter. Inside, it was dark, and the water was congested with a tangle of weeds, sticks, shopping bags, soda cans, and other garbage. The water snaked slowly through the clogs. The whole place smelled fishy.

  “Gross,” I whispered. Looking ahead, I saw that Puck had already maneuvered himself safely through the culvert. He was standing on dry land on the other side, looking back at us like he was wondering why we were taking so long.

  Ariel was moving around a pile of twigs and trash. I saw her step carefully among the branches when suddenly she seemed to have trouble pulling her leg free. She jerked her foot, but it was stuck. A second later, she shrieked. “Oh my God! Something is pulling on my leg!” She tugged, trying to pull herself free.

  Chase and I ran to her. He bent down to help her. A hand, the skin faded to white and blue, reached out of the water and grabbed Chase by the shirt sleeve. Just under the water, covered by the litter, I saw the flash of white eyes and teeth.

  Chase yanked his arm back, ripping his shirt as he tore himself free.

  “Help,” Ariel screeched. The water cleared, and I saw a white hand wrapped around her ankle.

  Chase pulled out his gun.

  “No!” I said, pushing down the barrel. “You’ll deafen us, and the bullet might bounce. . .not to mention, the people at the plaza could hear.” Taking hold of Chase to steady myself, I stomped hard on the face submerged underwater. Again and again I stomped until I felt a weird snap, like a jaw or something had been broken.

  Chase stomped the hand that held Ariel’s foot. “Let go, asshole!”

  Our movements jarred the debris. A log rolled and soon all the twigs and litter floated downstream. With one more hard kick from Chase, Ariel’s foot broke loose. We pulled Ariel toward the edge of the culvert. A body bobbed up. A woman with long, stringy blonde hair popped out of the water for just a moment. Her jaw, clearly broken, hung slack. Her skin was milk-white, puffy, and tinged blue. We saw her for just a moment, and she reached out toward us, but the water pulled her quickly downstream.

  “Oh my God, let’s get out of here!” Ariel cried.

  Chase, Ariel, and I slogged to the end of the pipe where Puck sat waiting.

  “Well, you weren’t much help,” I told him.

  “Your dog drank that water,” Chase said, passing me a worried look. “You better keep an eye on him.”

  I looked at Puck. Was Chase right? What if that woman, that thing, had contaminated the water! I nodded. “Come on, trouble,” I told Puck. “At least be some use to us, and lead us back to Vella’s truck . . .and don’t get sick.”

  Puck wagged his tail happily, and we headed into the woods. We’d hidden the truck in the thick woods by the field where we’d seen the blue light. From a distance, I could see the corner of the field. I led the others into the woods and headed in that direction. Since Vella and I had come through at night, nothing looked familiar. Puck, however, trotted through the forest like he knew exactly where we were headed, stopping to sniff the ground every few feet. He seemed to be going toward the field, so I followed him. The forest was eerily quiet. The further away we got from the interstate, the safer I felt. We didn’t hear any more noise coming from the shopping center; they’d never even known we were nearby. I sighed and looked overhead. Warm rays of light heated the fallen autumn leaves and loamy earth, causing the sweet scent of fall to fill the air. I was taken back to the days when my daddy and I would camp out rather than stay at the carnival bunk houses. We’d find a quiet spot away from the fairgrounds, usually near the trees, and pitch a tent. Lots of times we’d stay up late just roasting marshmallows and telling jokes. You could smell the woods on those nights too, when the campfire would crackle and the dew would come in by dawn.

  Trailing behind Puck, it took us half an hour to walk to the edge of the field where Vella and I had hidden her Bronco. It was parked near some small hemlock trees. We had covered the SUV with branches. We stopped before we got too close and hid behind a thicket.

  “There,” I said to Ariel and Chase as I pointed to the SUV hidden among the trees. “The SUV is hidden just there.”

  Chase eyed the place over. “Looks clear. I don’t see anyone.” I heard the worry in his voice. What if Vella and Darius weren’t there?

  I looked down at Puck. “Go. Go check it out,” I told him, pointing to the SUV.

  Puck took off in a run, his nose to the ground.

  “You see. He is good for something,” I whispered to Chase who grinned at me in reply.

  Puck sniffed all around the SUV. When he neared the back, almost out of view, he stopped. He lifted his head and gave a muffled, but happy, bark. His tail began to wag.

  “Puck?” I heard Vella call.

  I sighed with relief. “Vella?” I called. Ariel, Chase, and I came out from behind the thicket and headed toward the SUV.

  Vella came around the front of the vehicle and rushed to me, pulling me into a hug. Her body was soaked in sweat, and I could feel her shaking.

  “Thank goodness! Those men. . .oh, Cricket!”

  “I’m all right. I followed my instincts,” I whispered in her ear.

  She leaned back, looked at me then nodded affirmatively.

  Darius, who had been hiding with Vella, appeared as well. He pulled Chase into a manly hug, clapped him on the back then shook his head.

