Hounded | Book 3 | Hounded 3

by Douglas, Ellie

  A few meters behind, a group of zombie dogs had started heading toward them. Bellamy wasn’t sure if they’d seen them yet. Not wanting to take any chances, he looked for a hiding place and spied a bookshop.

  Bellamy held out his hand like a stop sign. Once the group stopped, he ducked into the building, emerging a few moments later to gesture everyone inside.

  The smell slammed at them as they all merged inside. Ethan stood guard while the rest huddled into the tiny space, causing books to fall off the shelves.

  “Jesus, keep it down!” snapped Calloway as he huddled close with Julie.

  “I suggest you all eat something, and drink. We have a good ways to go,” Bellamy said, his usual soft tone masked by a rushing need to move, with a side dish of anger.

  Lily found herself looking at Shadow. Her Gothic features had worn away, and now she just looked dirty and unkempt. With the holey clothes she wore, even her safety pins had come off, lost to the streets of dread. She noticed how Shadow seemed particularly fond of Ethan, recognizing a crush when she saw it.

  Smirking a little, she turned to face Bellamy. She grabbed him into her arms and just held him and listened to his breathing. She wondered to herself if they’d make it, truly make it. Her mind danced with memories of the girls, Ruth and Beth. Seeing their faces ignited a motivational push, one she needed.

  Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a tin of corn and offered some to Bellamy. They both ate. She found the bathroom and washed up, refreshing herself with splashes of cold water and washing the dusty grime from her face. Looking into the cracked mirror, her reflection was unrecognizable. Sighing deeply, she exited and stopped to see how some of the others were doing.

  “We leave in one hour,” Bellamy announced, his voice a little calmer.

  “Mom, do you think we’re gonna make it?” Timothy emptily asked.

  “Your Uncle Bellamy has gotten us this far, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then yes, I absolutely believe he’ll get us there. We will survive this.” Julie rose on tiptoes and kissed Timothy’s cheek. When she then went to ruffle up his hair as she always did, she missed and nearly fell over.

  “Still clumsy as ever!” Timothy smirked as he sat down and finished off his tin of sardines. Anya joined him while watching the others around her. So many faces, so much fear… She wondered if she wore the mask of fear, too. Excusing herself, she went off to the bathroom.

  Afterward, she stood looking at her own features. Yes, that fear was evident in her, too. She didn’t like it. All she could do was remember her boyfriend Jimmy and how he’d died. And then her parents, how they too were butchered by the zombie dogs. It was all overwhelming her. She crumpled, sliding down the dirty wall and sobbing hard into her knees.

  Seven-year-old Ronan came bursting through the bathroom doors, startling Anya, who quickly jumped to her feet and eyeballed him.

  “What’s your hurry, little one?”

  “Pee, gotta pee!” he squealed, making his way in. Anya splashed cold water over her face and returned to Timothy and Julie. He gave her a bucktooth smile, lifting her dampened spirits up a notch. When Ronan returned, Bellamy did a head count.

  “Right, it’s time to go,” Bellamy stated, carefully looking in every direction before leading the group further down the road.

  They hadn’t gone more than half a block when more screams were heard from behind. Quickly turning, they saw Selena desperately trying to pull a bulldog off Ted. Its jaws were locked around Ted’s stomach.

  Ethan quickly handed the white tiger to Timothy and ran to the back, grabbed hold of the zombie dog’s jaws, and pried them open with all his might. The dog’s jaw split enough to let go of Ted. Then it wriggled out of Ethan’s hand enough to latch down and bite Ethan’s wrist. He took his dagger out and slammed it down into the thing’s head, further mutilating its already pulped face.

  Tossing it aside hard, it went slamming into a brick wall and slid down, leaving a trail of corroded looking blood, brain goop, and pulverized bone shards.

  “How badly are you bit, Ted?” Ethan asked.

  “Not bad. It’s okay, we gotta keep moving,” Ted bravely asserted through gritted teeth. Ethan could see the pain matching up with the blood-soaked shirt he’d tied around his stomach.

  “I think the doctor should take a look at that. Hey Leo, come on back here.”

