Further ahead, she could see a few more people standing outside of their cars. Many opened their doors and stood, trying to get a glimpse of the commotion ahead. A few moved between the cars, against the traffic. They looked over their shoulders nervously as they ran.
They made Liv nervous. What were they running from? Had they just left their cars standing on the highway? What would cause them to do that?
Between the cars, two paramedics limped, their arms thrown around each other for support. Considering the way they hobbled, at least one of them had to be hurt, but their dark-blue uniforms hid the signs of any wounds.
Liv’s heart began to race. Why were people out of their cars? Why were they running through the road? What was up ahead? Was it a gunman? Some crazy person who had a problem with the world who had decided to show everyone just how angry he was. Her mind began to run wild with imaginary scenarios.
She turned around once again and snagged the baby carrier off the backseat. It had been months since she had used it, having left it forgotten on the floorboards. At first, the thing had seemed like a cumbersome mass of straps and buckles, but now she could tease everything into place almost without looking.
As she turned back to the front, she found that one of the paramedics had collapsed. His partner was hunched over next to the car in front of hers. He desperately tried to resuscitate his partner as other ran by, seemingly unfazed by their distress.
What is happening? Her mind raced. On the ground to her left, a man had stumbled and fallen. Blood covered the front of his shirt and poured from a wound in his neck onto the concrete. It pooled around him as he lay unmoving.
All around her, people were getting out of their cars. Some further ahead were running away, some brave souls were running towards the chaos. Those still in their cars looked around in confusion, some pulled out their cell phones.
Then it struck Liv. She should call 911. Certainly others had already done this, but she had to be certain. The paramedics and surely others needed help. While she couldn’t leave Elli, she could at least do something to help. Her fingers shook as she punched the three simple numbers on her phone. The phone hadn’t even reached her ear before it stopped. Dumbstruck, she stared at the device trying to comprehend what she was hearing.
A busy signal.
Nine-one-one was ringing busy.
Her heart felt like it would beat straight out of her chest, and every muscle in her body tensed up. Something very wrong was happening. She looked back up helplessly at the paramedic pair. The resuscitation efforts had become panicked.
Without warning, the injured man reached up and pulled his partner into a tight embrace. The partner struggled to break free, his screams chilled Liv to the bone. Her hands flew up and clamped tightly over her mouth, holding back the scream that rose in her throat.
In a flash, the injured paramedic latched onto his partner’s neck, his teeth sinking in deep. The injured paramedic pulled his head away with a vicious yank. He didn’t let go of his partner. As he pulled, a large chunk of flesh was ripped away as well. Spurts of arterial blood painted the side of the car as the injured paramedic ripped into his partner.
“Oh god!” The image was burned into Liv’s brain. The flesh stretching and tearing, ripping into a bloody, jagged hunk. Despite her horror, Liv could not pry her eyes away from the two men.
All Liv could do was watch as the man’s screams went silent and he fell limp. The injured paramedic fumbled to get himself out from under his lifeless partner. A bit clumsy, as though in a drunken haze, the man eventually pushed his partner’s lifeless body to the side and pulled himself up.
His face was smeared with blood. He paid no attention to the body at his feet, the body of the man who had tried to help him. His attention turned to the car next to him. His fingers left bloody streaks across the window as he beat and clawed at the edges. He was growing more agitated with each passing second. His open hands curled into fists that beat on the car’s window as he screamed and howled.
The gruesome spell cast by the scene in front of her was broken as more movement nearby caught her attention. All around her now, people were running. She could hear screams over the low drone of the radio.
People weren’t just running. They were being hunted. Savage beasts wearing human suits streaked in crimson. Their lips curled back in macabre smiles, their arms outstretched as they grasped at their prey. Some bore grisly wounds. Many staggered on mangled legs, but some sprinted with frightening speed. Their movements were quick and lurching. They twitched at every sound, spinning to face it before dashing off.
