Hounded | Book 3 | Hounded 3

by Douglas, Ellie

  As she reloaded, Jasper fired and got the other dog in the side. He stumbled backward as the dog came closer. Falling, he scampered out of the way, allowing Lily to shoot another arrow. This one slam-dunked right through its eye and killed it. With those dogs out of the way, the others began yelling, and Lily and Jasper rushed back to them. Lily was first to arrive. Quickly loading up her crossbow, she started firing. When two more dogs were dead, they assessed the situation.

  Hazel couldn’t stop herself. She made her way over to look at what was in the mouth of the first dog, while Liam eyeballed the dead girls.

  “Babe, stop!” Liam called out, but he was too far behind her to stop her.

  Hazel’s legs gave way. She fell to her knees, covered her eyes, and began deeply sobbing. Liam grabbed her shoulders and practically ripped her from the earth. Spinning her around, he held her tightly. Hazel’s body shook in Liam’s grip. He felt as though he was trying to hold onto a bag full of rattlesnakes.

  “It’s okay, babe, it’ll be okay. Just don’t look.”

  She sniffed up the excessive spillage of mucus and wiped her eyes so hard they almost turned purple.

  “I can’t un-see it, Liam. I can’t un-see that. It’s going to give me nightmares!”

  He barely understood her, as her voice was trembling like a rickety old wooden rollercoaster. As Liam led her away, he thought about what he’d seen and the fact that he’d be a father in as little as six months. Terror suddenly lodged in him so deeply that he wanted to vomit. That poor baby, being torn apart like that! The thing had its little cherub arm in its mouth like a favorite dog bone!

  Lily couldn’t help but think of Millie, and now Hazel. The thought of their babies being born into this world was just too much. She contemplated Ruth and Beth, feeling a pang grow somewhere inside of her, and an insatiable need to ensure that they were safe. They all hightailed it back to the hotel. Piling her boxes haphazardly atop the golf cart, Lily drove behind everyone else, feeling a motherly need to protect them. Once everyone was back at the hotel, she drove the cart back to the jailhouse.

  After she’d stored the boxes of crossbows, she stood in the cell looking out through the bars. This must be how a prisoner sees the world, she mused as she locked up. Starting the cart up, she drove until she found Nakos. She quickly informed him of the girls’ deaths and the breech in the wall before taking herself back to her hotel room.

  She played games with Ruth and Beth. After they were in bed and sound asleep, she took herself out for an early evening walk. She was missing Bellamy, and feeling detached and fidgety. Her mind screamed at her to not to take a walk. Ignoring her own warnings, she took her handgun, made sure it was loaded, and made her way out.

  She knew that Nakos, Jacob, and possibly Trevor would be watching over the town. She needed to walk off the deaths of Emma and Juliet. They weighed heavily on her.

  CHAPTER 5

  ETHAN RETURNS

  Seven hours had gone by since Pete had left Ethan to round up survivors. Ethan had found two men in their forties who had lost their families to the zombies. They both were happy to tag along with him.

  He parked the bus for the night. In the morning he set off again, pulling into a gas station to refuel. As he stood there holding the gas nozzle, his eyes scanned the annihilation before him. Originally this had been a bustling, busy area, but now it was a barren plague of nothingness. His thoughts lingered on how many weeks left of fuel they would have at any given station. It worried him. He knew they would soon dry up, he’d make a point of getting as much stored as he could. After fueling and grabbing what food and water was left and palatable, he traveled around some more in search of schools and churches.

  After three days had passed, he had a bus full of happy, helpful-minded people. In total, there were thirty-two, all eager to make a new home. Ethan drove them to the town of Tyringham. After a thorough search, they each found a place to stay. A few stayed with Ethan to gather materials such as nails, hammers, shovels, extra fuel and wheelbarrows. Two others found cars and left town in search of a concrete mixer. They stored the items near the same entrance that Ethan was using. The perimeter of the entire town was wide open, which meant any stray packs of dogs could easily wander in, so they had to work fast.

