Devoured (The Hunger #1)

by Jason Brant

  They found Don and Liz hiding behind a large F150.

  Her head rested on his shoulder, their fingers interlocked. Slow, deep breaths came from them as they relaxed together, whispering quietly back and forth, eyes closed. The rifle sat on Don’s lap.

  Lance stared at them for several seconds, swallowing the ball of rage forming in his gut, before nudging Liz’s shoe with his foot.

  “Time to move.”

  She started, eyes popping open, free hand grabbing Don’s bicep. “What?”

  “We can’t stay here.” Lance nodded to their newest companions. “This is Ashlee and Teddy.”

  Don stood, stretching his arms, acting as if nothing had happened. “You brought a baby? How the hell are we going to get out of here with a baby?”

  Lance snapped his fingers. “You’re right, Don. I should have left the infant back there.”

  They locked eyes, neither turning away, before Ashlee spoke up. “We won’t be a burden, I promise. I can keep up.”

  “What do you think, Don? Should we just lay the baby on the concrete right here? Wish it good luck?” Lance kept picturing Don and Liz holding hands and felt his anger building. He had more important things to worry about, like staying alive, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been had somehow.

  “Fuck you, Lance.”

  Lance stepped forward, glaring up at Don, thinking about throwing a punch, when the glass doors separating the garage from the hospital shattered.

  “Get behind the truck!” Lance grabbed Ashlee by the arm and pulled her along. They ducked by the headlights, peering over the hood.

  A half dozen soldiers ran through the broken doors. They sprinted down the ramp, heading straight for the back of the F150. Two of them were covered in blood and gore, but they moved well, so Lance guessed it wasn’t theirs.

  Doctor Brown followed them, lagging behind with Eifort in tow. His white coat was maroon.

  Eifort’s gas mask was gone, exposing her soft features. She appeared younger than Lance had initially pegged her for—maybe thirty.

  The first group of soldiers banked right, following the exit signs that led to a stairwell.

  “Doc,” Lance whispered as Brown jogged by the truck. “Over here.”

  Eifort lifted her weapon, swinging it around until she locked on Lance’s face. “You!”

  “Come on! Hurry up!” Doctor Brown waved them out. He kept looking over his shoulder as he waited for them. “They might be following us.”

  Lance stepped on a sharp rock as he followed Ashlee and had to bite his lip to keep from shouting obscenities. He needed to find a pair of shoes.

  And some pants.

  “Where did you get those guns?” Eifort asked as she lowered her own.

  “From the soldiers just inside the door there. One of those… things killed them.”

  “We should talk about this outside where it’ll be safer,” Brown said.

  “Lead the way, Doc.” Lance gave Don one last glare before falling in line behind the doctor. He watched for rocks as they walked, his feet and shins sore.

  They approached the stairwell when one of the shrieks came from somewhere behind them. The echoes of the parking garage made it impossible to judge the distance it came from. Lance didn’t turn to look for it, running to the door instead, holding it open and waving everyone through. He slammed the door shut and followed behind, finger caressing the trigger of his rifle.

  “Hurry!”

  Ashlee took her hand from the baby’s mouth to hold onto the railing. His cries were immediate and shrill—a homing beacon for the nightmare that followed them.

  They piled through the door on the first floor as something crashed into the stairwell above. Claws clattered on concrete, unseen, but nerve-wracking as they came down the stairs.

  Dozens of guns pointed at Lance as he ducked under the wooden gate arms blocking the entrance to the parking garage.

  “Halt!”

  Lance stopped, glancing over his shoulder, knowing they didn’t have much time before it would be on them.

  “Drop your weapons!”

  Lance and Don tossed their guns to the ground. The glare from the sunlight outside made it difficult to see who they were talking to.

  Eifort stepped forward. “They’re with me!”

  “Civilians are not authorized to leave the hospital. Go back inside, now!”

  “The hospital is overrun with—”

  The door to the stairwell burst open.

  It cried out as it stormed forward in unbridled bloodlust, teeth and claws grinding.

  Lance grabbed Ashlee by the shoulders and spun her around, dragging her off to the side behind a concrete pillar. “Get down!”

  The others scattered, running to safety as the garage filled with the deafening thunder of war. The hard surfaces of the building gave the gunfire a cavernous echo.

