Outage 5: The Change

by Piperbrook, T. W.

  He'd gotten through several streets when he considered stopping. Looking over his shoulder, he was relieved to find no one behind him. He hadn't heard his pursuers in several minutes. The frightened wails of the other survivors had long since faded.

  Seeing a house with the door open, Joseph flew up the steps, barely cognizant of the danger that might be inside. The house was empty. But that didn't surprise him. Almost everyone was dead. He ran for the kitchen, filling the house with his frantic gasps. He stepped over scattered magazines and silverware and knick-knacks until he found a knife on the kitchen floor.

  Pricking himself several times, he managed to free himself. With the rope on the floor, Joseph massaged his wrists. The pain was nothing compared to what would have happened if he hadn't gotten free.

  Joseph clutched the knife and listened. The ensuing silence was eerie, as if he'd stepped into a graveyard instead of a home. He crept to the windows and looked out in each direction, suddenly afraid to leave. He knew the house wouldn't protect him against the creatures, but the walls and windows made him feel more secure than he'd been before.

  But he couldn't abandon the others. Not after leaving the people in that neighborhood a few nights ago. And not after rescuing Lana. Doing that would outweigh his good deed of saving her.

  He needed to make it right, even if it meant failure.

  Swallowing, he crept out of the house and into the front yard. He needed a plan. Finding help was unlikely. He needed some leverage against the men. He convinced himself he had two advantages—he knew where they were, and what they were armed with.

  He needed a better weapon.

  Not the small kitchen knife in his hand, but a gun. Most of the townsfolk were gone. Surely someone had left one behind. He searched the house he was in. Coming up empty, he moved on to the next. The simple mission distracted him from impending nightfall and what was taking place in that field.

  Joseph searched under beds and in closets, in basements, and in pantries. He looked in every place that was easily accessible, moving on to the next when he couldn't find what he was looking for. Soon, he'd gone through several houses. He was about to proceed to another when he saw a figure with a gun in the road. Joseph's pulse hammered and he ducked back into the doorway of the house he was searching.

  He held his breath. They'd found him. They were going to drag him out and kill him for running. He backed away from the door, planning an escape. Footsteps crunched the snow outside, getting closer. He looked around the house, pulse hammering, searching for a suitable place to hide. With a shimmer of terror, he realized he hadn't closed the front door. He couldn't close it now. Closing it would alert the person to his presence.

  Had they seen him?

  He crept upstairs, as if getting to the upper floor might mean salvation. His heart knocked against his ribcage. He quelled the noise of his boots on the wood stairs, fearing a misplaced footstep would mean the end of him. Locating a bedroom, he eased into it and shut the door.

  Abruptly, the footsteps ceased. Joseph tensed. The person was right outside the house. In the absence of heat or the hum of appliances, the neighborhood was silent, revealing every sound.

  "It's all right! I won't hurt you!" a voice cried.

  It sounded like a woman. Did that mean it wasn't his captors? Joseph clung to the door handle, unwilling to believe that it wasn't the men. He waited a second before gaining the courage to go to the window and peer outside. When he did, he expected a bullet, but instead he saw a woman standing in the snow.

  Joseph held the knife tightly.

  The woman lowered the gun. "You were with the others. I saw you running away!" she called.

  "W-Who are you?" he yelled, his lips trembling as he spoke.

  "My name's Kelsey. I've come to help."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  "Where did you come from?"

  "I was in the bunker. I'm a friend of Tom's," Kelsey explained, out of breath.

  Putting the pieces together, Joseph said, "I remember hearing your name. Tom said you were with two children, and the policeman and fireman. He told us you were waiting for us in the bunker. How did you find me?"

  "After I heard the gunshots, I waited a while. The men that were with us were supposed to knock. They never did. I knew it was getting dark, and I was pretty sure I heard a baby crying. So I decided to come out and help." Kelsey's face showed her trepidation at the decision. "I left the children behind and told them not to come out."

  "The baby," Joseph said, his eyes tearing up as he spoke the girl's name. "Her name's Lana. They took her. They're going to give her to the creatures, along with the rest of them. They're insane."

  "I know. I saw them leading you away. I was trying to figure out something when I saw you make a break for it."

  "Thank God you have a gun," Joseph said, eyeing her rifle. "We have to go back. We have to help them."

  "We will. We just have to figure out the best way to do it. Let's start walking. It's already getting dark."