  They decided they’d seal off a subsection of the town and leave an entryway with an iron gate manned by rotating watchmen. Everyone had a job, and it wasn’t long before things started to take shape. They agreed upon a 1.5-mile-wide perimeter that could be expanded if needed.

  They’d been working on readying the town for a month and four days. The school had been set up as a hospital and a church, for those who wanted to pray. They found some functioning convenience stores and a gas station. Their plans included completing the wall, adding a garden to grow vegetables, and gathering livestock. Everything would be completed in another two to three months. Ethan felt it was now safe enough to return to the hospital and bring everyone there back here.

  Ethan left in the morning, intent on bringing Rebecca back along with everyone else. It didn’t take him long to get to Phelps Memorial in Sleepy Hollow. After parking the bus, he grabbed his weapons. He took his time passing through the entrance, almost dying from the smell alone. Stepping over the dead, which now resembled a bone yard, he made his way to the stairwell. As the doors opened, he was hit with the same noxious odor the zombie dogs emitted. Assuming that the dog’s odor had begun seeping throughout the building, he started up the stairs. He was grateful that the backup generators were still working and the stairwell was well lit.

  When he reached the third floor, he noticed that blood had congealed against the railings, making them feel sticky and rough. He pulled his hand away quickly. That was when he saw Pete with half his throat chewed out, a few maggots twitching inside his eyes, and a gaping hole in his torso that left Ethan stunned. Inching up the stairs, his Colt aimed and ready, he reached the landing of the fifth floor. He didn’t recognize the old man grunting, drooling, and reaching for his arm. Taking aim, he fired one shot right between the eyes. Truman went down, kicking out his legs as they bashed against the rails and made a thud-da-dud sound while he tumbled headfirst onto the landing between floors. He landed with an ear-shattering squishy wet sound, his body folded in half, and his legs went straight up into the air like two stiff poles.

  Ethan couldn’t take his eyes off the decaying old man. He looked down, mesmerized and bewildered and unsure exactly what it was he was staring at. Part of Ethan needed an assurance that, whatever it was, it wasn’t going to get back up. When it didn’t, he tried to open the door, but something was blocking it. Tensing his muscles, he began pushing the door with his shoulder and using his foot for more force. It gave only a little, and Ethan took a few steps back. His heart raced while his mind betrayed him with worst-case scenarios. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and then flicked opened his eyes and concentrated on the door. He gave it a karate kick, and was frustrated when he only managed to split the wood frame.

  Taking in more oxygen and glancing at the old man one last time, he stepped back and used his shoulder to ram the door three times. Eventually, it budged enough for him to force it open and push his way inside. At the same time, he pushed a heavy cooler out of the way. Hurriedly, he ran to room 503 and snatched up the note, reading it in disbelief.

  “Ethan, do not open, dead inside. We are now in room 506.”

  Turning sharply, he rushed off to room 506. It was locked, so he knocked and called out. Julie unlocked it and ushered him inside. Kara, Shadow, and Julie assaulted him with welcoming hugs. He didn’t get a chance to breathe, let alone look around the room, as they bombarded him with a million questions.

  “Thank God you’re alive!” hailed Julie.

  “Did you see the zombie in the stairwell? It was Truman.” Shadow blurted out.

  “I saw, and I killed him, and now I want answers. Where the hell is my wife?”

  “They’re all back in room 503. They�
�re zombies now!” Kara said through a flood of tears.

  “Bullshit! That can’t be true. Tell me it isn’t, please?” Ethan fell to his knees, cupping his scruffy white beard in his hands.

  Julie knelt next to him, draped her arm across his shoulders, and tried to look into his eyes. “It’s true, Ethan.”

  “How?” he asked through gritted teeth, fighting back the burning of intestinal liquid that was fast taking him over.

  “It’s the SD-16 virus. Every one of them is dead, and after a period of time they reanimate into the walking dead and come after us for food,” Shadow rambled. As her words got stuck, Julie finished off for her.

  “Those sores, it starts with those. After around four months of incubation, they come alive. Only they’re not alive, as you saw with Truman.”

  “Who the shit-balls is Truman?”