  Lance saw the creature coming, closing the distance between them in three leaps. It was a woman, or used to be, its body distorted like the others. Its eyeless face expressed nothing but ravenous desire.

  It was cut down before it reached them, dropping to the ground in a hail of bullets. Exit wounds showered the pay station and gate.

  “Cease fire! Cease fire!”

  The gunshots waned, then halted. The air reeked of gunpowder. Lance wiped black soot from his eyes.

  Theodore cried harder than ever, his tiny cheeks an angry red.

  Lance peered around the pillar, making sure no one would shoot them when they stepped out. “We’re coming out! Don’t shoot!”

  They walked slowly through the broad entrance, squinting against the lingering smoke. Uniformed men ran around the street, shouting and pointing, occasionally firing down streets and alleys.

  Civilians shuffled in and out of small businesses lining the sidewalk, ushered away from the military if they got too close. News helicopters hovered overhead.

  The pandemonium in the middle of a major U.S. city startled Lance more than the news reports they’d seen earlier. Chaos ruled the day.

  Dozens of armored vehicles littered the road. Plastic sheeting and large, white hoses were being rolled up and packed way. Tables folded and slid into the back of trucks. Cables wound and extension cords collected.

  Lance knew a cut and run when he saw one.

  A large group of men waited on the sidewalk, weapons aimed at Lance and his companions.

  Major Reynolds strode down the sidewalk. “Let them through. It’s not like the infection hasn’t spread all over the goddamn place anyway.”

  The soldiers by the entrance stood aside, but kept their rifles trained at the garage.

  Eifort stood at attention, saluting the major. “Sir, we were completely—”

  “I’m well aware, Staff Sergeant.” He gave her a quick salute back. “Are any of you infected?”

  “No, sir.”

  Doctor Brown’s face contorted. “You know what happened in there? Why didn’t you send help? Those things tore half of my staff apart!”

  “As you can see, we’re a little busy out here, trying to survive.” Reynolds nodded to a café across the street. “See that building? It’s full of body bags—used body bags.”

  “What’s going on with the evacuation?” Lance stepped forward. “I overhead some men talking about leaving. Are you abandoning the city? You just got here!”

  More shouting from down the street got the major’s attention. “The events out here are far beyond anything happening inside that hospital. We can’t control the infection from this location. The city is lost.” He walked away without saying anything else. Soldiers and officers called out to him from all directions as he crossed the street, as if he was a celebrity at a movie premiere.

  “Well, that told us absolutely nothing,” Don grumbled. “What the hell does that even mean? The city is lost?”

  “Eifort,” a uniformed man said. He stood by a table with electronic equipment covering it, wrapping Ethernet cabling around his arm. He wa
s roughly the same size as Lance, but a bit taller and leaner. “What happened in there?”

  The staff sergeant saluted. “Captain Jackson, it went south in a hurry. We lost almost everyone. Riggs, Sanchez, White… they were… eaten. Sir.” A sheen covered her eyes as she spoke, but her voice never wavered.

  “Eaten by other human beings—Christ. And the rest of the patients in the hospital?”

  “Most have barricaded themselves inside of their rooms.”

  “That’s probably for the best.” The captain turned to Ashlee and looked over her baby. “There’s a medical tent down the street if you or the child need anything. You should get over there soon though; they’re closing up shop as we speak.” He pointed to a FedEx store down the way. “All other civilians are either being sent home, or ushered in there if they need to contact someone—your choice.”

  “Why didn’t you send help?” Doc Brown asked again. “There are doctors and nurses in there who can help you. Everyone with a gun suddenly turned tail and ran out of the goddamn building!”

  “We were going to when a small wave of those things moved on us. We’re getting calls from all over the city about people being attacked in their apartments and in the streets. Some decisions had to be made, and one of them was to temporarily abandon the hospital.”

  “But the CDC told us—”

  “The CDC was in charge when our primary concern was fighting a virus. Now we’re being physically attacked. New orders came down an hour ago—we’re leaving the city.”

  Lance started to ask another question, but was cut short by a new round of gunfire. They ducked down by a Humvee, Lance popping his head up to see what happened.

  Theodore cried on.

