Desolate - The Complete Trilogy

by Robert Brumm

  They peered around the corner into the lobby, surprised to see the rear patio doors still intact. Dave motioned for Howard to stay put before he slid farther into the room and looked into the foyer. A few panes of glass from the front door lay shattered on the floor below. He could make out some movement on the other side of the frosted glass.

  They hurried silently through the lobby and into the kitchen. Dave grabbed one of the serving carts along the wall and wheeled it over to the walk-in freezer. They loaded it up with as much meat as the cart could handle – ribs, roasts, hamburger, steaks, chickens–the works.

  “I have a feeling they’d prefer to munch on us, but hopefully this will be a big enough distraction for us to get away.” Dave perched a ham on the top of the pile of frozen animal flesh and pushed the cart toward the doors. “We gotta get as many away from the front door as we can in order to make a run for the van.”

  They were about to go through the doors into the lobby when Dave stopped. “Hold on a sec, I got an idea.”

  He went back into the kitchen and opened the walk-in fridge. Most of the food in there spoiled a long time ago. Dave held his breath as the rancid air hit his face. On the back shelf where the meat was stored he picked up a huge twenty-pound tube of packaged ground beef. It was probably moved in there to thaw and to say it was past its expiration date was a huge understatement. A thick pool of sticky dark blood collected on the tray below it. Dave picked up the tube, his fingers sinking into the rotting mess and hoped they wouldn’t pierce the thin plastic wrapping.

  Howard covered his nose with the crook of his arm. “What the hell are you doing with that?”

  Dave held up the meat and grinned. “Little biological warfare, brother. Stink bomb. I have a feeling this nasty shit will bring ‘em in for miles around.”

  They pushed the cart past the lobby and down the hall to the far end of the hotel. The coast was clear on the ballroom patio. They tossed the packages of meat all over the patio before going back inside and locking the door behind them. Dave still had the ground beef.

  “You go back to the room and tell the others to get ready. I’m gonna to try and get most of those buggers to run over to this side of the building. When you hear three shots from my handgun, make a run for the van. Blast anything in your way.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll catch up. Just start it up and get ready to haul ass.”

  Dave stood at the second floor window at the end of the hall, directly over the ballroom patio. He carefully set down the tube of meat, grimacing at his red and sticky hands. “Could’ve carried it on the tray, dumbass,” he muttered to himself. He unlatched the pair of windows and opened them before setting the meat on the window ledge.

  He wiped off his hands on his pants and pulled the Benelli off his shoulder. “Here goes nothing.” He aimed the shotgun at the window ledge, took a deep breath, and fired.

  “What’s taking so long?” Ann whispered. She sat nervously in the chair by the door, her foot bouncing rapidly up and down.

  “Sit tight. We need to wait for the signal.”

  Howard looked through the peephole again, seeing nothing but the distorted imaged of the doors across the hall. A tremendous boom exploded from the other side of the building. Everybody jumped.

  “That’s it!” Tre said. “Les go!”

  Howard held up his hand. “Not yet! He said three shots from his handgun.”

  “Same ting, mon! Get out the way.”

  “Hold on. Shhh. Shut up.”

  They all stood quietly at the door, straining to hear what sounded like shouting from upstairs. The seconds ticked by, agonizingly slow, before three controlled shots finally rang out from upstairs.

  “Now we go!” Howard opened the door and quickly looked both ways, his rifle at the ready.

  They ran down the hallway. Tre carried a duffel bag with two gallon jugs of boiled rainwater and whatever canned goods they had in the suite. Soo held Emily’s hand and her own AR-15 in the other. Ann carried a bagful of ammunition and first-aid supplies.

  Howard paused by the front door. “Everybody get ready to run for the van.” He unlatched the lock, cracked open the door, and raised his rifle.

  The blast from Dave’s shotgun did exactly what he hoped it would do. The plastic-wrapped tube of meat, as well as a good portion of the window frame, exploded. Meat sprayed outward onto the patio below, covering the entire area in foul-smelling rotted flesh.

