Hounded | Book 3 | Hounded 3

by Douglas, Ellie

“I do kiddo, I do.”

  Four more hours went by, and Lily started to feel hungry.

  “Hon, I think it’s as good a time as any to stop. I need to eat something and go the bathroom. Hate to say it, but I think my bladder is about to burst.”

  Bellamy giggled, as did Timothy. He pulled up alongside some abandoned cars, and Lily used them as a shield to do her business. So many strange noises were coming from the forest that she got spooked. The sun wasn’t setting just yet, but the atmosphere was darkened by all the smoke from a nearby burning city. While they all ate, it was decided that Oliver would drive.

  Lily and Bellamy hopped in the back. She thought she’d never get any sleep with the amount of chattering between Calloway and Bellamy. It opened the floodgates as she missed her own brother, but at the same time she was thrilled that Bellamy had his brother back.

  Eight more hours had passed when the truck stopped. Bellamy took over the driving, and in another few hours they were in Sleepy Hollow at Phelps Memorial Hospital. Lily was happy they’d finally arrived, and the need to walk overpowered her. She jumped out of the truck and, without thinking, started toward the entrance.

  “Hey hon, wait up, don’t be going in there, stop!” Bellamy called to her. She turned around and walked back toward him. Catching up, he grabbed her hand and let Oliver take the lead. Noticing the windows were busted out, and they had been boarded up from the inside. Bellamy didn’t have a good feeling about this.

  “Jesus, what the hell happened here?” Timothy asked no one in particular.

  “Guess some people got a little stir crazy,” Lily offered.

  Calloway picked up his pace, matching that of Oliver’s. The two of them, with guns raised, entered first.

  “Fucking hell,” Calloway said as they sifted through the bones and made their way to the stairwell.

  “She’s up this way,” Calloway hollered as he took three steps at a time.

  Oliver raced after him. Being taller, he was able to take four steps at a time, passing Calloway.

  “She’s on the fifth floor, room 503,” he called out to Oliver. Bellamy, Lily, and Timothy weren’t far behind them.

  Oliver noticed the dead man between the second and third floors, and then he found the old man bundled up with his legs still stiff in the air. “Not liking the looks of this,” he muttered under his breath.

  Calloway began to freak out over the two bodies. All that blood, and that damn smell! He thought his nose would fall off. Oliver pulled open the stairwell door and charged for room 503. When he reached the door to the room, he stood there waiting for Calloway.

  “Why didn’t you go on in?” Calloway asked as he made his way to Oliver.

  “Can’t go in,” he said, pointing to the note.

  Calloway, we have gone to Tyringham. Julie is safe. Please don’t enter, dead inside. You can find us here.

  A map had been drawn for him. His face changed color. He didn’t want to open the door, but he had to see what they meant by dead inside – praying that didn’t include Tiffany. His heart pounded so hard, he believed he might suffer a massive coronary.

  “Dad, don’t open it, please. Look at what the note says.”

  “Son, I have to.” With that, he opened the door. Instantly, he fell to his knees. The pernicious odor practically boiled their skin as it escaped out of the room. His eyes fell on Tiffany’s bed. Her limp, dead body just lay there decaying. All of them were dead.

  “Th-they’re all dead!” He exclaimed before breaking down into sobs. Timothy barged in front of him. Seeing what his father had seen and unable to handle it, he fainted. Calloway could only scream out in monosyllabic sounds, unrecognizable to anyone around him. Lily believed he was crying out why while sounding exactly like the terrifying cry of a red fox. Bellamy put his hands on Calloway’s shoulders. Oliver picked up Timothy and carried him back to the truck. Lily went with them, leaving Bellamy to console his brother alone.

  “Lily, you mind if I leave you with Timothy? I want to check something out.”

  “No, I don’t mind.” She sat up front with Timothy lying on her lap. Her mind pictured Toby, and his bloodied body bleeding all over her. She shuddered at the thought. Looking down upon the seventeen-year-old, tears ran from her eyes. Everyone was losing his or her loved ones. It had just become so out of control. First it was her brother, then the girls’ mother, then Bellamy’s dearest friend Jonah, and then Toby, Mia, Juliet, Emma, Ruth, and Beth. “Everyone is fucking dying!” She said it so loudly that it brought Timothy back around. He startled, springing upright in momentary confusion before he began to wail as he remembered seeing his dead sister.

