As cartilage shattered and fresh blood flowed forth Franklin seized the opportunity the man's anguish caused. He was finally able to use both arms to propel the man far enough away to bring his legs into position and deliver a punishing kick to the man's groin. He was driven backwards, landing hard on the floor.
Franklin sprang upright and grabbed an iron skillet from the table. He let his momentum carry him and pounced on the man, still struggling to pick himself off the floor.
"Any last words, asshole?" Franklin spat as he raised the twelve inch skillet above his head. He drove the skillet downward with such force the man's life was snuffed out in an instant.
Franklin staggered to his feet, desperate to catch his breath, but another cry from Jackie upstairs sent a renewed surge of adrenaline through his veins and propelled him up the stairs.
Not knowing what to expect Franklin hit the top of the stairs and summersaulted into an open bedroom in order to keep a low profile. The move saved his life as bullets riddled the wall at the height his head normally would have been.
Franklin knew exactly what he was looking for when he regained his bearings in the bedroom. It had been Katelyn's room at one point and Franklin had insisted she keep a firearm close by.
He warily approached the faded mattress and lifted up the left corner. He stuck his arm under and felt cold steel. Saying a silent prayer Franklin withdrew the .380 caliber pistol and checked to make sure it was loaded. It was.
Franklin got to his feet and plucked a stuffed teddy bear from the end of the bed. He carefully edged closer to the doorway. He took a deep breath, counted to three, and then chucked the bear down the hallway. The startled gunman emptied the rest of his magazine before he realized his mistake. It was all Franklin needed.
He stepped around the door and aimed the weapon directly at the man's face. "It's over, punk!" Franklin stated coldly. Without hesitating he squeezed the trigger three times, sending the man dropping to the floor like a stone as a puddle of crimson blood spread across the polished wooden floor.
"Franklin!" Jackie's voice suddenly pierced the air. "Franklin! Is that you?"
"Jackie! I'm coming babe!" Franklin stormed forward into their bedroom and was greeted by a thick Australian accent.
"Mr. Moore, take one more step and I blow your wife's brains out."
* * *
The mirror next to Jacob's head shattered as he ducked down in a desperate act of self-preservation. The bullets continued hammering against the metal skin of the vehicle until Jesse had expended his clip.
"We can do this all day!" Jesse taunted.
"You're a wicked man, Jesse!" Jacob retorted. "You can't go on like this forever!" He clutched the fourth grenade he had kept from the back of the SUV.
"Come on out and we will talk like civilized men. It's obvious you harbor great skills. It would be a shame to waste them. I could use a man like you in my operation."
"Fat chance of that!" Jacob answered back, slowly sliding upwards and pulling the pin from the grenade. "Even if you didn't just kill every last one of my friends out there I heard the stories from Franklin. You let that Aussie woman poison your mind, Jesse!"
"I'm simply reclaiming my property that Franklin stole from Adelaide. And Franklin was also responsible for leading a raid against our Louisville facility. He destroyed my property, and now I am exacting just revenge and destroying his."
Jacob activated the grenade and pitched it in Jesse's direction. He didn't bother to see where it landed. He flung open the driver's door to the SUV and launched himself inside. As the grenade went off he furiously cranked the ignition until the behemoth rig turned over.
Distracted by escaping the grenade, Jesse had no chance to pummel the SUV with his fresh magazine. Instead he took a giant leap that would have rivaled anything before seen in the Olympic games.
He landed hard and rolled around the corner of the farmhouse just as shrapnel tore through more siding on the house. Several pieces of the jagged plastic tore through the flesh of his leg.
Jacob put the vehicle in gear and floored the accelerator. The massive V8 engine roared to life as it accelerated. He aimed directly for Jesse's exposed leg sticking around the corner of the building. He was going to finish this bastard once and for all.
Just as the screaming SUV was about to reach the corner Jesse's leg disappeared in a flutter. Jacob cursed as he swung wide and came around the front of the house to see Jesse hobbling inside. In an instant he steered back to the left and brought the rig to a screeching halt, throwing sod in all directions, in front of the porch.
Jacob hastily grabbed his weapon and rushed inside.
