You must not kill a member of the community whom is your senior.
You must not build any new structures without the consent of the elder board.
You must not disrespect any member of the Hangman of Highway 101.
Only the Hangman of Highway 101 may decide who lives inside the city limits.
No one may leave Grand Falls without written permission.
Your food may be taken by any member of the elder council at any time.
The Hangman of Highway 101 has the final say on all matters.
You must work your scheduled shifts; failure to comply may result in punishment.
You must follow all orders to the best of your ability, without question.
All decisions made by the Hangman of Highway 101 are final and may only be altered with their consent.
"You'll learn it all in time." Father Willis patted Tina on the back, his hands landing firmly against her body, rocking her whole frame.
Each smack sent a shockwave throughout her entire body; more than pain, she felt an odd sense of fear. She felt like the rules were in place to keep people in line, hinder the newest members and keep the wealthy in high standing. Tina trembled with fear at the thought of being left behind in the new hell.
"Come with me, Miss Caines, I'll show you to your living quarters." Father Willis pointed to the exit door.
Tina needed to find a way to contact Warrant Smith; he wouldn't leave her behind with these monsters. He would have to notice that she went missing. When the sunlight entered the gym, Tina looked down an empty street and realized this would be her best shot at escaping. In a sudden jolt of action, Tina drove her elbow into Father Willis's neck. He clutched his throat with both hands, his face turned an even brighter shade of red and he dropped to his knees. Tina bolted out the door, the fresh air filled her lungs, and she ran for the first alley between the school and a large house. Tina reached the enclosed area; turning her neck to look behind her, she couldn't see anybody chasing after her. Climbing a chain-link fence, Tina tripped in the metal bar on top and tumbled hard onto the ground below. Before Tina could get to her feet, a leather-gloved hand covered her mouth silencing her screams and dragged her off into the abandoned house at the end of the next street.
Heavy footsteps rattled the floorboards above as the herd of flesh-eating ghouls trampled over the scorched remains of the cabin. Dust fell from the ceiling, coating everyone below in a filthy mess. A thunderous roar drowned out their voices, allowing them to speak softly to each other without drawing the undeads’ attention. Nick was fixated on a cup of tea left behind by his mother while Eric and Dana sat across the table discussing what to do about Eric's parents.
Jason was waiting patiently by himself; if he didn't act swiftly, time would run out for his wife. He didn't blame Eric for keeping his own family safe, but he was starting to resent him for holding him back. Jason wasn't going to wait any longer. Once he left this cabin his only priority was too find his wife in Buchans. The selfishness made him feel awful inside, but Tracy's life hanged in the balance. Eric would have to understand his terrible predicament.
"What's going on, man?" Eric had snuck up on Jason, startling him.
Jason didn't know if now was the proper time to tell Eric his plans, but this was a brand new world. The rules were different now. "Thinking about Tracy."
Eric scrunched his nose, stunned by Jason's snappy tone. "I get it, man, what do you need?"
Jason felt atrocious for growling at Eric and altered his tone. "I need to rescue her before it's too late."
Looking back at his wife, Eric scratched his neck. "I know. As soon as we reach Howley, you should just take the ambulance and go."
The clobbering stomps above became less frequent, as the throng of zombies had mostly passed by the tiny cabin now. "Thanks, man."
Nick had joined them near the steps. "I'm heading out with you, bud." Nick patted Jason on the shoulder.
"What about your parents?" Jason felt a renewed sense of kinship with his friends, and more like himself than he had since leaving the cabin for Corner Brook.
"They're out there somewhere, man, I can feel it." Nick held up the mug and dipped it down towards Jason. "See, there's still tea in here."
"Don't you want to look for them?" Eric had a concerned look on his face.
"Of course I do, but I don't even know where to look." Nick paused for a moment. "As long as I know they are still out there, I'll never give up, but Tracy needs our help."
"We all need help, brother." Jason walked over to the workbench and rummaged through some tools, looking for a useful weapon. The footsteps above were fading away; it was nearly time to leave for Buchans.