  “My mom, where is she?” he bubbled out between sobs.

  “The note said she’s in Tyringham, so I’m sure she’s just fine.”

  “I need her, Lily, I really need my mom.”

  “I know, and we’re going straight there. Your dad and Bellamy just need a moment. When they get back, we’ll go.” Lily gave Timothy a motherly hug. It wasn’t the same as his mother’s hug, but for now it helped him just a little.

  “I’ve never heard Dad cry like that. Maybe I should go back up there to be with him, you know?”

  “No, it’s best you let him deal with this his way, just as you have to deal with it your way.”

  Timothy didn’t know how to deal with it in any way. His way to cope was to run off, and right at that moment it was all he could think about doing. He slumped into the seat in deep dejection, his tears flowing heavy and fast.

  Lily sat close to him, her hand resting on his shoulder as she warily looked out the window. It had become dark. The cab silhouetted their bodies, casting obscene shadows of themselves across the dashboard. Lily looked toward the entrance, but no one emerged and there were no lights to see.

  Nervously, her pulse thumped in her ears. Reaching out, she grabbed Timothy’s hand and squeezed it so tightly that it scared him.

  “Lily, what’s wrong?” Timothy asked as a chill ran down his spine. They both turned sharply toward a noise, a quick thump on the window. An emaciated zombie boy’s face was pushed against the lower part of it. His scalp missing most of his hair. He repeatedly and erratically banged the glass with his decaying palm. Lily’s shoulders shook in fear, as she and Timothy coiled inward trying to escape.

  Slobbery, bloody drool slid over the window, producing a shrieking wet noise when the hand slapped at the glass. His clothing was grimy, torn in places, and tattered where his heart should be. Unable to take her eyes from him, she looked directly into his permanent snarl. The wider his mouth grew, the more she could see. His dislocated jaw revealed a craggy tongue and bloodstained, razor-sharp, savage teeth.

  Sunken white no-eyes stared mindlessly into hers. Unexpectedly, his hand thrashed harder at the window, and then it would slide downwards in the collecting heap of bloodied and blackened drool, only to rise quickly for another thrashing. He let out a piercing cry much like that of a baboon.

  Lily didn’t know what else to do, so she pulled the truck’s horn and held on. Timothy burrowed himself into her waist, huddling as closely as he could. Lily was able to feel his heart beating, racing like that of a horse right after it won First Place.

  “Hold on, Timothy, your dad will be here soon.” Her voice was soft, but without conviction. Timothy let out a high-pitched scream and jolted backwards with every thrashing the zombie’s hand made against the window. Lily was terrified it would break.

  Suddenly, it was joined by three more. Each one pounded on the windows, leaving a gooey, slimy substance running down the glass.

  Lily kept blowing the horn. “He’s coming,” she said with a little more conviction. As the sound of gunfire exploded around them, Lily’s heart stopped beating. A strong flash of light came before the zombie’s head exploded in a blanket of red and black splattering over the window. With each one that was taken out, she jerked sideways as if trying to duck out of the way. Timothy bent forward and wrapped his hands around his ankl
es tightly. He, too, tried to elude the bullets.

  Like rocks sinking to a bottomless dark blue ocean, entombed in a world of darkness forever, the zombies fell. Their licorice-colored blood spread like melting wax, staining the concrete a disgusting brown, black, and red.

  “Lily, hon!” came Bellamy’s voice, coaxing her mind out of its prison. She snapped her eyes open, her dark lashes fluttering like little fairy wings. She grabbed at Bellamy as he pulled her out of the cab. Lily fell into his arms, his touch infusing security into her. Lightly brushing away the bangs covering her dark eyes, he softly placed a kiss on her head. Once again feeling safe, she gathered herself and regulated her breathing. Timothy was in his father’s arms, sobbing incoherently.

  “There are more of them now,” she said with a deep sigh.

  “It seems that way,” Oliver said as he stood nearby.

  “Oliver, you mind driving?” Bellamy asked.

  “No, of course not.” He took the map from Bellamy.

  “Oliver, where’d you go?” Lily asked before getting into the back of the truck.