  “Make up your mind—go home or try and follow us out of here, but do it now.” The captain pulled Eifort aside and gave her some orders that Lance couldn’t hear before he turned back to everyone else. “We aren’t allowed to take any non-medical civilians with us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t follow.”

  “Where are you going?” Lance asked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The city, which operated normally just yesterday, was about to be abandoned by anyone of authority.

  “We’re falling back to Heinz Field.” The captain looked around, making sure no one was close enough to overhear him. “All of the bridges and major highways leading out of the city will be blown or heavily guarded. Testing centers will be setup at two or three points around the city where you will be observed for any symptoms of whatever this is. If they clear you, then you’ll be allowed to leave. Heinz Field will have the biggest space, so I would go there if I was you.”

  “You’re going to cut off the city?” Lance stared at the man, his mind racing. Things continued going from bad to worse. Now they were telling him to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ stadium and hope for the best.

  What the hell kind of plan was that?

  “Right. The disease is found primarily in major cities. The countryside is fairly safe, for now.”

  “So all of us are going to be kept over here, while you guys are safe on the other side? You’ll have guns and tanks and we’ll have the sick and dying. And that sounds like an ethical way to protect the country?” Lance’s face felt hot, the agony in his feet abating.

  Liz touched Lance’s arm. “Take it easy.”

  “Fuck that. These guys locked us in a hospital with those things, and now they’re going to lock us in the city. This is bullshit. Hell, they’re pulling out and going home without even telling everyone in there,” he shouted as he pointed to the hospital. “All of those people don’t even realize that you’ve left them!”

  The captain stared at him, stone-faced and unresponsive.

  A helicopter whooped overhead, buzzing over the street before disappearing between buildings. A myriad of contrails crisscrossed the sky as jets blazed back and forth over the city. Lance took it all in before turning back to the captain.

  “You can’t leave us here. We’ll die.”

  The captain remained steadfast. “We’re doing everything we can. There isn’t a playbook for something like this. Get to the stadium. It’s your best chance.” He gave Eifort a nod before heading back to his table and packing up the rest of the electrical gear.

  Lance thought about confronting him again, but didn’t see the point. It would accomplish nothing, except increasing his chances of being shot. Besides, the man had a point—who knew what to do at a time like this? He turned to Eifort instead.

  “Listen to me. You can’t—”

  “There’s nothing I can do,” she interrupted. “I have my orders just like everyone else.”

  “At least take Ashlee and the baby. How do you expect her to navigate through this madness to the stadium with a child in her arms? She’ll be a walking target.”

  Ashlee’s eyes grew wide. “You think so?”

  Eifort shook her head. “But—”

  Lance turned on Doctor Brown. “They’re taking you with them, right? They said they’re taking medical personnel.”

  “That’s what it sounded like, but I’m much too tired to be of any good now.” Brown’s shoulders sagged, his cheeks sunken in. He pushed his glasses up his nose.

  “Tell them that she is your wife and that this is your child.” Lance put his hand on the doctor’s shoulder.

  “But I’m not married.”

  Lance struggled to maintain his patience. “They don’t know that. It’s a simple lie and they’re too preoccupied to look into it.”

  Brown examined the baby and Ashlee for a moment before nodding. “She’s a bit young, but I’ll tell them she’s my second wife. My trophy wife if you will.” He paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, but do you have an actual husband?”

  “No, it’s just me and Theodore here. His douche bag of a father split town as soon as he found out I was pregnant.” Her ample chest puffed out a bit as she spoke, her pride in raising the baby alone evident.

  “Good for you,” Brown said, extending a hand. “My name is Emmett, in case they ask.”

  Lance laughed in spite of himself. The insanity surrounding them couldn’t keep from getting a kick out of the ludicrous name.

  “Really? You’re Doctor Emmett Brown?”

  The doc let out a long, tired huff. “Yes, yes. I’ve been hearing this torment since 1985. Before you ask, no, I don’t own a DeLorean, no, I don’t know Michael J. Fox, and yes, I like the movie.”

  Lance held a hand to his sore ribs as he chuckled, wishing he’d met this man under better circumstances. He would have truly enjoyed ribbing him for his name over a beer or two.

  He turned to Eifort. “There. You have to take Mr. Back to the Future’s family with him.”