  “No really, it’s okay, we have to carry on. It can wait ’til we get underground. Please, let’s just go,” Ted practically begged, which threw Ethan. He didn’t know if the man was braving it out or if he was hiding something. His suspicions got the better of him.

  “Either you remove that tee-shirt from your stomach or I will,” he sternly said, stopping the man from moving anywhere with his firm stance.

  Ted reluctantly began pulling the tee shirt away from his body. As he did, parts of his innards came with it. They had stuck to the tee shirt. As he pulled, he began to pull those out.

  “Stop!” Ethan exhorted him, quickly pushing back Ted’s hands and shoving the tee shirt a quarter way inside his stomach.

  “Leo, come here now!”

  “I’m already here, so no need to yell. We must keep quiet.”

  “Sorry, didn’t see you. Did you see Ted’s guts?”

  “Yeah, and I hate to say it, but no amount of stitching is going to fix that.”

  “Some doctor you are,” Selena blurted out. She took Ted’s hand in hers and told him he’d be all right.

  “Selena, you’re what, fifteen or sixteen?”

  “What has my age got to do with anything?”

  “It has to do with maturity and understanding. Right now, you’re acting your age. You can’t see the reality that’s right in front of you. Ted is dying, and there’s nothing I can do to save him,” Leo outlined while he slowly walked away.

  “I’m thirteen, asshat!” Selena yelled out before bursting into tears. Ethan got her to her feet, and then he turned to Ted.

  “Go, just leave me, and go save yourselves,” Ted begged. His eyes searched around, fearful of more zombie dogs coming with all the noise they were making.

  Ethan reached into his backpack and pulled out a.38 Special, handing it to Ted.

  Ted lifted his eyes in a thank-you to Ethan. Bending down, Ethan picked up Selena, threw her over his shoulder and made his way towards Bellamy. She kicked, screamed, and punched Ethan in the back. He didn’t flinch.

  “Put me down, you animal!” she wailed.

  Ethan ignored her. When he reached Bellamy, she’d grown hysterical, screaming nonstop. He gently put her down, and she howled like a wolf at an invisible moon.

  Lily walked up to her, putting her arms around her, but they were violently shrugged off.

  “Please be quiet, they’ll hear us. Shush now, please shush!”

  When Selena didn’t stop, Lily slapped her hard across the face. “I did ask nicely. You’re going to get us all killed, so shut up… Please!”

  Selena drew in a gulp of air. Her body shook and she was seeing red. Desperately, she wanted to hit Lily back. When they all thought she’d finally stopped crying and settled down, she got to her feet and charged at Lily, jumping on her back and pulling Lily’s long brunette hair so hard they tumbled to the ground.

  Bellamy reached for Lily, as Ethan stepped in and grabbed Selena. Her hands fisted into tight balls. She wouldn’t stop hitting Lily.

  Ethan pulled Selena off Lily as Bellamy stepped between them, copping a fisted wallop to his chin. Ethan held Selena back as she threw punches in the air. Drool had settled in the corners of her mouth, making her look rabid.

  “Stop!” Calloway yelled from behind them.

  “Look out!” screeched Harry as he darted toward the closest building, a church. “Quickly, everyone in here!”

  Without hesitating, he dashed inside. As soon as he broke the doors open, the dust flung into the air, catching the light from the shattered windows.

  An icy shiver ran down
his spine when he heard low growling followed by heavy chains being pulled. Clink, clack, clink. Reaching for his flashlight, he fumbled through his backpack.

  Flipping the flashlight on and shining it around the church, more dust caught his light, making it difficult to see through the billions of particles that now swirled in the air.

  At the very front and center, by the priest’s podium, two zombie dogs were chained. Harry followed the chain and saw it had been bolted to the floorboards. He pushed forward as more people rushed in. Philip blindly caught the back of Ken’s heel with the front of his boot. “Sorry,” he expressed as he pushed past, making more room for the others.

  Ethan carried Selena inside and sat her down on a pew.

  “Shut up!” he yelled at her, like an outraged father reprimanding a badly defiant child.

  Selena gritted her teeth, locked her jaw down and folded her arms across her chest. She was fuming. She needed to release the anger but had nothing and no one to release it on. She got up and pushed her way through the crowd, and before Bellamy could stop her, she ran off outside, avoiding the zombies for now.