  “I wanted to see if there was anything salvageable. Sadly, it’s all been taken.”

  Lily got into the back of the truck with Bellamy. Calloway and Timothy rode shotgun with Oliver. Timothy was deeply lost, his world completely gone. Unable to face the new world, he could only sob as they made their way to Tyringham.

  Lily held onto Bellamy, unwilling to let him go. Her body shook in bouts of tremors. To him it felt like she was having aftershocks. He cradled her, waiting for her to be ready to let go.

  When they reached Tyringham, she still hadn’t released her hold. Bellamy knew she needed time to adjust to the manic gloom of the new world. Time, he had plenty of – and he was happy to give it to her.

  ***

  Ethan had recently returned with Rene to find the town in chaos. People, torn apart, littered the streets like discarded rubbish. Blood trails snaked across the concrete, mixed with guts, brain, bone, and flesh. The damage was devastating. So many had been killed, and especially horrific were the children. Ethan went house-to-house in search of survivors. He soon learned that Abe and Stanley were the heroes, having led the dogs out and away. How did they even penetrate the walls? Ethan wondered despondently. Angered by the thought, he ensured that Julie was safe and then followed up with Kara and Shadow.

  As the cleanup began, a large panel truck blew its horn and entered the little town. People began running up it, as if it was the Army arriving with food and water. Ethan was powerless to stop the people from rushing to the truck, but curiosity outweighed rationality. Rene joined Ethan, and cautiously they approached the truck. A few meters from it, Ethan could clearly see Calloway, who was waving madly at them.

  “Rene, fetch Julie, please,” Ethan said. Rene, without question, took off and returned moments later with Julie. She didn’t have to ask why. As she made eye contact with Calloway, her heart melted on the spot. Her knees almost gave way as she ran toward his outstretched arms and practically leaped into them. She burst into tears, nearly toppling him over as she kissed him madly on his head, cheeks, nose, and finally his lips – which were soft, delicate, and most of all, rewardingly real. The ache of longing to be with him echoed through her very bones. It had been a chill wind trapped in the chambers of her heart.

  Her head almost exploded when she heard “Mom” being called. Pulling away from Calloway while the tears gushed, she grabbed at Timothy, embracing him tightly.

  “Mom,” he said as she squeezed him tighter. She felt whole once more. Her family had returned, but it conjured a painful reminder of Tiffany, causing new waves of salty liquid that broke against Timothy’s chest.

  “Mom, don’t cry, please.” Julie sniffled up the excess moisture, pulled away, and looked them both up and down. That was when she caught sight of Bellamy.

  “This is priceless!” she said as she rushed over and gave him her tightest hug ever. Drowning in an overdose of emotion, she felt suddenly woozy. Letting go of Bellamy, she fell to her knees, and everyone rushed at her side all at once. But she didn’t faint. She wasn’t willing to give in to her vertigo. After she allowed them to help her up, a barrage of questions followed, and many more embracing hugs.

  “Mom, Tiffany… She’s dead!” Timothy cried, and Julie held onto him. They left the street still gripped tightly together. Her heart felt as though it had been stabbed by the Grim Reaper himself. The loss was almost unbearable, as was seeing her son and husband in pain. Nothing would ever be the same.

  CHAPTER 14

  GEORGE

  Ankti walked to the bedroom door, having heard a bizarre noise like feet shuffling, or slippers scuffing over a carpet. Standing at the door, she looked down to see the shadow of a figure pacing behind it through the underskirt of the door.

  Her breath caught in her throat. “George!” she called out excitedly as she reached for the door handle. The waft of decay when she opened the door stung her eyes and burned her lips like the kiss of death. George’s head snapped towards Ankti. Cocking it to one side, his tongue reached out like a snake. But it was split, blackened, and scorched-looking.

  Ankti stood rooted to the floor, unable to move. George clumsily lurched toward her as if in a drunken moonlit waltz. His arms were void of his once-tanned and smooth skin, and hairless now and muscle-less. No… What reached for her was more like a mushy, rotten-looking oyster, its flesh long-since decayed within its protective husk.

  George faced Ankti and lunged at her with yellowed nails, scratching deeply across her upper chest. Wheezing, she let out a cry and stumbled backward, holding onto the door for dear life.