Calvin's head was spinning, and he felt drowsy from all of the drugs they had been feeding him. Since falling down from the cabin window, Calvin had been out of it more often than he found himself awake. The ambulance was rumbling down the road, every bump sending a shockwave of pain throughout his body. Using his elbows, Calvin strained to sit upright with every muscle struggling to work properly.
Craig was still passed out on the floor to Calvin's left; he was in worse shape then Calvin was. His face was bruised and dried blood was still caked on his face. A man wearing blue coveralls sat upfront in the cab driving. Calvin didn't recognize the stranger, but maybe they had finally reached Howley. Looking to his right, Calvin saw Jack and Stella, but they looked frightened. They wouldn't look up from their hands, then Calvin noticed why. Their hands had been tied up with rope and Jack's nose had been broken -- blood still trickled from his nostrils and ran down his face.
"Good morning, asshole," a strange voice said from behind Calvin.
"Jack?" Calvin's felt his heart drop down into his stomach; something terribly wrong was taking place.
"Never you mind your friend, pal." Calvin looked over his shoulder at the source of the voice. A frail woman wearing black-rimmed glasses held a scalpel in her right hand. She ran it over her wrist and licked the trickle of blood before it dripped onto the floor.
"Who are you?" Calvin took a deep gulp, choking back the vile fluids trying to escape his belly.
The woman wiped her long hair from her face. "I'm your new boss, Kim. You're going to work in our meth lab."
CHAPTER THIRTY:
BREAKING APART
"Tina, it's me." Tina didn't recognize the voice; it was squeaky and rough. "Please don't scream. You'll give away our position."
The gloved hand left her face, and the boy released his grip on her. Tina turned around and was relieved to see Corporal Young standing behind her in his fatigues. "What is going on?"
"The people here are nuts." Young had blood running down his arm, it was dripping out of the sleeve of his jacket. Blood fell onto the floor at an alarming rate.
Tina reached out for the young man. "Let me see."
Corporal Young yanked his arm out of Tina's reach. "You don't have time; if you want to escape, you need to get outside the city limits before they find out you're missing."
"What? We need to reach the warrant." Tina headed for the door but Corporal Young held it shut.
"You won't make it inside that court room without drawing attention." The young man was wise beyond his years. He knew that trying to reach the warrant would be suicide.
"So what do you suggest, we just go off on our own?" Tina didn't think they'd survive for long on their own without any supplies or a vehicle.
"No, just get further down the road. We wait for Warrant Smith and regroup on the highway." Corporal Young was thinking ahead, planning each and every move with military precision.
"Alright, we head out after we find Katie and Jessica." Tina wasn't going to leave those precious angels with those sycophantic monsters. Whoever their leader was, he was diabolical.
"I'm not leaving with you!" Corporal Young held out his arm, showing a nasty gash to Tina.
"What happened ... were you bitten?" Tina stared at the filthy wound -- a black fluid was draining fr
om the lacerated skin.
"They threw me in a pit with three of those freaks and left me for dead. My body escaped the hole, but my soul died down under the ground with them." Tina hadn't noticed until now that the corporal had beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. "I don't know how much time I have left."
"What does it feel like? Does it hurt?" Tina always wondered what the turn felt like.
"It feels like my bones have gone brittle, my skin is burning, and every muscles aches. I feel like they look." Corporal Young tried to smile, but he only managed to wince in pain.
Tina opened the door quietly, looking outside in the yard. "The coast looks clear; do you know where they took the girls?"
Corporal Young had collapsed against the wall, barely managing to keep himself standing upright as he leaned against it. "I heard them talking about taking Ted to the Hillside Manor Hotel, on the outskirts of town." Black fluid spilled out of his mouth as he coughed uncontrollably.
"Do you know how to get there?" Tina was desperate but she knew he wasn't going to make it.
The corporal slid down the wall slowly as he continued to cough up the infected bile. "You just need to head back towards the school, but stay near the tree line. You can follow it all the way to the hotel."