  Dave stuck his head out the window and slapped his hands on the aluminum shutters. “Over here you assholes! Come and get it!” The creatures were already swarming from all directions below, attracted by the rotten funk and packages of meat below. They ignored Dave for the time being as they fought over the limited food supply.

  There were more of them down there than he imagined and he could only hope most, if not all, would take the bait. Satisfied he’d waited long enough, he pulled out his handgun and pointed it at feeding frenzy below. He slowly fired three shots, making each one count, hitting three targets on the patio below.

  Howard pushed the door shut immediately as a flash of movement sped past the doorway, a few of the creatures galloping toward the commotion on the other side of the building. He exhaled and eased open the door, trusting the others would follow. He reached the shuttle van, yanking the keys out of his pocket as he ran, and opened the driver’s side door. Soo and Emily were right behind him but Tre and Ann were nowhere in sight.

  “What the hell? What happened those two?”

  Soo helped Emily into the van and looked back. “I have no idea! I thought they were right behind me.”

  “Get in and start it up. Stay down. I’ll be right back.” Howard sprinted back into the lobby, calling their names.

  It didn’t take long for the assortment of semithawed meat out on the patio to be consumed. Most of the creatures stormed the interior of the hotel now that the scraps were gone. The smell of man was strong and all it took was one of the hunters to break one of the ballroom windows and jump inside. The others followed, hungry for fresh meat.

  Ann was poised at the front door, ready to follow Howard, when she realized she’d left behind her only remaining possession in the world that mattered to her. It was an old locket her grandmother had given her before she died. Inside the locket Granny had kept a picture of her holding Ann when she was just a few hours old.

  Ann treasured the locket more than anything, but it was large and she didn’t wear it all the time. She realized she’d left it in the front pocket of one of her other pairs of shorts, probably lying in a pile in the corner of her room. She ran back to the suite and Tre followed.

  Ann furiously looked through the pile of clothes on the floor, panic rising, but knowing she wouldn’t forgive herself for leaving the locket behind. Finally, her hand brushed against something hard among the soft clothes; she grabbed the locket.

  Tre stood nervously at the door, aiming his rifle out into the living room of the suite. He thought he’d heard a crashing sound out in the hall. “Hurry, girl! We got ta go!”

  “I’ve got! Let’s get out of here.”

  A pack of creatures swarmed into the suite, following the strong odor of man filling every corner of the rooms. Tre opened fire with his AR-15. He managed to kill the first one through the door and wounded several behind it. There was strength in numbers however, and the group continued to charge. They’d learned early about the danger of firearms. Initially, a single shot was all it took to make them scatter after they’d seen one of their brothers fall. But the creatures were quick to adapt. They discovered that men could only shoot one at a time, and if their numbers were great enough, even the mightiest of guns was no match for a large group attack.

  Tre quickly emptied the twenty-round magazine into the horde as it swarmed the rooms. He dropped the rifle and tried to close the bedroom door, but they were too fast. The door flew open with tremendous force and Tre flew back onto the floor. The first creature through the doorway
landed on him, ripping open his throat with its razor sharp mandibles. Three more were on him in an instant.

  Ann stood with her back pressed into a corner of the room, too shocked to scream, too terrified to move. She watched in horror as her friend was torn to pieces. Just seconds earlier, he was talking, breathing, thinking, living. Now he was reduced to a bloody mess on the white carpeting of her bedroom.

  She held a Berretta 9mm in her right hand and Granny’s locket in the other. At last, the gun training and practice on the beach with Dave would pay off. She didn’t panic. She knew exactly what to do from countless dry runs and the gun felt comfortable in her hand. She made sure the safety was off, already knew a round was in the chamber because she’d checked earlier.

  More hunters swarmed the room, spotting Ann in the corner. The lead one charged, leaping across the room and launching off the bed. Ann calmly pulled the trigger, hitting her target with ease.