  “George… George, it’s me, Ankti! George, stop!” Her voice sounded like she was possessed as she screeched and backed away from the bedroom. She slammed the door closed, catching his nose. She heard it hit the floor like a glob of instant pudding.

  “Ankti, what’s going on?” Millie grabbed hold of her sister-in-law’s shoulders and tried to control her feverish shaking. Ankti’s eyes grew huge in surprise, spreading so wide they looked like UFO saucers. Shocked to see her color change from tan to a pale, quavering green, Millie felt like she was holding onto a person with full-blown Parkinson’s. She wanted to smack Ankti across the face to slap her out of it, but it all felt too cliché, like in some stupid old horror movie. Instead, she pulled her away from the door and into the lounge, sat her down, and waited.

  “Millie, it’s George. He’s…”

  “He’s what?” Millie asked impatiently as she shifted her gaze to baby Hope. She was sleeping in the bassinet, covered in a white and pink cuddle blanket, her head just visible as she stirred. She had rosy pink lips and plump cheeks, and her tiny eyes were closed with their long dark lashes flickering at the nearby sounds.

  “He’s a fucking monster.” Ankti spat out. Her voice exhibited a tone of anger and sadness rolled together. Millie cast her eyes back to Ankti, the disbelief washing over her like fresh new makeup.

  “Don’t believe me? Then open the door. Just look what he did to me!” Ankti pointed to the laceration across her chest. Millie looked at it, her disbelief changing to concern.

  “Where’s Nakos?” Ankti demanded as she breathed heavily, her eyes roaming around the room as if she’d just spun in circles for ten minutes. Millie was distracted again by Hope’s cries.

  “We’ll leave after I feed Hope.” Millie made her way to the baby. Scooping her up from the two-toned purple bassinet, she cradled her lightly and made baby chatter with soft kisses across Hope’s forehead and cheeks.

  Ankti sat still, not making a sound and not wanting to move, her eyes focused on the bedroom door. Millie had to ignore that for now. Taking Hope to the center of the lounge, she laid her carefully on the couch, changed her diaper, and began nursing her. When she finished, she burped her, giving her sweet kisses along her neck before wrapping her back up and placing her into the bassinet. Re-buttoning her top, she stood in front of Ankti, waving her han
d in front of her face. Ankti didn’t flinch. All she did was look past Millie’s hand and straight at the bedroom door.

  “Where’s Nakos?” Ankti asked with less urgency this time.

  “He’s on patrol. I’ll get him if you want to watch the baby?”

  “Are you stupid? You want to leave your precious baby with me, while that monster is in there? He could break out of there and eat us. You want your baby eaten alive, do you?”

  Millie was taken by surprise by her sister-in-law’s rantings. She grabbed the bassinet and made her way to the door.

  “Don’t leave me here alone! Wait, I’m coming with you.”

  Millie believed Ankti was having some sort of breakdown. She couldn’t understand her ravings, and that laceration across her chest looked like a fingernail scratch, which she could have self-inflicted.

  Millie pushed her raven hair behind her ears as she darted down the stairs, through the bar, and into the lobby of the hotel. Her eyes squinted at the sunlight pouring in from the large, grated windows. The area was devoid of anyone else. Not really sure what to believe, she didn’t want to share with Ankti that she hadn’t open the bedroom door because she believed her, but rather because of the possibility she wasn’t exaggerating. Either way, Millie was struggling to believe much of anything these days. With the world literally dying, a new baby, and fighting for survival, all she could think about at that moment was Nakos. He’d sort everything out.

  She stood just short of the door leading out, her fingers tightly clutching the handle of the bassinet. Her head filled with Nakos’ warnings. Don’t go outside under any circumstances, there are too many dogs.

  “What are you waiting for?” Ankti said. “Just open it and go. We have to get Nakos!”

  “We shouldn’t go out. You heard Nakos. There have been more dogs getting in, so I think it’s best that we wait here for him.”

  “It’ll be dark soon, Millie. I’m scared, really scared. I know you don’t want to believe me, for whatever stupid reason is floating in that head of yours, but I swear to you, George has risen and he’s not human anymore!” Ankti looked down at her scratch, liquid filling her golden-brown eyes. She swiped them away angrily.