Richard sighed and looked up at him. “I don’t think it’s just him, Bill,” he said quietly. “The campgrounds are dead.”
“Well, yeah. Look at the time.” Bill laughed nervously. “They’re probably trying to sleep.”
Richard shook his head. “No, you’re not listening.”
Bill sighed, “Your gut.”
“Yeah, my gut.” The Jeep continued to idle at the crossroad. “Look, I know you and I just met, and you’ve got no reason to trust me, but if there’s one thing that I know, it’s these woods. I spend more time here than just about anybody, other than maybe the rangers who work here. And if I tell you that there’s a disturbance in the force, then something ain’t right.”
“Seriously? You’re going to use a Star Wars reference?”
Richard smiled and nodded. “If it fits.”
Bill sat back and stared at the road. “Okay. So, whatever is going on isn’t ‘normal.’” He continued to suck in air. “Let’s say I buy that. Then what are you proposing?”
Richard turned in his seat to face Bill better. “The roads out of here are practically blocked. True, we could probably forge our way out of here with your Jeep,” he paused.
“But?” Bill added.
Richard nodded. “But, there are back roads that can get us to my house faster. We avoid the main roads and the crowds.”
“And we get you to your family faster,” Bill added.
“Yeah, there’s that, too.”
“So, what’s the downside?”
“The roads,” Richard admitted. “They’re not the easiest to drive on. Actually, they’re off-road trails, and we might end up scratching up your ride a bit.”
Bill laughed. “Any worse than running over a man?”
Rich chuckled. “No, probably not.”
“Then, what are we waiting for? Lead the way.”
Richard sighed. “Thanks, Bill.”
“No problem. If the situation were reversed, I’d like to think that you’d—” Something hit the side of the Jeep HARD, startling both men and causing Richard to let out a yelp. Bill turned and saw a blood-covered man biting at his window, his fingertips scratching at the glass. “Holy fuck.”
“Still think my gut is wrong?” Richard asked.
Bill had to fight to pull his attention away from the window and opened the center console. He pulled out his pistol and racked the slide. “Drive!”
“On it!” Richard pulled the lever back into drive and hit the accelerator. Bill reached up and began unscrewing the fasteners for the removable section of the hardtop. “What are you doing?” Richard asked.
“Opening up the front section of the roof. In case any of those things get in front of us and we need to clear the path.”
“Good idea,” Richard said. “Because we’re going to have to go past two more campsites to get to the off-road trail.”
Chapter 9
Buck slowed his pace again so that his dad could catch up. He glanced over his shoulder and moaned as he waited a moment for the man to trek up alongside and pause, bend over, and catch his breath.
“I swear, the hills are getting steeper,” Bob huffed. Buck simply shook his head as he glanced at the flat space they had just covered.
“I’m thinking she might have followed the sound, Dad.” Buck pointed toward the hill that concealed the concert.
Bob raised an eyebrow and studied his son. “You sure you’re not just wanting to go listen to the music?”
Buck turned and shot his dad a hateful look. “I’m looking for Mom.”
Bob held his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay. Just asking.” He stood erect and stretched his back. “I suppose it’s possible she headed that way. We haven’t seen any signs of blood or, well, anything in a while. She could have gone in any direction.”
“That is sort of the general direction that grumpy guy pointed,” Buck offered.
“He was a grouchy son-of-a-bitch,” Bob muttered.
“Language, Dad.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Bob sighed as he prepared to climb the next hill. “But he was.”
The two headed toward the sound of the rock band playing over the next hill and passed numerous camp sites along the way. Neither stopped to ask any campers if they had seen Lucky. By this time, they assumed that, had they seen her, they would be either hurt or still talking about seeing a dirty naked lady running through the woods. Something like that doesn’t occur every day. At least, Bob didn’t think it did in a family-oriented park. There was nothing mentioned in any of the pamphlets received in the mail, anyway.
Buck suddenly stopped and Bob nearly ran into him. “What’s wrong?”