* * *
Franklin stared in shock at the scene before him. He watched helplessly as Adelaide held onto his wife with a steel grip and kept a revolver pressed against her temple.
"Drop the gun, now!" She ordered. "Or your precious wife dies!"
Franklin slowly lowered the gun and placed it on the floor.
"Now kick it over to me!"
Franklin kicked the firearm. Adelaide quickly pushed it behind her.
"Glad to see that you have some sense of reason," she purred. "Now, let's get down to business. Do you know who I am, Franklin?"
"You're the maniac that hired Steven to kidnap my wife?"
Adelaide chuckled. "I'm the maniac that is going to let you live, today. Does that sound appealing to you?"
Franklin said nothing.
"I'm going to take that as a yes. You see Franklin, I can see you are a special man. I can see why a woman such as Jackie would be drawn to you. You are handsome, rugged, willing to walk through fire for the woman you love. You are an excellent fighter as well."
A sudden exchange of gunfire outside caused her eyes to shift out the window momentarily.
"Sounds like your American boy toy is getting his ass kicked," Franklin sneered, trying to buy time and come up with a plan.
"Jesse can take care of himself." She pressed the gun barrel tighter to Jackie's head. "Now, I believe there has been enough bloodshed here today. Even I can admit when I am beat." She beamed a weak smile.
"What do you want?" Franklin growled.
"I'm going to take dear Jackie here, and make my way out back. I'm going to get into our vehicle and leave. You will never see me again. Once I am safely inside the vehicle you can have your wife back." She began inching toward the door, nodding for Franklin to get out of the way. "Oh and you can do whatever you want with Jesse if you can catch him. I won't be bringing him back with me. He's expendable." She chuckled again as the morning breeze, through the open window, tossed her hair. "And you know what? You American boys are a big disappointment in the bedroom."
Franklin could hear increased commotion as the horde of feeders had reached the house and were no doubt making their way inside at that very moment.
"Franklin, please don't let her do this," Jackie bawled. "She's going to kill me! Don't trust her!"
Adelaide inched closer to the door. Another explosion startled her and she heard Jesse cry out.
Franklin flinched, attempting to surprise her and save his wife.
"Nu uh, Mr. Moore!" Adelaide scolded. "What did I tell you?" She fired the revolver centimeters above Jackie's head. The act nearly drained the color from Franklin's face as Jackie screamed. "You try that again and I won't miss!"
Franklin suddenly detected movement and noise behind Adelaide. Immediately recognizing it as a feeder, he began talking, hoping to distract her.
"Listen, Adelaide," he pleaded. "We can work this out. You don't need to take Jackie all the way outside with you. Just lock us in this room and we won't chase you. We don't want any more bloodshed either."
"My dear man, you Americans really are naive. Do you really think I trust you? There are weapons all over this house and there are plenty of windows and opportunities for you to kill me as soon as I turn my back. So no, Franklin, taking your wife with me is the only way to ensure I leave safely."
The
feeder was now at the top of the stairs. Franklin raised his voice in volume. "Tie us up if that helps you! There is some thick manila rope in the attic."
"I'm sorry, Franklin. I'm going to ask you to be quiet now or else..." Adelaide stopped midsentence and let out a piercing scream as the feeder latched onto her neck and sunk its teeth into her flesh. She stumbled forward and simultaneously relaxed her grip on Jackie.
Franklin sprang into action, knowing this was his only chance to save his beloved wife. But unfortunately for him, Adelaide was already in motion. She spun around and flung the rotten feeder into the room.
Jackie had barely gotten free from Adelaide's grasp when the full weight of the feeder was thrown against her body. She stumbled, fell, and smacked her face against the floor.
* * *
Jacob ran into the house frantically pursuing Jesse. He knew he couldn't get far, having an injured leg. He saw a trail of blood leading across the wooden floor and out through the back of the house and continued chasing. A sudden feminine cry, however, stopped him in his tracks. He quickly changed course and ran upstairs as fast as he could.