  The doors were locked behind her. Pews were dragged to the door, blocking it from the ever-increasing thumping and banging of the human and dog zombies using their bodies to bash the doors.

  Ethan made his way cautiously to the podium. Calloway followed, taking the dog out on the right with his dagger, while Ethan used his sword and took out the one on the left.

  “Why the fuck were those chained in here?” Ethan asked no one in particular.

  “Shit! No idea. Some lunatic priest must have thought they could be saved or be used as some kind of sacrifice,” Calloway said as he eyed the rest of the room.

  There was no time to figure it out. The doors to the church banged louder with the human and dog zombies trying to gain access. Bellamy held onto the pews, pushing them into the doors, when he suddenly heard Ted.

  “Come on, you little bitches, heel!” he screamed so loudly that Bellamy could hear him. He knew instantly what Ted was doing.

  “Everyone hush! Ted’s drawing them to him. It’ll give us a chance if we’re quiet,” Bellamy spelled out in a calm tone.

  CHAPTER 28

  A QUICK FEAST

  “Come on, you little bitches!” Ted hollered, shifting his body weight slightly and causing himself tormenting pain. He could feel his guts slipping out the hole in his stomach. He bit down too hard, chipping two front teeth. Ted attempted to push his guts back inside of himself, stuffing the tee shirt further inside his body. The blood poured through, soaking the tee shirt, causing it to slip back out.

  “Come on, I’m right here, motherfuckers!”

  “Ted, stop!” yelled Selena as she rushed to him.

  “Are you fucking nuts? Get your ass inside a building!” Ted shrieked at her with everything he had left.

  “No! I won’t leave you, Ted.” She added, “You’re the only one who stopped to help me back there. I won’t leave you!” she sobbed.

  Suddenly, a Dalmatian lunged at Ted, grabbed his ankle, and dragged him into the middle of the street. Selena tried to yank the zombie dog from Ted. The fight only intensified the zombie dog’s attack. Ted pounded on the mutated nose, pulverizing it into mushy, porridge-looking slop. Selena kicked at it, but a hand grabbed at her shoulders, pulling her down. Before she could fend off whatever it was, several human zombies were on her, biting her everywhere.

  Her flesh was ripped up and torn from her, as if she’d fallen through several panes of glass. Blood spouted in every direction, covering everything. Her mouth was ripped from ear to ear as a zombie tore her lips from her face. Another, crumbling in decay, grabbed at her nose.

  Her face was now unrecognizable. With decaying fingers, they gouged at her eye sockets. Digging in and pulling them out directly to their bloodied, hungry mouths. They were biting and shredding every fiber, tissue, vein, and bone, and she looked as though someone had poured gallons of red paint over her. Completely drenched in her own blood, she twisted, kicked, and violently convulsed as she died.

  Ted could only gasp as he watched in horror while the zombies devoured her like lions on a zebra. Flaying her skin into strips, chomping, suckling, and that godawful sound they made as they ate, was one of the last sights Ted had. He was no longer able to watch his own flesh being ripped from him.

  His skin felt as though he were forced into an excavator mulcher. With each bit of flesh that was torn from him, he screamed out. A massive Saint Bernard opened its colossal jaws, engulfing Ted’s head in its mouth. Ted felt like his head had just entered the mouth of a shark, with teeth gnashing his cheeks, ears, scalp, and neck. The bites came fast and hard. Along with the violent shaking, he could feel things snapping, cracking, and splintering. One moment he could see, the next he was in complete darkness, covered in blood, slime, and the worst stink he’d ever come close to in his life.

  The Saint Bernard swung Ted’s body around, dragging him along the road like a busted mannequin. He could feel the pressure in his neck as it began to tear away. Sudden jerking movements tore his cervical spine. The last thing he heard was the noise of breaking bones as the Saint Bernard tore his head off, decapitating him.

  The dog dragged the remains of Ted’s head and his severed spine, which looked like a bony lizard’s tail and made a ‘rat-a-tat-tat’ sound as it shattered into multiple pieces, causing other zombie dogs to rush to it like gulls on a fish.