  For a split second, before the barbs, before the claws, before the jaws–before the hollow point bullet evaporated the left side of her skull and the contents within– she had a final and terrifying thought. She was going home, but would Granny be there waiting for her on the other side?

  Fourteen

  Howard had only a second to feel the crushing blow of helplessness and despair as he watched from the lobby as the swarm rushed the suite. He heard the gunshots, the squealing creatures, followed by the screams of his friends. The creatures in the tail end of the horde spotted him and charged.

  For the second time that day, Howard ran for his life. He tried not to think that all it would take was for him to trip on the large area rug beneath this feet, slip on the smooth tile in front of the door, or twist his ankle as he rounded the corner outside to reach the van. Because all they needed was the smallest of openings and they would be on him, ripping him to shreds.

  Soo saw him coming and scrambled into the back seat to open the door. Howard hit the van in full stride, smashing his shin against the door frame and his face into his rifle as he ran into the back of the seats. Soo slid the door shut just seconds before the hoard slammed into the side of the vehicle. She thought for a terrible moment the force of the impact might actually tip over the van. Emily screamed. Howard shouted something from the floor of the van as he tried to untangle himself. One of the rear windows broke. The roar outside the van was deafening. Claws and teeth, mandibles and flesh, pounded and scratched and clawed against steel and glass.

  “What happened? Where are they?” Soo shrieked.

  “Gone,” Howard managed between gasps. “They’re gone.”

  “What? No!” Another rear window shattered.

  “We have to get out of here, now!”

  After what felt like minutes, Soo finally climbed into the driver’s seat. She shoved the van into gear and floored it, shaking off only about half of the creatures. Some still hung on by any crack or crevice they could hook into. One of them attempted to crawl through the broken rear window before Howard shoved his rifle into its face and pulled the trigger. The gunshot inside the vehicle was deafening but effective.

  Soo drove around the circle driveway, fighting the overwhelming urge to keep the accelerator to the floor, and steered back toward the front of the hotel. Dave stood on the awning over the front door, waving his arms like a mad man.

  “What the hell?” Soo gasped. “What should I do?”

  Dave stood at the edge and frantically pointed to the driveway below him.

  “Pull up there,” Howard said. “I think he wants to jump onto the roof.”

  Soo swerved to miss one creature but hit another head on, crushing it under the front wheels. She floored the van and plowed into the swarm below Dave. She slowed down as much as she dared and was relieved to hear the loud thud as Dave hit the van’s roof. He pounded with his fist and Soo floored it.

  The creatures swarmed the van again. Soo jumped the curb of the driveway and ran over the shrubs. For a moment she thought they were stuck as the vehicle slowed and the engine struggled. It managed to break free and Soo regained control, steering the van back onto the driveway and heading for the gates.

  The last straggler fell off the van moments before they smashed through the front gates of the resort. Soo turned onto the A-1, heading east toward Montego Bay. The trail of creatures on the highway had thinned, the closest being at least a hundred yards away, so Soo stopped.

  Dave slid off the roof and hopped into the van. His triumphant grin faded. “Where’s Tre and Ann?”

  Fifteen

  Soo couldn’t stop sobbing. She pulled over and crawled into the back seat so Dave could drive. Howard pulled Soo close on one side and Emily on the other, comforting them. He told Soo again there was nothing they could have done. He said it to Soo, but meant it mostly for himself. Maybe he could have done something differently. Maybe they had been still alive in there, fighting them off, and he just left them behind.

  “Hey,” Dave snapped. He looked at Soo in the rearview mirror. “Plenty of time for crying later. I need you to get your shit together. Okay Soo? Don’t fall apart on me now, girl.”

  Soo wiped her eyes and nodded. “Sorry.”

  Dave’s face softened and he let out a big sigh. “I know it hurts. We’ll talk about it over beers on that fancy yacht of yours. Right now we all need to stay frosty until we get out of this mess.”

