Caldera

by Heath Stallcup

  Angry eyes.

  Mitch lined up the front site of his pistol with the naked woman and squeezed the trigger. As if she could read his mind, she leapt just before the barrel belched fire and sprung to the side, bouncing from tree trunk to tree trunk like a spider monkey. Mitch did his best to follow her with the barrel of the gun, firing round after round, but missing each time. Chunks of bark flew from the trunks of trees and sparks flew from the rocks on the ground as he tried to shoot the feral woman. She leapt to the side and tackle rolled, scooping up the medical tech as she rolled away from him. Mitch heard the man let loose with a squealing scream as she snatched him away into the darkness.

  “Son of a…” His head snapped from side to side trying to find her, but she had disappeared into the thick of the trees.

  A low growl snapped his attention back and to the side where Darren lay in a low crouch. “Great,” Mitch moaned as he saw his friend crawl toward him like a rabid dog. “Don’t make me shoot you, man.”

  Darren opened his mouth and a high-pitched scream emitted from his throat that made the hair on Mitch’s arms stand on end. “Oh, that ain’t right.” He brought his weapon to bear on the man and slowly shook his head. “You know what this is, right? You know what I can do with it. Please don’t make me,” Mitch pleaded. “Let me get you some help, Darren.”

  Darren snapped his teeth at him and dug his fingers into the soft earth as he prepared to leap at Mitch. Mitch groaned as he realized what was about to happen and lined up his shot. Just as Darren’s shoulders flexed for the attack, Mitch squeezed the trigger and caught the man in the chest, knocking him off center. Darren fell to the side, but quickly rolled back over and faced him, his face a mask of intense anger. He opened his mouth again and screamed even louder, this time a bloody foam forming at the corners at the end of his feral scream.

  Mitch stared in horror as he realized his friend was still going with a punctured lung, and not only was he not down, but he seemed even more intent on attacking him. Mitch brought his weapon back up and lined up on his head.

  “God, forgive me…” he muttered as he squeezed off another shot.

  Darren was just about to make another attack when the top left portion of his forehead disappeared and he fell to the ground at Mitch’s feet, his body still twitching.

  Mitch felt a sob catch in his chest and he lowered his gun. The weapon suddenly felt very heavy in his hands. He stared down at the body of his friend and coworker and his legs became very weak. Mitch felt the air leave his body, and the sky began to spin when another scream pierced the air not far from his location. Mitch was almost certain it was the large chested woman that had snagged the EMT, and he once more brought his weapon to bear. He spun in a slow circle trying to pinpoint the direction the scream had come from.

  Without her sounding off a second time, he couldn’t be certain, but he was pretty sure the sound had come from toward the creek. He brought the front site back up to the ready position and slowly made his way toward where he thought the sound originated from.

  He dropped one hand down and double checked that both spare magazines were in place. The way this crazy bitch could move, he feared he would need all the extra ammunition he could get his hands on, because he wouldn’t rest until she joined Darren in the afterlife.

  Richard drove the Jeep past the first set of campgrounds with little problems. But as they approached the second campground, it became obvious something terrible had occurred. Tents were ripped asunder and trash was scattered everywhere. Blood could be seen splattered upon some of the ripped tents, and more than one campsite burned out of control. As he tried to navigate through the debris, Bill tapped his shoulder and pointed out a pickup with a slide-in camper that was now little more than a smoldering hulk. A body lay prone across the ground in front of the truck, a bloody stump where the arm had once been.

  “This looks like a damned war zone,” Bill muttered.

  “We need to get out of here,” Richard said.

  “Where’s that road you were talking about?”

  “Over that next rise.” Richard pointed. “On the other side.”

  “Then let’s get there.” Bill checked the chamber of his pistol for the third time.

  “Hold on.” Richard accelerated the Jeep. Bill reached up and grabbed the roll bar with his free hand as the Jeep pitched over trash and harder unseen obstacles that he truly hoped were not bodies. “Jesus!” Richard swore as he nearly swerved off the road.