  More zombie dogs tore his remaining body apart. The arms were first to be gnawed off, and then his chest was cracked wide open. One dog buried its head in Ted’s chest, pulled out ribs, and chewed on them as if they’d been handed to him at a Sunday banquet. Another tore out Ted’s lungs, dragged them a foot away from his dead body, and ate them whole, before rushing in for more organs. Blood pooled around and underneath Ted’s body. Bone shards lay like broken glass, strewn in different directions.

  Ted’s intestines were dragged out by another zombie dog. It walked away with them, leaving a slithery, bloody trail as though a snake had crawled up the road. A human zombie reached his decaying arm into Ted’s gaping abdomen, pulled out his stomach, and brought it to his mouth. It ravenously ate Ted’s stomach, spilling and smearing stomach acid all over its face in the frenzy.

  His legs were next to be pulled apart. His thigh muscles were fought over. His femur bone was jerked out, cracked into multiple pieces, and munched down like candy. His knee caps were smashed by massive bites piercing the cartilage, shattering the bone, and ripping the tissue surrounding them, as if done by alligators. All that remained was his severed feet, covered in blood, lying lifeless in an awkward bent position. The human zombies took what remained, feasting feverishly and aggressively and moaning in low, grunting sounds as their no-eyes searched for more food.

  CHAPTER 29

  INTO THE DARKNESS

  “How are we gonna get out of here?” Julie asked Calloway. Her face had turned a shade of greenish-gray. Her anxiety was skyrocketing, and Calloway wasn’t sure he could calm her down.

  “Listen, babe, they aren’t trying to get inside anymore. That silly girl lured them away.”

  Julie stood up, walked toward the barricaded doors, and listened. Calloway was right, they weren’t banging any more.

  “But how will know for sure? What if they’re still hanging around, loitering in the area? If we go outside, they could just pounce on us.” She shivered as gooseflesh spiked the tops of her thighs. Calloway pulled her into his chest, cradling her and waiting for Bellamy to say something. He peered directly at his brother, giving him a ‘what now’ look.

  The room started to buzz with conversation. People wanted answers. Bellamy stood up and clapped his hands, gaining everyone’s attention.

  “I know this is hard, but I need all of you to remain quiet. We don’t know what’s out there. Please be patient while we check out the back exit.”

  Timothy sat with Anya and played with Crunchie, giving Ethan assurance that his
white tiger was cared for and protected. Bellamy called for Harry and Ethan. The three of them made their way towards the rear of the church. Bellamy peeled back a dark blue heavy curtain that covered a doorway off the altar area. It led them to a long hallway. Beyond that was an office, a Bible study room, a music room, and the bathroom, But there were no signs of any exits. He paused in the hallway, thinking.

  “Let’s try the other side of the church,” Ethan suggested as he began walking toward the front. Crossing the narrow chancel, Harry listened to the floorboards creak with each footfall. The sound grated on his nerves. Bellamy pushed aside another dark blue drape. Particles of dust clung to his throat. Coughing while covering his face, he stepped on something squishy. Looking down, he almost leapt backwards.

  “Jesus Jesse James!” Bellamy said through heavy breathing.

  Harry and Ethan looked down, shaking their heads collectively at the sight before them.

  “Who, the fuck would do such a fucked-up thing?” snapped Ethan.

  “Gang of some kind? Has to be,” Harry said as he inspected the three rotting corpses crucified to the wall. Tied together like cattle, it was clear they were used as zombie dog bait. The rope fed through their bodies like dental floss. Their bodies seemed to have melted into what looked like stew, which had slid down the wall and collected on the floor beneath them.

  Each of them stepped over the remains and headed down another long hallway. This one had a child’s playroom, a kitchen, and a larger room with a few sofas, single chairs, and lots of blankets and books, presumably another study room. At the end was an exit to the outside.

  Bellamy could not erase that image from his mind. Seeing those three tied that way, fed to the dogs purposefully, made his entire body crawl. They’d have to cover that up before bringing the rest of the people through.

  Bellamy pushed open the fire-exit door. The sun was going down, and they had about an hour left of light. He peered out. It was a parking lot with no signs of zombies, though he could smell them.