A figure rose up from between the cars. Liv hadn’t even seen her fall. A woman with shoulder-length jet-black hair, dressed in a silvery-gray business suit. Red was smeared across her face and right hand. Where her left hand should have been was empty space. A dark-red stain ran down the side of her suit, and ragged bits of flesh dangled from her left shoulder. As she and Liv locked eyes, her lips pulled back in a sneer and she sprinted towards the car.
Panic finally goaded Liv into action. She thrust the car door opened with such force that it slammed into the car next to her and wedged there. She jammed the car keys and cell phone into her pocket as she yanked open the back door. With deft fingers, she pulled the straps of the carrier into place across her chest.
Outside the car, the chaos became all the more evident. The screams were louder, nearer now. Gunfire rang out, echoing between the cars and across the asphalt. Footsteps pounded against the pavement.
It was too much. There was too much happening. Too many sounds. Screaming and snarling. Fighting and footsteps. Car horns. Gunfire. Squealing tires. Crunching metal. Liv clapped her hands over her ears and futilely tried to drown out the sounds.
Elli’s cries pierced through them all. She had not stopped wailing since the car had stopped, but her cries had transformed from angry protests to panic and fear. Liv dove into the backseat to retrieve her daughter.
The five-point harness that held her in the car seat and provided greater security in the event of a collision now seemed like a cumbersome death trap as Liv frantically struggled to unbuckle her. When the straps finally gave way, Liv pulled Elli out of the seat and slid her into the baby carrier.
In a few short seconds, the monster woman had already reached the front car door. A gurgling growl emanated from her throat as she gnashed her teeth together. She scratched at the door, trying to pull it towards her and out of the way. It was as if she had forgotten how a car door worked, that it would only open so far.
Though the door was wedged tight, it shuddered as the woman leaned against it. Liv grabbed the diaper bag off the backseat and ran around the back of the car. Ahead of her car, the second paramedic was once again up and had joined his partner in pummeling the small sedan.
How is he standing? Liv’s mind swirled with confusion. She had seen him get his throat ripped out. How could he possibly be moving around still?
The driver’s window shattered in a shower of shimmering pieces of glass. A woman’s shriek pierced the air and her hands flew up to combat the paramedic as he reached into the vehicle. A small head appeared over the edge of the backseat. A small girl about four years old with a mess of blonde hair and a tear-streaked face cried from inside the car and pounded on the back window.
Liv’s chest ached as she locked eyes with the terrified child. She stepped towards the car. She couldn’t just leave that child. She had to do something. The thump of the car door closing brought her attention back to her car. The woman had finally managed to push the door closed. The second door, not wedged like the first, quickly closed when the woman leaned against it. Now she ran towards Liv around the back of the car.
Another loud smash followed by the soft tinkling of glass. The second paramedic was wriggling in through the driver’s-side back window. The shrill screams tore into Liv’s soul like a knife through butter. A jet of red sprayed the inside of the window, and suddenly the screaming stopped. After o
ne final glance, Liv ran.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wove between the cars and headed back toward the bridge. Colin was on the other side and she desperately wanted him with her. But the sight ahead stopped Liv in her tracks.
The cars were packed tightly together, leaving barely enough room to squeeze through. The lanes on the bridge were narrow. Between the cars, people ran as they tried to escape. The monsters pounded on windows and darted between the cars looking for their next victims.
Then she saw it. A man leapt from the bridge, his shirt billowing up and behind him as his body entered the open air. Liv’s heart stopped and a new sense of dread took hold. His arms and legs pinwheeled as the man dropped out of sight below the bridge. Another figure, another man, ran into the bridge’s railing at full speed, the momentum pushing his body over the edge. He tumbled head first after the first man towards the water.
Her mind was blank as she watched the two men fall, though she was grateful that they disappeared from her sight before slamming into the water several hundred feet below. The first man had thrown himself to certain death to escape a greater fear behind him.