  “Easy, buddy,” Bill soothed as Richard compensated and guided them through the mess. “We can’t afford to wreck now.”

  “Look out!” Richard warned as a bloody, fast moving blur came at them from the side and hit the side of the Jeep hard. Bill shifted in his seat to get a better view, but whoever, or whatever that struck them had fallen back and was out of sight in the darkness, the windows now smeared with blood, further obscuring his view.

  “Did you see what it was?” Bill asked, pulling his pistol up to the ready position.

  Richard appeared shaken, and his eyes stared straight ahead. “Yes.”

  Bill waited for him to continue, but Richard continued to stare forward and drive. Bill feared the worse and prepared for the next one. He pushed the button on the dash board and rolled the window down in order to see out the side better, the dark tint obscuring his vision. Bill’s eyes scanned their flanks and part of the front of their path while Richard drove through the larger campground.

  “Holy smokes!” Richard breathed as he locked up the Jeep and the pair slid to a stop.

  Bill threw a hand out toward the dash and caught himself before he slammed into it, losing his pistol in the act. He felt it fall to the floor and smack against his ankle before resting near his foot. He almost let loose with a choice swear word before he brought his eyes up and stole a glance out the front of the windshield. At least a dozen people stood directly in their path, most at least partially covered in blood.

  “Back up!” Bill yelled as he reached to the floor for his pistol. His hands snaked around the floor until he felt the cold steel of the barrel. Richard had shifted the Jeep into reverse and gunned the engine before he could bend back up and he felt his head press into the dash once more as he fought to right himself. “Dammit to hell,” he cursed as he pulled himself back up into the seat. “Turn us around!”

  Richard spun the Jeep around and pulled the shifter into drive, gunning the engine again while Bill poked his head up through the open roof. He looked back at the group of people now giving chase. They were falling behind, but he was surely impressed by how quickly they were moving.

  “They’re going to be hard to lose!” Bill yelled into the cabin. He dropped back into his seat and turned to Richard, “Is there another way to that road?”

  Richard shook his head. “If there is, I don’t know it.” He stared hard out the windshield. He swerved the Jeep side to side to avoid the larger pieces of trash in their way and slid the Jeep around a curve in the road. “That road is the only way I know of.”

  Bill sighed heavily and shook his head. “The way I see it, we only have two choices.” He shot a sideways look at Richard. “We can either lead these crazy fuckers back to the other campgrounds and hope they’re distracted enough by the folks camping there that we can slip past ’em—”

  Richard finally broke his stare from the windshield and glanced at him. “God, no!”

  “Then we’ll have to go through them.” Bill held his pistol up and waved it. “I might be able to clear a couple of them from our paths, but we’ll still have to smash our way through the majority of them.” He shook his head again. “This thing ain’t no Hummer. It ain’t made to take that kind of impact. There’s a good chance that, if we hit a body, it’s going to smash the front end like an accordion, and we’ll be dead in the water.”

  Richard slowed the Jeep and stared at him. “We can’t lead these crazy people to unsuspecting campers, Bill. We just can’t do it.”

  Bill smiled a
t him. “At least we’re on the same page then.” He slapped Richard on the shoulder. “Turn this thing around before we get any closer to the other campground. When they show up in the headlights, slow down. It’s going to be hard enough to shoot them if we were sitting still.”

  Chapter 10

  Bob rested a while, sipping water and fighting the nausea that kept rearing its ugly head while Buck made sure his bleeding was under control. Although he wouldn’t admit it in front of his son, he knew his part of this journey was over. He had convinced Buck he would help find Lucky, and once they had caught her, the two would subdue her and then he would carry her back to the RV. Bob sighed to himself and stared up at the inky sky. Buck tried to convince him earlier that they could bring the RV to wherever they found her and pick her up, but Bob knew…he felt it inside…whatever this disease was, it was spreading. Either Lucky was spreading it, or whatever it was that gave it to his girls had already spread it throughout the park.