* * *
The feeder landed squarely on top of Jackie, pinning her to the floor. Before Franklin could react Adelaide had leveled the gun at the feeder's head and emptied the cylinder into its corpse. She clutched her bleeding neck with one hand as the bullets made short work of the creature.
Franklin heard Jackie cry out in agonizing pain and he immediately realized what had happened. He was speechless. He couldn't even find the words to scream at Adelaide.
"Oops," Adelaide sighed, trying to bear the pain of her bite. "I told you not to try anything..."
Out of nowhere the rushing figure of Jacob stormed into the bedroom like an angry bull. He knocked Adelaide across the room like a ragdoll.
Franklin was immobilized by shock as he watched Jacob grab Adelaide by her long hair and drag her to the open window.
"You no good Australian bitch!" He shouted.
Adelaide had no chance to defend herself. She merely screamed as Jacob hoisted her through the open window and dropped her like a sack of potatoes. She plummeted to the ground quickly.
The fall wasn't enough to kill her. But she very quickly became aware of a new fiery pain spreading throughout her body. She weakly lifted her head and gasped in shock to see a large metal fence post, used to hold up a flimsy fence for one of Jackie's flower gardens, protruding from her gut.
"Oh God..." She gurgled, as blood began oozing from her mouth. As she attempted to clear her throat of the rising liquid she became aware of the mass of feeders descending upon her position.
Adelaide managed to let out one last blood curdling scream as the hungry monsters began ravaging her flesh. The once beautiful Australian woman, that was the envy of every man she ever met, was now being ripped apart. The feeders stripped the skin from her body, tore ragged chunks of flesh from her sides, devoured her entrails, and ripped limbs from her body.
Upstairs Franklin yanked the dead feeder off his wife and cradled her in his arms. Multiple bullet holes riddled her chest.
"My love," Franklin sobbed, "I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen. I failed you!"
Jackie's eyes were glazing over as she looked deeply into her husband's eyes. "You didn't fail me. You are my hero."
The sudden sound of an engine starting up caused Jacob to cry out, "It's Jesse! He's getting away! Franklin, we have to go now! We can't let him escape!"
"Jackie..." Franklin choked, tears streaming down his face.
"Go.... Get Jesse now," Jackie wheezed, as her eyes glazed over. "Go get him for me." With those last words Jackie's organs shut down and she ceased moving in Franklin's arms.
"Jacob?" Franklin asked.
"Yes?"
"Get me to Jesse. We are going to end him." A fire burned so fiercely in his eyes as he picked up his wife's body and carried her to the door. The passion, fervor, and anger could not have been etched into his face anymore as he said, "It's time to end this!"
XXI
Jesse cried out in pain as a pothole forced down the left tire, slamming his injured leg against the vehicle door. The impact drove a piece of shrapnel another centimeter deeper into his flesh. He bit down on his tongue in a futile attempt to ease the excruciating feeling in his leg and concentrate on driving.
For all Jesse knew, Adelaide was history. He could still hear her piercing screams of agony reverberating through his mind. Starting to bleed through the screams were silent convictions of defeat; it was nearly over. But Jesse wasn't quite ready to succumb.
He entered a straight section of road and sped up, gripping the wheel tighter to maintain control on the leaf covered asphalt. As he approached fifty miles-per-hour his left mirror suddenly shattered. Startled, he looked behind him and saw a bright red pickup gaining fast.
* * *
"Save your ammo!" Jacob cautioned, as he struggled to keep the pick up under control. The slick mat of withered vegetation covering the road caused the vehicle to constantly fishtail.
Franklin seemed to ignore Jacob's order and he leaned out the open window again. In a furious rage he fired off four more shots that all missed their target.
"Franklin, I'm serious!" Jacob scolded, as he reached over and pulled Franklin back inside the cab. "If we're going to do this, we do it right! You got that?"
Franklin grunted in return as he slumped back into the passenger's seat. He pulled a box of ammunition from the glove compartment and refilled his magazine.
Jacob suddenly braked hard, as he saw Jesse veer sharply onto a narrow gravel access road, disappearing into a dense landscape of vegetation.
"Watch where you're going!" Franklin scolded, as the vehicle sideswiped an old stop sign.