Tina looked back outside; she could hear a vehicle driving down the road, so she closed the door and waited for the engine to rumble past. The young soldier moaned in agony the whole time. When she looked back at him, he held out a pistol.
"Take this." Young offered her the weapon. She didn't have any choice but to accept it. She had no idea on how to use it, but she needed it.
"What about you?" Tina didn't want the poor young man to suffer any longer. She wished there was something she could do.
He reached into his boot and took out a concealed gun. Taking out the clip, he let the bullets fall into the palm of his hand. "Here, take these." Corporal Young handed Tina all but a few bullets. "I'll give you two minutes then I'll draw them to me. Now get out of here!"
Tina wanted to thank the soldier for his courage and unselfishness; instead she ran out the door and headed towards the woods. She could hear the tires of the vehicle pull onto the street and accelerated down the road towards the house. Tina broke into a full sprint and felt the grass still wet from the morning dew beneath her feet. She raced to the edge of the woods moments before the truck drove past the driveway.
BANG
Tina heard the tires skid across the pavement and the diesel engine roaring loudly. The old, blue pickup truck backed down the road and stopped in front of the house. The silver grill on the truck glowed as the blue Ford pickup pulled into the driveway. Two men wearing the leather vests of the Hangmen of Highway 101 jumped out of the cab and rushed up to the front door. Even from a distance, Tina could tell that they carried fully automatic rifles over their shoulders. Father Willis stepped out of the truck last and followed the two bikers inside. A man with long, dirty blond hair kicked down the front door and an older biker with a red bandanna covering his grey hair charged inside the house. Father Willis followed behind like a coward using the bikers as protection.
BANG BANG BANG
BRAAAKKKAAKAKA
Handgun fire was quickly replaced by the rapid burst of fully automatic gunfire. The Highway Hangman gang member wearing the red bandanna stumbled out of the house, two dark red spots on his back oozed blood over his leather vest. Stumbling forwards against the grill of the truck, the man barely able to drag himself to the door as his wounds stained the shiny silver.
"I need backup on Lincoln Drive."
The biker’s voice was panicked and shallow. Tina could barely hear what he was saying, but she wasn't about to waste time sticking around to find out. Tina ducked into the woods and ran through the brush along the tree line towards the old hotel at the end of the highway.
The last heavy, unsteady footstep had treaded across the burnt remains of the cabin over ten minutes ago. Jason was getting anxious, he wanted to head up through the cellar door. Nick still gripped his father’s mug in his hands, remembering all the good times they had shared here. He placed the mug down in its place in case his father came back.
"Here, Jason." Eric held out two lamented passes to Jason.
Jason instantly recognized the Pharmakon logo on the glossy finish. "What is that?"
"They are passes inside the underground base, Ted had them." Eric took a deep breath. "I didn't give them to you earlier because I was afraid you'd rush off, but that's not my choice to make."
Jason took the passes and looked down at the two VIP passes inside the base, one with the name K. Budgel and the other with J. Budgel. "Where's Ted's pass?"
Eric pulled the pass out from under his shirt; he was wearing the lanyard around his neck. "I have it, just in case you don't come back in the next few days. I'll come save your ass once more." Eric chuckled.
"You ever going to let that go?" Jason was overwhelmed; he had a way inside the facility now.
"Nope." Eric headed up the stairs and pushed open the latch. "Now let’s get to Howley."
Eric disappeared into the shambled remains with Dana close behind. Jason started to walk up the stairs when he heard Nick let out a deep sigh. "You alright, bud?"
"Yeah man, I just don't want to leave." A tear rolled down Nick's cheek. He rested the mug on the table before joining Jason on the stairs.
They headed outside where the smell of rotten flesh mixed with the burnt ashes of the cabin. The grass all around the cabin had been trampled down by the herd, and the lawn had turned into mud. Eric and Dana stood at the entrance to the trail that would lead them back to Frank's cabin. Jason’s eyes followed the trail that the zombies had made into the woods; if they stayed on their current path, they would miss the cabins and end up back on the highway.