  Relief washed over Joseph as he trudged next to Kelsey. He spilled out his story while they traveled. Kelsey swung the rifle in all directions. Her face was grave as she took in the details. She seemed as nervous as Joseph. The darkening sky fueled their unease.

  "There's something else," Joseph said, biting his lip. "Tom's one of them. He told us outside of the bunker."

  "The beasts, you mean?"

  "Yes."

  "I know that."

  "You do?"

  "Yes," Kelsey said. "Last night, before he left, he told me he was bitten. I knew he was turning. That's why he left us in the bunker in the first place. He didn't want to hurt us."

  "Tom's one of them," he repeated. "I can't believe that."

  "That's another reason we need to get the others out of there before nightfall."

  "How are we going to do that?"

  Kelsey looked at him and said, "I'm not sure. My hope is that when we get there, we'll figure something out."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Tom watched their captors with deepening hatred. Curtis and Harold's faces were eerily content as they watched the flames dance over the logs. They peered from the fire to the sky, watching daylight retreat. As the sun dipped from view, a flicker of fear crossed their faces: the fear of the unknown, the fear of things greater than them at work.

  "We should get out of here," Harold said.

  "Give it a minute. Make sure the fire doesn't go out," Curtis replied.

  The fire seemed to have sparked greater panic in the captive men and women. They screamed threats and promises with equal abandon, hoping something would grab their captor's attention.

  Nothing did.

  Although Tom saw no sign of the beasts, he knew the fire would draw them. The smoke and the flames was a clear signal that people were nearby. The beasts' fear of fire would be overridden by the need to feed, to take advantage of the captive survivors.

  Tom knew, because he was starting to have the same urges. Senses he'd left behind were reemerging. The smell of the fire filled his nose, accompanied by the smell of the man next to him, sweating through his coat, the smell of one of the women's several-day-old perfume. He could even smell his own clothes, which bore the odor of the man who'd owned them: faint cigarette smoke and a hint of aftershave.

  The flesh he'd tasted the night before seemed to have sparked some primal hunger within him. His body begged to repeat those sensations. Tom was torn between pushing those urges away and embracing them. Embracing them could mean escape. But embracing them might mean the death of the others.

  He strained against the ropes, but they weren't giving. He and the other captives were effectively pinned, their backs against the bottom bleacher rail. The rail was stable enough that he couldn't break it, even if he were able to get to his feet. Freeing himself was a fool's hope, born out of dreams, not reality. At least, not now.

  Curtis and Harold walked the perimeter of the fire, staring across the darkened landscape.
They aimed their guns. The houses in the distance were hulking shadows, harboring all manner of evil. Tom kept his eyes peeled for Joseph, but saw no sign of him.

  At least one of us got away.

  Tom wriggled back and forth, watching the others do the same. Emily whimpered as she strained against the ropes. Catching Maria's eye, he had the sudden urge to apologize, as if that might make things right.

  "I can't get loose," Maria whispered frantically.

  "Me, neither," Tom said.

  "We're going to die!" the ruddy-faced man yelled in response, loud enough to startle the circling men.

  Curtis and Harold paused, looking at the prisoners. Their attention immediately roamed to the sky, where the moon had appeared from behind a cloud. It cast a thin veil of light over the landscape, adding to the light of the fire. Lana cried.

  Hit with a wave of last-minute indecision, Harold asked, "What should we do with the baby?"

  "I'm not sure," Curtis replied.

  "If we take her, we'll need her things."

  "Shit."

  Sweat pooled on Tom's forehead. Whether it was the result of anxiety or the change, he wasn't certain. Maria's fear-stricken face suddenly turned hopeful.

  "Is it happening again?" she asked.

  "Yes," he whispered.

  "You can control it," Maria said, "like you did before. When you saved us."

  Her eyes were wide and manic. Or maybe it was the dizziness, preventing him from seeing clearly. Tom blinked as he continued tugging at the ropes, trying to channel some hidden strength while fighting the force that was taking him over.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Kelsey looked up at the sky, shuddering as the moon emerged from behind the clouds. Her hands shook on the rifle. She'd gone from a place of relative safety to a place of danger by leaving the bunker. She questioned the logic of that decision several times, wondering if she should retreat back to it. But the greater part of her knew she couldn't leave the others behind, especially when there was a baby among them. She turned to Joseph.

  "Are you sure you don't want to go back to the bunker?"

  He shook his head as he trudged next to her. "No. I need to be here."