  “Mrs. Barton’s husband, remember?”

  He nodded, then stood up with his hand on the door, ready to exit.

  “Whoa, wait, where are you going?” Julie fearfully asked.

  “I need to see for myself.” He yanked the door open and ran from the room. He stood outside room 503, just hovering in the corridor and gathering his thoughts before opening the door. The fumes almost knocked him out. “Damn it!” he cried out as he looked around the room. First his eyes focused straight on Rebecca, and then on Robert, Summa, Tiffany, and Spike, each of them in varying stages of changing.

  He could see it clearly now. His wife was going to be the next to wake, being the only one left in the room who’d contracted the virus almost four months ago. The sores had completely taken over her body. She resembled a burn victim. Her once tanned, smooth skin was now tarnished with graying, scorched, decaying matter and filled with endless sloppy boils. They were telling the truth. Once again he found himself on his knees, sobbing, before his mind kicked into survival mode. Through the veil of tears, he stood and pulled out his Colt, taking aim at his beloved wife. Julie snatched at his arm hard enough for him to lower it. Swirling around, he faced her with an icy look in his eyes.

  “Don’t do that, Ethan. Let them be, please. We’re not murderers.”

  “If I don’t kill them, they’ll wake up and kill us, or kill others. Can you live with yourself when that happens?” he snapped.

  “No, of course not, but I just want to make sure. Can’t we wait, please? Let’s just see if what we think is really going to happen… happens. What if we’re wrong?”

  Ethan dabbed at his beard, his eyes locking with Julie’s, and his brain took a nosedive into an abyss of darkness.

  “How long has your wife been sick now, Ethan? Ethan!” Julie cried.

  “What?” he growled.

  “How long has she been sick?”

  “It’ll be four months next week, and that’s the time you claim they change, right?”

  “Yes. Come on.” She tugged on his hand to pull him out of the room. The smell was burning her nose severely. Once she got Ethan out of the room and had him back into room 506, she splashed water over her face until the stinging subsided. However, the smell seemed to have permeated her skin. She excused herself and found a closet full of nurse’s scrubs, then returned to take a shower in an attempt to rid the stench from herself.

  When she came out of the shower, she found Ethan sitting in the middle of the room on the floor in the lotus position with his Colt resting on his lap. Kara and Shadow were just sitting, spellbound around him, too afraid to talk. He looked as if he was about to explode.

  “Can I get you anything to drink or eat, Ethan?” Julie offered timidly, unsure of his actions.

  He didn’t answer her, nor did he make any gestures. Julie looked at the others and shrugged her shoulders. Three hours passed, and Ronan began to fuss. Kara did her best to comfort him, but after being trapped in the hospital room for over a month, he was beyond consoling. Ethan unfolded his legs and stood up. With his head half-lowered, he raised his eyes to Ronan, glaring at him so intently that the child cowered behind Kara and peed his pants.

  Ethan took himself out of the room. None of them followed him, as each of them knew he had to process things in his own time. Julie prayed he wouldn’t return to room 503 and shoot everyone. She desperately needed to make sure that their hunches were right before they took the lives of their loved ones.

  CHAPTER 6

  THE ACCIDENT

  The stars were shimmering like tiny silver-sequined glitter balls. Even though it wasn’t fully dark, they were out in full force. A brilliantly clear night, Lily thought as she gazed mindlessly at the twinkling electric jewels over Sunset Valley, formally Virgin Studios until Reed had perpetrated his macabre actions on the actresses and forced the film company to relocate.

  Lily desperately wished the world was without the virus and that the filming studio was still there. She hated Reed for what he’d done to all those innocent women. It made her skin crawl. She quickly dove into a fantasy of being cast in different movies as she passed each set on her way to the entrance of the town.

  She decided she’d walk straight through each cross junction and then back, giving her the exercise she craved both physically and mentally. It hadn’t taken too long. She arrived at the entrance and greeted Trevor, who waved his rifle at her with a broad smile. She turned around and headed back up the middle, where she crossed paths with Nakos. He had just finished patrolling the right side of his junction and was heading to scope out the left side.