"Do you want me to lose him?" Jacob retorted, struggling to maintain control as he fishtailed on a mat of leaves.
Franklin said nothing, instead gripping his seat tighter and staring straight ahead. Wringing Jesse's scrawny neck consumed his every thought. Yes, he was going to pull that boy apart piece by piece.
"Holy shit!" Jacob exclaimed, as the body of a feeder smashed into the grill. The pulverized creature was flung upward, smacking the windshield. An array of spider web cracks branched out from the point of impact. Jacob instinctively let off the accelerator, still trying regain his composure.
"He's getting away!" Franklin screamed, pointing ahead. A dozen feeders suddenly stumbled out of the thick growth, surrounding the slowing vehicle. "Floor it!"
Jacob snapped back to reality, and sped up once again, pulverizing multiple feeders and placing large dents in the front of the vehicle. It bounced about, throwing its occupants in all directions as the suspension struggled to absorb the vast differences in terrain caused by the mass of carcasses.
Franklin hastily rolled down his window and aimed his weapon at the skull of a feeder that emerged from the thicket. He squeezed the trigger and the round penetrated the feeder's skull. Cranial matter spewed out from behind, coating the foliage in a thick rotten sludge.
Jacob's driving skills eventually pulled them free of the ever growing number of monsters, and he sped onward. Surely Jesse was still on the run; there weren't any obvious turnouts on the narrow forest road. He occasionally stuck his head out the window to avoid the large cracks that obscured his vision, while simultaneously looking for offshoots to follow.
"I think we lost him," Franklin grumbled several minutes later.
"Those damn feeders slowed us down," Jacob sighed in agreement. "If only..." He slammed on the brakes and Franklin's face plowed into the dashboard.
"What the hell is your problem?" Franklin exclaimed.
"Look there on the right!" Jacob said, ignoring the hostility in Franklin's voice. "Small gravel road with some overgrown weeds. But what do you see?"
Franklin surveyed the scene in front of him. "Looks like... Holy crap! Fresh tire marks smashed down those weeds!"
Jacob didn't need a second bidding a
nd he quickly steered the rig onto the narrow path. "Are you familiar with any of this area?" He asked.
"I don't have any clue what is even ten miles through these trees."
The ride continued in silence for several minutes, save for the noisy spraying of gravel in the wheel wells and the protest of the worn out shocks as every bump tested their limits.
After seeing no sign of Jesse for several miles Franklin finally said, "Maybe it was a fluke. After all, maybe one of Adelaide's goons drove down this road earlier to lure the feeders to our compound."
"Just a couple more minutes..." Jacob muttered, his voice trailing off. He suddenly stopped the vehicle and turned off the ignition.
"What is it? Jacob, we're losing time!"
"Quiet!" He leaned out the window and cupped his hand to his ear. "There it is again!" He cried, as the unmistakable shrill whistle of a locomotive cut through the dense forest.
"Hot diggity, that has to be where Jesse is going! They must have used a train to get into position for the ambush today!"
Jacob accelerated like a bat out of hell, sliding precariously around corners. Franklin clutched his seat in a death grip as the scenery flew by in a frightening blur. It took a lot to scare him, and Jacob's furious speed certainly pushed boundaries.
Without warning the vegetation suddenly melted away and before them was a large gravel pit. Numerous abandoned construction rigs littered the landscape, while scattered tools lay in heaps. The derelict worksite was offset by an organized loading platform, from which a line of mismatched rail cars splayed out from an ancient looking steam locomotive and two refurbished passenger cars.
The train whistle sounded again and the two hundred ton behemoth squealed in protest as it began to inch forward on the track. Jacob's homicidal driving suddenly took a turn for the worst as the slick gravel made contact with the tires. In an effort to reach the platform before the train gained too much speed he lost control and the vehicle fishtailed, spraying gravel and dust in all directions.
As the vehicle continued to pivot, the forward momentum caused it to flip over and roll several times across the gravel. Franklin, not being buckled in, was tossed about like a rag doll. Jacob, on the other hand, simply rotated with every revolution of the vehicle, his body straining against the seat belt.
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