Jason walked through the muck and looked down at the puddles of blood left behind by the decaying corpses. Hunks of dried flesh, darkened blood and other gory remnants remained in the creatures’ wake. "Hopefully they've made it to the other side of the highway already!" Jason didn't want to run into that herd of undead monsters during his trip to Buchans. If they didn't cross the highway, they would block his way to Tracy.
Hank made sure that Sasha was ready to go in an instant. If those people crossing the water meant any harm, he didn't want her around. She wasn't good under pressure, and even though the Vikings all seemed strong, Hank didn't see any firearms amongst the tribe. A row of bowmen laid in wait on top of the bank while the warriors lined up on the beach awaiting the arrival of the strangers.
Hank kept his eyes on the massive crowd that gathered on the opposite coast, but the approaching boats offered the greatest threat. They had made sure to keep their numbers hidden from the Vikings’ view; only essential crew walked the decks of the sailboats while only the driver was visible on the speedboat.
"Ready yourselves, men," Ragnor rallied his troops.
A thunderous roar erupted from the warriors behind their king, each man eager for a fight. The speedboat rushed onto the rocky beach, and the boat rocked to a stop only five feet from shore. The tightening of bowstrings twanged behind Hank, the archers concealed themselves in the bush out of sight from the strangers.
The captain of the boat tossed the anchor overboard, the heavy metal mooring clanging loudly off the rocks below. The waves lapped at the side of the boat, and heavy footsteps echoed from beneath the decking of the boat. The skipper of the boat wore bright orange coveralls underneath a red raincoat. His thick brown bead disappeared into a knitted wool hat with the beanie pulled down to his bushy eyebrows.
"State your business, stranger." Ragnor bellowed at the stranger.
The man pulled a handgun out of his coveralls and fired a shot at Ragnor.
BANG
Ragnor used his shield to block the shot, but the impact sent him plunging down to the rocky beach. Some of the untamed stallions bucked, sending their Viking riders tumbling down to the beach with their king. One
of the warriors sent a spear spiralling through the air; the bladed tip missed the skipper, but buried itself into the chest of an emerging deckhand.
"AARRHHH!!!" Ragnor roared at his enemies, showing no fear even though they had the massive advantage of fully automatic weapons.
Hank wasn't about to stick around for the slaughter; he spurred his horse back towards the village. Arrows whistled through the air towards the approaching sailboats as Jarvik galloped down the bank past Hank, leading the charge of spearman towards the battle.
The booming echoes of gunfire began to erupt behind Hank, and vicious war cries answered the rattling machines. Pushing his horse towards Sasha, Hank refused to look back. He wasn't about to die on the beach in Lanx Aux Meadows.
Sasha had a frightened look on her face, the explosions of gunfire ripping through air. Stray bullets made their way into the roofs of the grass huts, sending debris flying through the air. Hank grabbed Sasha's hand and hauled her up into the saddle. There was nowhere else to go but back down the Viking Trail. Hank needed firepower if he was going to help the Vikings defeat this new enemy. If they were smart, they would retreat and fall back, giving Hank time to get Eric and some backup, but he highly doubted he would ever see one of the Vikings alive again.
There was nobody around Frank's cabin. Most of the vehicles had disappeared from the driveways in the surrounding cabins. The ambulance was nowhere to be seen, and Eric figured they must have all left for the Pelley Compound. There was safety behind walls, but Eric was still surprised his parents would leave him behind like that.
"Where do you think they've gone?" Dana piped up from behind Eric.
"They probably left for the Pellys’ compound." Eric couldn't think of any other explanation.
"How far away is that?" Nick asked.
Eric looked around the yard, spotting the truck from Nick's parents’ cabin in the driveway of Frank's cabin. "About an hour’s walk from here."
Zombies on the Rock (Book 2): The Viking Trail Page 27