  “You shouldn’t be out here, Lily.”

  “I just can’t rest. My feet have a mind of their own,” She half chuckled.

  “Come on, it’s best you go back. How about I escort you?”

  “Don’t be silly. You have a job to do. I’ll be fine. I’m heading back there now, I promise.” She meant it, too. Nakos watched her walk back toward the hotel. Once she was out of sight, he resumed patrolling the area.

  Somewhere nearby, a rubbish bin spilled over, catching Lily off-guard. Immediately drawing her Beretta, she stood with her arm outstretched and listened. The forest giving up stray sounds threw her senses into confusion. Lily narrowed her eyes toward the last junction. Another noise, much like the sound of a scurrying cat, alerted every nerve within her. The hair on her arms and neck spiked as she strained to pinpoint the location of the odd sound.

  Keeping to the center of the junction, her feet shuffled slowly. Her eyes flitted left and right, and her heart thundered harder and harder. The noise seemed to get closer as she peered down the darkened dirt road, causing her to hesitate before moving. For a few moments, she stared down the right side of the road.

  The darkness grew around her like fog on a harbor. Night had fallen faster than she’d realized. Lily regretted not having a flashlight, and more so regretted even taking the walk. Her eyes fell on the hotel, a good fifty to sixty feet away. Spinning on her heels, she strained to see where she’d left Nakos. Lily began to back up toward Nakos while yelling his name. The idea of being alone in the inky darkness buried her courage, deep down, rendering her more fearful than she thought she could ever be.

  The louder she screamed for Nakos, the more cacophonous the lurking beast became, drowning her rationale. Lily became deathly aware that her screams had caused an unwanted amount of noise that was drawing out of the dark the very thing she was backing away from.

  Halfway back to the junction where she’d left Nakos, she called him again, this time even louder. Her heart began to thud faster as out of the darkness a shadow the size of a Shire horse appeared on the wall closest to her. Its mammoth size caused Lily to feel paralyzed. She gasped and squeezed the trigger prematurely in terror.

  With little moonlight to give off any real light, the darkness walled her into a feeling of cave-like isolation.

  “Nakos!” she screamed as she made eye contact with the decaying Irish wolfhound. Its flapping jaws were barely attached with thread-like skin and its fur was sloughing off, exposing bone and blackened muscles. Firing her Beretta, she hit the concrete w
all and watched the bullet ricochet around like a cartoon bullet from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

  “Nakos!” she wailed, running toward him.

  “Lily, I’m coming!” he yelled back.

  Before Lily had a chance to answer, the thing lunged out from the darkness and leaped right over her. Turning around sharply, she faced her worst nightmare. What was I thinking going out by myself?

  Pugnaciously, the dog glanced at her fleetingly as if to taunt her. Taking advantage of the moment, Lily bravely pulled the trigger, again missing it. Without stopping, she applied more pressure to the trigger, this time hitting it in the leg. It didn’t even flinch. Powerfully, it jumped at her and knocked her to the ground. Her Beretta flew out of her hand and landed a few feet away from her.

  “Jesus, no!” She yelled so loudly, it hurt her own ears. Quickly, Lily used her hands to protect her head and face. She rolled her body into a tight ball and rapidly rocked back and forth. The zombie dog couldn’t gain purchase on her. It was shaking its head, flicking a mixture of drool and blood that covered Lily with gooey slime.

  Tumbling sideways swiftly and then tumbling back the other way like in a game of Whack-a-Mole, she avoided the zombie’s lunges until one of its front paws landed on her side and pinned her down. Extending its dribbling maw wide open, it brought it down upon her left thigh and sank its baboon-like fangs into her soft flesh, creating several punctures the size of steak knives. Lily tightly gripped the thing’s shoulders in a futile attempt to get it off her.

  Nakos fired courageously, hitting the dog in the stomach. It jolted backward, but didn’t let go of Lily’s fleshy thigh. He shot again, this time hitting it in the head. Stuff like crude oil sprayed like a fertilizing machine as the thing flopped forward, then slumped down like a wet towel.