  Buck handed him the canteen again. “Drink some more. The more water, the better. It will help keep you hydrated and help get the Tylenol into your system faster.”

  Bob smiled and accepted the canteen. “Yes, sir,” he teased as he tilted it and took another swallow. “Let me guess, you learned that on the internet, too?”

  “Cub Scouts.” Buck settled in next to his dad.

  Bob looked at him sideways. “I never knew you were in Scouts.”

  Buck glanced away and nodded. “Two years.” He nodded slowly. “Mom used to take me while you were at work.”

  Bob felt his gut tighten at the tone of Buck’s voice. “We’re going to find her.”

  “Don’t promise, Dad.” Buck’s voice caught. “She’s already spreading the disease.”

  “We can’t know that this was because of your mom.” Bob reacted defensively. “Whatever infected her could have caused this as well.”

  Buck turned and gave Bob a look that he couldn’t interpret. “Seriously, Dad? Keri infected mom. And she’s tied up in Uncle Jerry’s RV. There’s no way she could have caused this.”

  Bob stammered a moment, then replied, “I just meant that whatever caused Keri to get infected could have, you know, spread.” He swallowed hard. “Or could have caused all these other…well, I mean, this guy—”

  “Right.” Buck stood up and wiped his pants off. “We should get going if you’re able to.” His voice all business.

  Bob sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Just give me a second to—”

  A scream sliced through the night air causing both Jennings men to suddenly freeze and stare into the woods. As each slowly turned their heads trying to figure out which direction it came from, Bob worked his way up the tree.

  “That sounded like a female,” Buck whispered. “It could be Mom.”

  “If other people are being infected, it could be anybody, son.” Bob stared into the shadows. “Don’t get your hopes up just yet.” He pulled the pistol from his waistband again and held it at his side, just in case. Buck noticed the action and gave him a dirty look. Bob noticed and grimaced. “We don’t know who it is yet, so cool your jets,” he whispered.

  They stepped away from the large tree and nearer the clearing toward the line of cars as they listened for movement. Feet could be heard running through the woods and the cracking of twigs sounded loudly as somebody or something ran haphazardly through the darkness. “Whoever it is, they aren’t trying to be quiet.” Buck whispered.

  Bob motioned to their side where the sounds seemed to be coming from. “Over there.” He pointed. “Ready your crossbow.” He ducked close to the brush. “And for the love of God, don’t shoot me this time.”

  Buck rolled his eyes and cocked the string back, then loaded another bolt. Bob motioned for him to get closer to the tree on the opposite side from him and together the two of them listened to the approaching footsteps through the forest. Whoever it was would run for a while, then stop, dart to another area and stop, run to another area and pause. It seemed they were very close. Bob held a finger to his mouth to mime being quiet as the footsteps fast approached their area.

  Bob and Buck both slipped in behind their respective trees and waited until someone burst from the undergrowth and had entered the clearing. Bob could hear grunts and pawing at the ground and he distinctly heard someone sniffing loudly. He chanced a peek from around the tree and was surprised to see a woman with long, thick, red curls down on all fours sniffing the body of the crazed man who had attacked them. She wore nothing but a dirty pair of panties and an unbuttoned flannel shirt, her bare feet cut and bleeding.

  Bob gently eased back behind the tree and, from his vantage point, he could see Buck studying the woman from behind his own tree. Bob slowly shook his head and motioned for Buck to conceal himself.

  He watched as Buck slid back behind the tree and stared at his dad, wide-eyed. They could hear the woman scratching around in the dirt and sniffing loudly before she stood up and screamed again, instantly giving both of them goosebumps. She then leapt off into the brush and through the trees once more.

  Bob let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding and slumped against his tree. His body sagged in place as the adrenaline pumps in his body shut down from the flight-or-fight mode. He nearly jumped from his skin when Buck grabbed his hand.

  “Why didn’t we kill her?” Buck asked in a soft voice.

  “Sweet Jeezus, Buck! Don’t sneak up on me like that,” Bob whispered, stealing a glance toward where the crazed woman had went. “We didn’t kill her because she’s just sick. We didn’t need to kill her.”