Suddenly, her mind whirled into action again. If she was going to survive, if Elli was going to survive, she couldn’t let the fear overtake her. She had to think, had to act.
Everything was happening so fast. How had they already gotten behind her? The screams seemed to come from everywhere, echoing between the cars and threatening to unravel the very fiber of her being.
The bridge was a death trap. It spanned about half a mile before opening up again on the other side. Maneuvering between the cars would be difficult, even if there weren’t monsters and other people to get around. As one of them took notice of her, Liv darted to the side, heading off the highway.
The tall grass pulled at her feet, threatening to tangle around her shoes as she ran. At the edge of the narrow field stood tall oaks matted with dense shrubs and bushes. The cover was a welcome sight compared to the claustrophobia of the highway and the open vulnerability of the field.
Normally, Liv would have avoided the dense underbrush for fear of ticks, mites, spiders, snakes, and other critters that liked to hide there, but now, without hesitation, she threw herself into the foliage, one arm wrapped around Elli’s head for protection, the other outstretched to part the branches.
The seclusion of the trees helped to calm Liv’s racing mind. Her pace had slowed down from a frenzied dash to a brisk walk as Elli’s cries had turned into gasping hiccups. Liv dug around in the diaper bag and found her prize, a binky. Elli took it and laid her head on Liv’s chest as she simultaneously gnawed on the binky and continued to protest what had happened.
Liv’s fingers trickled across the child’s head as she sang softly, “Let’s go fly a kite…” Immediately Elli quieted. The song never failed. Whenever Elli began thrashing against a diaper change or got frustrated and couldn’t calm herself down, the song would always stop her in her tracks.
A chime from her pocket nearly scared Liv out of her skin. Hastily, she fished the small square of plastic out of her pocket. “Jorden” was scrawled across the phone, accompanied by a picture of her sister. Her sister’s heart-shaped face was framed by silky, cinnamon locks that cut off abruptly at her jaw. In the picture, Jorden slept curled around an infant Elli, one of Elli’s tiny hands resting tenderly against Jorden’s cheek.
Liv mercilessly mashed the green button on the screen to pick up the call.
“Liv! Oh my god, Liv! Where are you? Have you seen what’s happening?” Jorden spoke so quickly her words merged together, her tone a few octaves higher than usual.
“We…” Liv didn’t know how to describe what had just happened. “What is going on?” The words came out as a hoarse croak.
“I don’t know. I don’t know!” Tears made Jorden’s voice thick. “Jay and I were out getting groceries. The store was a disaster. There were so many people. And then…then…everyone just started eating each other. Liv, you have to take Elli and Colin and get out. Get away from the city.”
Tears rolled down Liv’s cheeks and she fought back the sobs that leapt to her throat. “I’m with Elli.” Her voice was barely a whisper when she managed to speak again. “We were on the Boone Bridge when things got bad. We barely made it out of there.”
“Oh god, are you alright?” A horrified gasp escaped Jorden’s lips. “Is Elli alright? I don’t hear her crying.” The panic was rising in her voice once again.
“She’s fine,” Liv said quickly. “We’re both fine.”
“Thank god. Listen,” Jorden sighed. “Jay and I are going to head back to the house. We’re going to get his mom and the boys and then we’re heading out to Slag Stead. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think it’s best to get away for a while. You should meet us out there. Do you remember where it is?”
Slag Stead was an old farm just a little east of Troy, a town northwest of St. Louis. Before Elli was born, Jorden and Liv had enjoyed going on late-night drives. They never went anywhere particular, just drove around, talking and exploring and relaxing. One of those nights, Jorden had driven them out to look at the stars, brighter in a sky uncluttered by city lights. As they had left Troy behind, Jorden had talked about the farm. It was a small—at least by farming standards—chunk of land owned by a family friend of Jay’s. They hadn’t driven up the narrow, unpaved path to the house proper, but Jorden had pointed it out as they passed by.