  “I don’t know,” Eifort said, grimacing. “If anyone finds out…”

  “If you don’t do this, you’re sentencing that child to death.” Lance pointed at the baby for emphasis. Teddy grabbed his finger with his tiny hand.

  Liz and Don, who were whispering to each other off to the side, stopped and watched Lance’s impassioned plea. Liz’s head cocked to the side as she looked at him in a way that he hadn’t seen in years.

  He’d known only condescension for a long time. The odd emotion on her face took him by surprise.

  “Oh, fine,” Eifort said, running a hand over her hair. “Just stay quiet until we get to the stadium and we’ll figure out the rest from there.”

  Ashlee let out a cry of relief, giving the female soldier a hug with her free arm. Theodore cooed against her chest, his crying finally ceased.

  “Do you have any family or friends outside of the city?” Lance asked.

  “I have an uncle in Greensburg.” Ashlee wiped a tear of joy from her cheek. “Why?”

  “Once you get through whatever bullshit screening they have setup at the stadium, go there. Don’t wait for us or anyone else to make it through. Just go.”

  “How will I get there? I don’t have a car or any money or anything.” Her smile faltered. “A
nd why shouldn’t I wait for you? You’re going over there right now, aren’t you?”

  “We don’t know how long the lines will be or what kind or process they’re going to run us through. It could be days or weeks before they let us leave.” Lance bobbed his head at Don. “Give her some cash so she can get a bus or a cab when she gets out of the city.”

  Don sneered and opened his mouth before noticing that everyone watched him, waiting for him to do the right thing. His teeth clicked as he clenched his jaw and dug out his wallet.

  “Thank you so much,” Ashlee said, sheepishly taking the cash Don handed her. “All of you.” She gave Lance a quick hug, whispering extra thanks in his ear. “My uncle doesn’t actually live in the town of Greensburg, but in the mountains outside of it. When you get out, you should meet us there. It should be a pretty safe place to hide until this dies out. He doesn’t have many neighbors.”

  She recited the address to Lance twice, making him repeat it back to her.

  He committed it to memory, fully intending to check in on her if he managed to escape Pittsburgh. The problem was that he didn’t like his odds. Things were escalating too rapidly for any kind of rational, coordinated response to have time to work. The flight of the government from the city proved that.

  Soldiers climbed into the backs of trucks, most of their equipment already packed up. The vehicles roared to life, several pulling away, others waiting for a full load out.

  Eifort moved over to where the captain stood, talking rapidly as he boxed up the last of some cabling. They conversed for several seconds as Lance watched, hoping that she was adequately selling the story they’d conjured.

  “Fine,” the captain said, dismissing her with a wave. “Just hurry the hell up.”

  Eifort whistled for the doc and Ashlee to join her. The young mother gave Lance’s hand a quick squeeze before speed walking over to where Eifort waited. Brown followed, wishing Lance, Don, and Liz good luck as he walked away.

  Relief settled over Lance as he watched them climb into a canopied truck. Ashlee and Brown sat in the rearmost seats, waving as the vehicle pulled away, taking them to safety.

  For so long now, Lance’s life had spiraled out of his control. He lost his wife, his job, his self-respect. Yesterday he’d been run over by a car and stranded in a hospital during a plague, only to kill a monster with a rifle today.

  This was a small victory in the grand scheme of the collapsing world, but it gave him a feeling of accomplishment that he hadn’t felt for a long time. If he wasn’t surrounded by scrambling soldiers and people dying of an unknown illness, he’d jump in the air and kick his heels.

  Liz noticed his demeanor change too. She stared at him for a few seconds as Don droned in her ear, whispering with exaggerated animation and pointing down the street.

  Major Reynolds stormed by, shouting orders at a group of soldiers packing a truck.

  Lance eased down to the curb, hissing as he finally took weight off his sore feet. He watched as everyone geared up to leave, devising the quickest route to make a mad dash to the stadium. Staying outside of the hospital wouldn’t be the safest place for them to remain, but with the soldiers still there, however temporarily, Lance figured it to be as good a place as any. When the last of the trucks pulled away, he would move on.

  Don kept giving sidelong glances to Lance as he spoke to Liz.

  “So, Don,” Lance said, loud enough for them to hear. “How long have you been fucking my wife?”

  Chapter 8