  Buck stared at him as if he had lost his ever-loving mind. “She’s infected, Dad. What’s to prevent her from infecting others?”

  Bob shrugged. “Nothing, I suppose. But it would be akin to murder, remember that.”

  “It would be self-defense.” Buck glared at him. “And think of the people whose lives we’d be potentially saving.”

  Bob finally gave him a solid stare. “And if everybody thought that way, your mom wouldn’t stand a chance with the first person she might run into,” he countered. “Wouldn’t you like to think that maybe she’s still alive out there?”

  Buck squared his shoulders and stared at his dad. “Only because the other people here are too stupid to know what’s really going on.” Buck turned and picked up his pack. “We still have ground to cover.”

  Bob shook his head and watched his son change into something he wasn’t sure he understood. He couldn’t believe how he could go from someone he was so proud of one moment to someone he didn’t even recognize the next. How could he be so quick to want to kill someone? Was it the video games? Was it the R-rated movies? Or did Buck know something he just wasn’t sharing with him?

  Hatcher slowed the ATV and flashed his light along the edge of the road. Shelly pulled up alongside and craned her neck to see what might have caught his attention. Daniel turned off the ignition on his ride and stepped off to investigate once more. “Find something?” Shelly asked.

  “More tracks.” Hatcher flashed his light across their path. “Moving fast.”

  Shelly shook her head. “I don’t see it.”

  Hatcher stood in the middle of the road and studied the tracks. “They’re going both directions.” He flicked his flashlight along both edges. “This isn’t making sense.”

  “Maybe they forgot their wallet,” Shelly joked.

  Hatcher ignored the comment as he went back and forth. “They went this way first.” He flashed his light to their right. “Then came back, toward the campgrounds.”

  “So, they should be back up that way, right?” Shelly asked.

  “Well…” Hatcher began as he walked to the edge of the road. “I’ve had this feeling forever that we’re being watched.” He paused and stared into the woods. “It’s possible they’re staying parallel to us.”

  Shelly gave him a shocked look. “Through those woods? With that kind of underbrush?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”r />
  “Like I said, it was just a feeling.” Hatcher stood and walked back to the ATV. As he straddled it and started it back up, Shelly could have sworn she heard something rustling through the woods, but the engine noise made it impossible to be certain. “Let’s keep going.”

  She nodded, but kept her eyes on their flanks as they continued along the road. Hatcher took another switchback that ran them the long way back towards the campgrounds with the abandoned ambulance. “The tracks seem to be headed this way,” he yelled to Shelly. “I just want to see if there’s any over here.”

  “If there was, where would they be coming from?”

  Hatcher slowed his ATV and pointed to a hill. “There’s a group of campgrounds just over that rise. They could be coming from there.”

  Shelly nodded. “So why don’t we just go there and check things out?”

  Hatcher shot her a grin. “I thought you wanted to investigate the ambulance?”

  Shelly gave him an exasperated look. “We can do that on the way back. If they dispatched a deputy, surely it’s under control.”

  “Okay then.” Hatcher pointed the ATV toward the hill and gunned the engine. “Let’s do this.”

  The duo shot through another break in the brush and came out on the backside of another campground. At first, everything seemed normal. Clean campsites and neat units soon gave way to trash-strewn areas and bloody, tattered tents. Hatcher slowed his ATV and lit up one area after another. “This is wrong.” he muttered.

  Shelly pulled up alongside of him, her mouth hanging open in shock. “What happened here?”

  Hatcher slowly shook his head. “I have no earthly idea.” He flashed his light from one campsite to another and slowly absorbed the damage. The splattered blood, destruction, and scattered trash reminded him of the tent and ambulance he encountered en route to Shelly. “I’m guessing nothing good.”

  “What do we do, Hatcher?” she asked softly as she goosed her ATV forward and swung her headlight to the side in order to light up the other side of the campground. “We’re not prepared for this.”