“I think so,” Liv said slowly as she tried to recall the route they had taken.
“I’ll send you directions. Just go!” Jorden insisted. She hesitated for just a moment before speaking again. “I have to call Mom and Dad. Just promise me you’ll go to Slag Stead.”
Liv didn’t want to stay here. If a few brief moments, her entire world had been shattered. The quiet, safe suburb had suddenly become a place of fear and violence.
“I’ll see you there.”
“Stay safe, Liv. I’ll see you soon.”
“Stay safe, Jorden.”
Liv stared at the phone until the call ended. Not wanting to let her sister go. Her voice, though frightened, had been familiar and soothing. She wanted to call her parents, to hear her mother’s voice, but she didn’t want to tie up the phone lines. Jorden had to tell them where to go.
Colin.
She had to warn Colin. She hadn’t been very far from his work when everything had happened. It wouldn’t take long for the monsters to make their way to Chesterfield from the bridge. Her fingers felt awkward and clumsy as she pounded the buttons to call him.
The phone rang a few times. “Hello.”
“Colin, you have to get out of there.” Relief flooded through her just to hear the simple greeting. “Something bad—really, really bad—is going on. They were all over the place. Traffic was stopped and they were breaking into people’s cars and chasing them. There was so much blood! Elli and I barely made it out and I couldn’t save her…” Liv’s words turned to sobs as her brain struggled to convey what had happened intelligibly.
“Liv, slow down. I can hardly understand you. What happened? Are you alright? Is Elli alright?” The alarm in his voice was blatant.
“They’re zombies, Colin! There are fucking zombies on the bridge!” The words hung in the air.
Zombies.
They were fictional abominations that belonged in movies and books, not reality. Liv’s brain finally kicked into action, as if the label had made everything finally make sense.
“I don’t know if they were actually dead or alive. One woman was missing an arm. Her whole damn arm had been ripped from the socket. She came after Elli and I like a deranged maniac! People were getting pulled out of their cars and running everywhere. People are dying. A paramedic killed his partner and then”—Liv’s voice caught as she thought about the little girl looking out the back window of the car, pleading for help—“they attacked a woman and her child in the car ahead of us. Colin, it could have been me and Elli.”
> “Liv, just take a deep breath—”
“I don’t need to take a deep breath, Colin!” Liv shrieked into the phone. Realizing that she might attract unwanted attention, she lowered her voice. “I don’t know what is happening, but it is something really, really bad. I need you to trust me on this.” Her voice became pleading.
“Alright,” he said gently. “Where are you?”
“I don’t know.” Liv’s shoulders sagged. “We ran from the highway. We’re in a wooded area just past the bridge before the next exit.”
“Alright, call the police. I’ll come and find you. Are there—”
“I tried that!” Frustration crept into her voice once again. “Nine-one-one rang busy. Colin, this is serious. The newsfeeds are going nuts but nothing makes sense. The radio says there are riots at hospitals across the city. Whatever is happening is happening fast. We have to do something. Jorden and Jay are going out to Slag Stead. We should go too.”
“Liv, just let me come and get you. We’ll get this figured out.” She could tell Colin was still unsure that drastic action was warranted.
“We have to do something!” she shouted into the phone. “You haven’t seen it yet, but you will. Just check your fucking phone. The radio has already picked it up and it’s all over social media. It’ll be there. They may not be calling them zombies, but something terrible is happening. Unless we want to end up like the people on the bridge, we have to do something.” She stopped and her voice softened. “Please just close the store, get everyone out, and head for Slag Stead. Maybe it will all blow over in a couple of days, but at least we will know we’re safe.”
“Ok,” Colin said, not with resignation but with trust. “But I’m coming to you and Elli. We’ll do this together.”
“Please be safe.” Liv fought back the tears. “I’ll call you when I figure out exactly where we are.”
Devour: Death & Decay Book 1 Page 2