  He swerved to avoid another creature in the road. As they got closer to town, the numbers increased. Dave pulled off the A-1 onto The Queens Drive, heading downtown to the harbor.

  Howard leaned forward, staring out the windshield. “Oh, my god. They’re everywhere.”

  Their numbers had to be in the thousands now. In every direction they looked–every side street, every alley, every lawn and parking lot– the creatures roamed.

  “And they’re homing in on us like flies to dog shit,” Dave said. “Take a look behind us.”

  Howard turned around. Dozens ran after the van, trying to keep up. As the streets grew more narrow and filled with cars and debris, Dave found it difficult to maintain a speed to stay ahead of them.

  “Turn up there,” Soo shouted. “That’ll take us down by the harbor.”

  Dave did a hard right, just missing a parked car. They crested the hill and had a clear view of the harbor below. A docked cruise ship dominated the horizon. On the other side of the bay, the marina of the yacht club held the keys to their salvation. Dozens of boats of all sizes waited for them. Soo studied the boats, trying to find an ideal candidate before they arrived at the docks, to save time.

  Dave cursed and slammed on the brakes. The yacht club was on a small peninsula off the mainland and only one road led to it. A fire had consumed the entire area. It had long burned out, but not before weakening the foundation of a four-story building, causing it to collapse. It completely blocked the one and only road to the marina.

  The van had stopped just long enough for the following swarm of creatures to catch up. Dave shifted into reverse and attempted a Y turn as they attacked the vehicle. He accelerated and plowed through a group of them before they started leaping out of the way.

  Howard leaned forward and pointed. “What about that one?” A yacht sat anchored a hundred yards off shore beyond the cruise ship.

  “How in the hell are we supposed to get to it, genius?” Dave asked. “And why is it even sitting out there?”

  “That’s at least an eighty footer,” Soo answered. “They probably anchored it there and took the tender to shore. A lot easier than trying to dock it.”

  “All we have to do is get to the water,” said Howard. “We already know they won’t follow.”

  “Shit.” Dave muttered under his breath.

  More of them streamed down the hill to join the chase. It seemed every single one of them in town was now after them. He took a hard left, pushing the van’s center of gravity to the limit as the tires squealed in protest.

  The yacht sat almost directly off shore. Speeding directly alongside the c
ruise ship at forty miles an hour, Dave saw the road end abruptly at the end of the dock. The creatures behind couldn’t keep up at that speed, but hundreds swarmed from the left. Within seconds they would be in the van’s path.

  “Okay,” he called. “We’re gonna swim for it, going in hard. We won’t have time to stop at the edge and jump in.”

  “Are you nuts?” Howard said.

  “You’re goddamned right. Quick, open that side door.” Dave lowered both front windows all the way down. “When we hit the water everybody get out as quick as you can before it goes under.”

  Howard grabbed Emily tight and opened the sliding door on the side of the van. The end of the road was just seconds away.

  Dave gripped the wheel and slammed the accelerator to the floor. “Brace for impact! Keep your seat belts on, it’s gonna be rough.”

  The van left the pavement, hitting an uneven dip before going airborne. The steering wheel wrenched violently, ripped from Dave’s hand. The van hit the water at an angle doing almost fifty. Water crashed through the open door and windows, slamming into them like a wall.

  A handful of overzealous creatures couldn’t stop in time and tumbled into the bay after the van, thrashing in the water before drowning. The rest of them stood at the water’s edge, squealing and hissing in frustration as the vehicle slipped under the surface and was gone.

  Sixteen

  Howard thought he’d been ready. But the van had filled so quickly, the impact had been so sudden. His head hurt. Did he hit it on something? He fumbled for the seat belt release but couldn’t seem to make his fingers work. He remembered Emily and turned to her, to make sure she got her belt off, but she wasn’t there. None of them were. The van was empty. He was alone. He tugged at the belt, pushed the button again and again. His lungs burned for air. Salt water stung his eyes. Darkness.