  “What happened down there?” I asked. Both Darius and Vella looked rattled.

  “They just appeared out of nowhere, came barreling off the highway. They must have seen the star,” Darius said, casting a sad glance at Vella. “Didn’t take them long to find the back door. We didn’t even have time to warn Elias. We saw eight of them, all armed. Before we could even decide what to do, we heard gunshots. We climbed down the fire escape and ran. I feel sick about it. Did you see anything?”

  I nodded. “More came. There were at least a dozen there.”

  “They shot Gemma,” Chase added. “We saw that much and heard worse. . .that baby. . .”

  “I don’t understand!” Ariel said exasperated. “How can people turn so. . .evil. . .just like that? How can people be normal one week then turn killer a week later? I mean, are people really that screwed up just under the surface? Katy was only five!”

  “There are lots of bad people in the world. They walk around looking normal, barely keeping the beast inside them locked up. When there is no law, the beast runs free,” Chase said. I couldn’t help but notice that his eyes looked haunted. Something told me he had first-hand experience with those kinds of people.

  “But those girls!” Ariel shrieked, outraged. “They were just kids!”

  I shut my eyes. I didn’t want to think about it, but Chase was right. Good people would try to hole up somewhere to survive. Evil people, however, would feel set free. It was always like that. No sooner did a hurricane or tornado pass through a city than people were looting, killing, and God knows what else. So many people, everyday peopl
e, were walking around with blackness in their hearts. All they needed was an excuse to set it loose.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said then.

  “Where in the world are we going to go now?” Ariel asked.

  I looked at Vella. “We’ll follow our instincts,” I replied.

  Vella nodded knowingly.

  “Well, I hope our instincts find us somewhere safe,” Darius said gruffly.

  “Me too.” But where was safe now?

  Chapter 10

  Vella pulled out her tattered old map and spread it across the hood of the Bronco.

  “We’re here,” Ariel said, pointing a chewed fingernail at a spot on the map. All her blue nail polish was gone.

  “Where can we go?” Darius asked. “We need somewhere to lay low.”

  Daruis’ words made me feel better. At least I knew for sure we were the good people.

  “There isn’t much out on these state roads, just houses and farms. But Old Towne is on the other side of the valley.”

  “Old Towne? Wait,” I said, looking at the map. “The old Fairway Fun grounds are just outside of Old Towne. You ever do that circuit?” I asked Vella.

  She shook her head then started pulling her long, curly black hair into a ponytail. “I was still in Lily Dale back then.”

  “Lily Dale?” I asked.

  “It’s a community for mediums in New York State.”

  Ariel gave Vella a sidelong glance. “You’re a medium?”

  Vella shrugged. “I read tarot.”

  “Like. . .for money?”

  Vella fixed Ariel with a hard “I dare you to say something” kind of look.

  Ariel turned back to the map. “Fairway Fun. . .yeah, I remember the place, I think,” Ariel said. “We went to that fair when I was little. I remember the carousel.”

  I nodded. “They shuttered the place like five years ago. The fairground was surrounded by cow pastures and had a fence topped with razor wire. And,” I said excitedly, “there was a brick administration building with an old fallout shelter! I remember my daddy explaining what a fallout shelter was. Might be supplies there. If not, no one else will think of goin’ there, and it will be safe.” I looked around at everyone. No one seemed sure. I suddenly hoped Vella would say something mystical to confirm if I was right or wrong, but she just stared at the map. “Well?”

  “Maybe we should—“ Darius began but was cut off by Puck who hopped into the front seat of the Bronco, put his paws on the dashboard, and barked at us.

  “The dog says let’s go,” Chase said with a laugh. “Darius?”

  Darius shrugged. “I got nothing anyway. . .probably as good as anywhere. And the shelter should have a radio.”

  Vella folded up the map. “Let’s try to get there before dark.”

  We all got in. Once more, I got the feeling that Puck, sitting on alert between Vella and me, was leading the way.

  * * *

  Rays of sun made blobs of light on the dirt road ahead of us as we traveled Route 6 toward Old Towne. The sharp scent of fall leaves filled the crisp air. Winter was right around the corner. How in the hell were they going to distribute a vaccine to people before winter? And how would they even find everyone now? Everything had fallen apart. People were scattered to the wind and good people, like Elias, were dying. I clicked on the radio as we drove. The quarantine recordings had stopped. Now there was nothing but static.

  “That’s encouraging,” Darius grumbled.

  “We just read this poem in school. . .I don’t remember the name, but I remember a couple of lines: this is the way the world ends; not with a bang but with a whimper,” Ariel said absently as she looked out the window. “Seems fitting.”

  “The Hollow Men,” Darius said.

  “Huh?” Ariel asked.

  “The poem. It’s called The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot.”

  Chase shook his head at Darius.

  “Is that how you two know each other? Through college?” I asked Chase and Darius. Great, I was the dumbest person in the group.