Buck turned to him and held a finger to his lips, motioning him to be quiet. Bob’s eyes narrowed as he studied his son. Buck tilted his head as if he were trying to listen to something, but Bob couldn’t tell how the boy could hear anything above the noise coming from the concert. Buck turned and looked at him as if questioning him.
Bob shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t hear anything.” he mouthed to him.
Buck stepped toward the thick woods along the edge of the trail, his hands pulling the crossbow pistol up and to the ready. He motioned to Bob to move forward. Bob simply nodded and slowly began moving forward again, his eyes staying on Buck the entire time. The boy crouched low along the brush and swayed slightly side to side, allowing the moonlight to help him differentiate the shadows within the thick woods. He continued to listen as Bob moved farther up the trail, but he held his position. He watched for any signs of movement, listened for a rustle, a twig breaking, anything out of the ordinary to indicate movement, but the woods remained silent.
After what seemed far too long, Buck finally stood and shrugged. Bob stopped advancing and turned to him. “What?”
“I could have sworn that something was trailing us.” He jogged up alongside his father. “I kept seeing shadows in the woods, and I swear I heard something in there.”
Bob ruffled his son’s hair and smiled at him. “I’m not sure if it’s wishful thinking that we might find your mom, or just ’cuz it’s so dark in there and maybe I’m a bit paranoid, but I’ve felt like we were being watched a few times, too.”
Buck paused and took one more look toward the trees before turning toward the hill again. He was almost certain there was something in there. Bob fell into step behind him, but continued to steal glances over his shoulder.
Just in case.
As the two of them began to approach the line of cars parked along the road, Buck paused and began looking between the vehicles. “Mom could be anywhere,” he announced as he stole a peek between two SUV’s.
“You really think she’s going to be taking a nap between a couple of Escalades?”
“Probably not, but she could be lying in wait. Or hiding in the shadows. Or even hurt.”
Bob understood his concern. “She is hurt, son. She’s sick,” he said softly. “But we’ll find her and we’ll get her to a doctor and they’ll make her better.”
Buck didn’t meet his father’s gaze as he took off for the break in the next two cars. He fell to the ground and looked under the cars, then jumped up and looked over the hood. “Dad?”
Bob turned just as something came running from up the line of parked cars and launched across the hood of the car Buck was behind. Bob stood frozen in fear as a dark figure came hurtling across the hood toward his son. Buck instinctively ducked and rolled forward as the snarling man flew overheard and slid across the gravel road between him and his father.
“Buck!” Bob yelled as he moved toward his son. The man on the ground scrambled to all fours and jerked his head rapidly between the two of them, thick tendrils of saliva slinging from his mouth as he did so. “Are you okay, son?”
“I’m fine, Dad,” Buck replied softly as he slowly moved back between the cars, trying to put the machines between himself and the obviously crazed man. “Don’t let him near you, Dad. He’s got it, too.”
Bob froze in his tracks and stared at the slobbering man wide-eyed. “W-what do we do?”
“You got the gun, Dad. Shoot him!” Buck exclaimed.
“Shoot him?” Bob was stunned. “Why on earth would I—”
“Dad!” Buck yelled, garnering far too much attention from the crazed man who was now turning and angling himself in Buck’s direction, much like a large cat. “If he infects you, you’re as good as dead!” Buck ducked under the fender of the car and Bob tried not to panic when he lost sight of him.
The crazed man’s head began jerking from side to side as he tried to find Buck in his field of vision again. He raised his head into the air and sniffed loudly, tilting his head this way and that before opening his mouth and emitting a hair-raising scream that made Bob’s hands shake even worse. Bob steeled his nerves and pulled the 9mm pistol from his waistband and brought it to bear on the man. Holding it with both hands, he pulled the trigger and was shocked that there was no report and no kick of the weapon.
“What the—” Bob muttered under his breath as he drew the gun back close to his face and stared at it.
“Rack the damned slide, Dad!” Buck screamed from behind the car.
“Oh, right.”
Bob rolled his eyes, then gripped the slide, pulling it back. The snarl of the crazed man made Bob jump and he looked up again just in time to see the man facing him, back on his feet and advancing quickly. He was now sprinting toward Bob! He obviously couldn’t see or smell Buck, and the noise that Bob was making was enough to satisfy his anger. Bob screamed and tried to raise the pistol as the crazed man leapt to attack.
Buck stole a peek over the fender just as the man leapt at his dad, a dark blur leaping in the shadows with a scream. Mix the scream that Bob let loose and Buck panicked. He slid across the front of the Ford station wagon he was trying to hide behind and pulled up his crossbow pistol. As the two men rolled, he heard the report of the pistol firing and heard another scream, then another shot. The men continued to roll and Buck saw the crazed man come up on top. He quickly brought the crossbow up and fired…just as the two rolled again and the pistol rang out once more.
Bob screamed again and rolled away from the crazed man who now lay prone upon the ground, the top of his head sporting a smoking hole. Bob curled over himself and cursed, “Dammit to hell that hurts!”
“Did he bite you, Dad?” Buck ran to his father’s side.
“You fucking shot me!” he shouted as he rolled to his back, a crossbow bolt and a blossom of blood growing around his left shoulder. “What the hell were you thinking?” he seethed through clenched teeth.
“I thought he…I mean, I thought…” Buck stuttered. “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry, Dad.” He knelt beside his father and examined the wound.
“Don’t touch it!” Bob cried as Buck tried to dislodge the bolt.
“Dad, we have to remove it.”
“It fucking HURTS!”
“It’s a practice arrow. There’s no barbs. It should come right out,” Buck explained. “And we need to remove it.” Buck unslung his pack and opened the first aid kit. “I have bandages and antibiotic cream and tape, and—”
“Just give me a minute, okay?” Bob panted. He sat up and ground his teeth. “Holy shit, this really hurts.”
“It could be worse,” Buck said softly.
Bob glared at him in the pale light of the moon. “I really don’t see how.”
“You could have been bit. Or scratched. Then you’d turn into one of them.”
Bob glanced at his hands and couldn’t tell if he’d been bit or scratched. He was covered in his own blood. “Let’s just do this before I pass out.” He pushed himself over to a tree and leaned against it. Breathing hard and trying to keep from passing out, he reached over and grabbed Buck. “Do what you have to do, but be quick about it. I don’t want to black out.”
Buck nodded and spread out what he needed. “This is going to hurt.”
“It already hurts,” Bob hissed.
“Okay then, it’s going to hurt more. Bite down on this.” Buck handed him a stick, then he reached up and grabbed the end of the bolt. “On three. Ready?”
“No. But do it, anyway.” Bob slipped the stick in his mouth.
“Okay.” Buck readied himself. “One, two…” he pulled hard and jerked the bolt from his shoulder. Bob nearly passed out as he bit down on the stick, then went slack when Buck pressed the tampon to his shoulder to absorb the blood. “We’ll give it a minute to slow down, then we can clean it up and dress it.”
Bob groaned and nodded. “You didn’t say three.”
“Oops.” Buck smiled at him. “I really am sorry, Dad.”
“Better me than you, son.” Bob exhaled hard. “I don’t guess you have anything for pain in that kit?”
“Just Tylenol.” Buck held up the bottle and shook it.
Bob rolled his eyes. “Beats a kick in the nuts I guess.”
“Not by much,” Buck whispered. He glanced over to the crazed man with the missing top of his head. “That was a good shot, Dad.” He indicated the corpse with a flick of his chin.
“That was luck,” Bob panted. “We kept rolling around, and he was snapping his teeth at me. I was trying to put the gun in his mouth so he couldn’t bite me and the damned thing went off.” Bob smiled. “Just my luck it was under his chin.”
Buck frowned. “You didn’t get any of his blood on you, did you?”
Bob shrugged. “Beats me,” he admitted. “Probably. I’m sure it would be hard not to. We were both rolling around, so…” he noticed the look of concern on Buck’s face. “Why?”