  “Keg State College,” Chase said with a laugh. “We were going to a college branch campus. I’d been fixing cars for the last five years, but my mama made me go back, especially when she found out Darius—me and Darius are cousins—was going. I just wanted to work on cars, but because of him, I was sitting in class making no money and learning a bunch of nothing.”

  I grinned at him.

  “What about you?” Ariel asked Darius.

  “The church paid my tuition. I wanted to be a math teacher.”

  “Brian was good at math,” Ariel said distractedly.

  “What was your major?” I asked Chase.

  “Not failing,” he replied with a wink. “You go to school?”

  I shook my head then lifted my pipe wrench. I was about to tell Chase about the tilt when Vella slowed the Bronco. Down the road ahead, a couple toting heavy backpacks ran from the road into the woods.

  “Runnin’ scared,” I said.

  Vella sped up the Bronco again. When we passed the spot along the road where the couple had dodged into the woods, I looked for them. I just caught a glimmer of light reflecting off a backpack. They were hiding in a thicket.

  “Not a bad idea,” Darius said. “Nothing out there to eat you alive.”

  “Bears,” Vella said.

  “I’ll take a bear over a zombie any day,” he replied.

  “Is that what they are? Zombies? Like in the movies?” Ariel asked.

  Darius shrugged. “They’re sick, that’s all. But people are eating people. Cannibals, maybe. But they look . . .like zombies.”

  Ariel pulled her knees up to her chest then set her head on her knees. A moment later, I heard her crying softly. The sound of it broke my heart. But her sadness was something we all felt. While I still felt like I couldn’t wrap my brain around what I was seeing, Ariel was right to be sad. The world was dying. Maybe it didn’t hit me as hard because the only person I ever really loved, my daddy, was already dead. Maybe the rest of the world was feeling just like I had when daddy died, like the world had come to an end. I reached back and squeezed Ariel’s hand. I knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved. I wouldn’t wish it on another soul. But in the end, the whole world was feeling pain just like that. The world was hurting. We had all just lost something big: life as we knew it. I looked out the window. No more tilt-a-whirl, or kids laughing, or cotton candy, or TV re-runs, or new t-shirts, or lipstick, steak dinners at a restaurant—not that I ever had one, but I wanted to—or anything else. Unless somebody found a cure right quick, it was all done.

  I then draped my other arm over Puck. He licked my cheek then went back to staring forward like a guard dog. I closed my eyes. That numb feeling started to chip away a bit. I could feel the crack. Maybe I had something to lose after all: life. And I loved life.

  Chapter 11

  We slowed when we reached the intersection of Route 6 and Sungazer Boulevard. The roads were completely empty. There was a hayfield where the driveway leading to the gated fairground used to be; it hadn’t been mowed in years. The complex looked deserted. Besides a few farm houses, we hadn’t seen any sign of life—living or dead—since the backpackers.

  Vella scanned the complex with her binoculars. “Nothing. Nothing moving anywhere.”

  “Hay is tall,” I commented.

  “I can’t remember the last time they had a fair. I mean, we haven’t come here in years,” Ariel confirmed.

  Vella set her binoculars down and put the Bronco into drive. I looked down the intersecting road. There were no cars anywhere. For a brief moment, I saw a fox run out onto the road. It stopped and looked at us. The engine must have spooked it from the brush. After staring us down, it turned and ran into the woods.

  The old fairground driveway, hidden under the tall grass, was bumpy and full of holes. Vella carefully guided the Bronco to the gate. My gun reloaded and ready, I sat waiting for anything.

  There was a clang-clang-clang
sound when we arrived at the gate. Puck jumped out the window and ran to investigate. An old metal sign was hung over the top of the gate: Closed for the Season. The sign was rusty. One corner had broken free, and it dangled loosely, clattering against the gate.

  We all got out and went to investigate.

  Vella handed me a crowbar. I jammed it under the lock and pulled. The lock popped. I grabbed the rusted metal chain and pulled it off, dropping it to the ground. My hands were covered in rust. I wiped them on my jeans leaving long streaks of orange rust. Great.

  Darius and Chase pushed the gates open. They screeched in protest. Vella drove the Bronco just inside, parking it near the gate.

  “I’ll leave it here in case we need it fast,” she said.

  Chase and Darius closed the gate behind us. Ariel grabbed a yellow bungee cord that had been lying in the back of the Bronco and started weaving it around the busted lock. Chase pulled the cord tight, but it still didn’t seem like enough.

  “We need to find some chain,” Darius said, echoing my thoughts.

  I nodded. “The swings. If the swings are still here we’ll have plenty of chain.”

  “Let’s go look,” Vella said, and we headed inside.

  The place was eerily quiet. The booths were all closed up, their paint chipped off from the weather. We passed the bumper cars pavilion. The cars had been covered by a blue tarp that had torn loose. The little cars looked rusted. No doubt they’d sat under snow for more than one winter.

  “Where is the fallout shelter?” Vella asked, scanning around.