“Well, it’s just, we’re still not sure exactly how it’s transmitted, and if Keri gave it to mom by a bite or a scratch, then there’s a good chance that maybe it’s bloodborne, too.” He looked at his dad’s shoulder. “And you have an open wound.”
Bob glanced down at his shoulder. “That’s bleeding like a bitch.” He smiled at Buck. “I don’t think anything could have gotten in. And if it did, I would have bled it right back out.”
Buck didn’t seem convinced. Bob patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, if I start going crazy, just put one of those arrows in my head.”
“Dad! I couldn’t do that!”
Bob shook his head. “You’d better.” He stared solemnly. “I’ve already lost your mom, and your sister is infected. Somebody from this family has to stay uninfected to save the rest. If that means sacrificing me so that you can do that, so be it.”
Buck shook his head and pulled away, but Bob grabbed his hand and pulled him close. “Look, you know a lot more about this crap than I do. That’s obvious. If it comes down to it, you do what has to be done.” Bob stared his son in the eyes. “You understand me?”
Buck studied him for a moment then nodded. “Okay.” He hated to lie to the man, but if it got him to change the subject, he’d do it. Buck lifted the bloody tampon from his dad’s shoulder. “Looks like the bleeding has slowed a lot. I think we can dress this now.”
“Good,” Bob moaned. “Because I’m really starting to feel sick to my stomach.”
Hatcher and Shelly rode back much slower, checking every possible sign for Fisher. On more than one occasion, Shelly feared that Hatch was killing time, avoiding going back for whatever reason. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to avoid the concert or the ambulance or if he was truly that concerned for Dwayne, but she was beginning to get antsy. After the fifth time of stopping the ATVs and dismounting, only for Hatcher to walk around and flash his light at the ground, walk to the edges of the trail, and stand and stare for what seemed like forever into the thickest parts of the woods, then remount and ride on, she finally lost her cool and called him on it.
“Just what exactly are you doing, Hatch? I’m not seeing anything out here, and you’re acting like you’re studying the most interesting thing ever. I just don’t get you. I thought we were looking for Fisher?”
Hatcher turned and stared at her. She almost looked cu
te with her hands planted on her hips, her jaw thrust out, and her feet planted. She was obviously upset, but he had missed those signs. What he hadn’t missed were the signs on the trails that were obvious to him. He stood tall and motioned her over to what he was seeing.
“Here.” He pointed. “It’s faint, but it’s here.” He used a stick and pointed out tracks. Human tracks that cut across the trail.
“I’m not seeing anything,” she huffed.
Hatcher nodded. “These weren’t here when we came through the first time. But they’re here now. This is probably the sixth set of prints I’ve seen.” He walked to the edge of the trails and parted the scrub. “See here, in the softer dirt?” He pointed out a shoe print that was obviously human. “None of them match Fisher’s boot print so far, but we’ve got a half-dozen people that have been cutting across these trails on foot.” He stood up and stared out into the woods again. “Whoever they are, they’re moving fast. Nearly a full out run.”
Shelly shook her head. “Hatch, those woods are too thick to try to run through. They’d get scratched and cut to heck.”
Hatcher nodded. “I know.” His face was painted with worry. “I’m wondering.”
“Wondering what?” she asked, not understanding.
“If there could be something being passed around the concert that is causing people to lose their minds. Some kind of hallucinogen that is affecting people, making them violent or…something?”
Shelly shook her head. “I suppose there could. We did a pretty good job of keeping the deals to a minimum, but I’m sure we couldn’t stop it all.”
Hatcher stood and brushed the dirt from his knees. “Well, we’ll keep working our way back. Surely, if there are more, we’ll find their signs.”
“We?” she chuckled. “I didn’t see any of this.”
Hatcher gave her a soft, but concerned smile. “But now you know what to look for.” He gave her a playful wink.
“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “I still have no idea how you spotted that.” She straddled her ATV and fired it up again.
Hatcher mounted up and slowly pulled out ahead of her. All the way back he couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were on them.
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