  Despite the tremor in his voice, he remained convicted. Kelsey swallowed as they followed Joseph's trail back to the field. The few bullets in her gun—loaded with the intention of killing the creatures—would work just as well on the men. If she could get the jump on them, maybe she could save the others.

  She clung to that desperate thought as they rounded one of the houses. Her legs ached as she pulled her booted feet in and out of the snow.

  Her thoughts turned to Silas and Katherine.

  She recalled their frightened faces as she'd left them in the bunker, passing them the key. That gesture might be the last they'd receive from her. Don't think about that. Concentrate on saving the others.

  Summoning courage, she forced herself onward. The fact that she'd survived several nights already, including those nights at the hospital, gave her the courage to survive another.

  "I see the fire!" Joseph cried as he led her around a gray house.

  Rounding the corner, she saw it, too.

  Thick tendrils of smoke wafted into the sky, mingling with the clouds. Flames lapped the air. The din of voices reached Kelsey's ears as they got closer. The captives were alive.

  "They're still there," Joseph whispered excitedly.

  Kelsey nodded but didn't answer. The instinct to be quiet was a nagging voice she couldn't ignore. They hovered between two houses on the edge of the field and peered across it. Two figures paced the edges of the fire, talking animatedly, guns in their hands. Near them was a set of metal bleachers; tied to them were the survivors.

  "We have to get them out of there," Joseph hissed.

  "I know…I know…"

  Dread washed over Kelsey. In the moments preceding this one, her focus has been on getting to the others. Now that she was here, she realized she was no closer to a plan than she'd been before. The area around the men was open. What was she going to do? Charge in and fire? The idea was as ludicrous as it was stupid. She'd never get close enough to get off a shot. She knew only the little that Officer Flannery had showed her.

  "Have you ever fired a gun?" she asked Joseph.

  "No," Joseph said miserably.

  "We won't be able to hit them from here," she said. "We'll have to—"

  The cry of a baby stifled her sentence. They stared into the field, watching one of the men pick up Lana from the bleachers and bring her closer to the fire. Seeing the baby renewed their urgency and hopelessness. They couldn't risk a shot with Lana around. Their only chance was to sneak up on the men, trying to free Tom and the others. Kelsey scanned the field, but the bleachers were surrounded by snow. Taking a wide berth would mean traveling in the open, and she and Joseph would likely be seen. Both options were easy ways to end up tied to the bleachers.

  She looked at Joseph.

  "Do you have any ideas?" she asked, swallowing the defeat in her voice.

  "Maybe we can distract them. Call their attention to us."

  "How?"

  "If we lure them over, maybe we can figure out a way to attack them." Joseph pointed to the neighboring house. "They won't be expecting you, but they wouldn't be too surprised to see me. Maybe I'll go over there and make noise."

  "Then what?"

  "I'll draw their attention, and when they get close, you can fire at them."

  "What if they threaten one of the others until you come out?"

  Joseph reflected on that. "That's a good point. Maybe they won't know for sure that it's me. It's worth a try."

  Kelsey nodded as she thought through the plan. It seemed far-fetched. What were the chances they could lure both men over? At the same time, she couldn't think of any better options. The moon was a deadly presence, looming above them.

  "All right," she said with a swallow. "Let's try it."

  Trepidation filled Kelsey as she watched Joseph go. One moment he was standing next to her, the next he was crunching toward the next house. She kept a vigilant eye on the men, afraid that one of them might hear, but their gazes never lingered. They seemed as fearful as Kelsey and Joseph.

  Maybe they're coming to their senses.

  She couldn't blame them. The moon was an ominous threat. In mere minutes, it'd created an eerie gloss over the landscape. Kelsey scooted to the edge of the front of the house, finding a new position that would hide her from the men. She listened for the beasts. That fate would be worse than any other. She tried to tell herself they had time, but in truth, it was probably too late already.

  She had no idea how long it took the beasts to change. She'd seen what they'd done afterward, but she'd never seen their transformation. She stared at the shadows by the bleachers, trying to determine which one was Tom. It was hard to tell.

  The night grew quieter. Joseph had stopped walking and reached the next house. He was hovered by the siding, looking over at her. His face was a featureless white oval. She didn't need him to speak to tell her he was preparing a move. That scared her more than the silence.

  Without warning, Joseph rapped on the side of the house. The noise was loud and abrasive, echoing onto the field. He followed the noise with a violent curse. She realized why he'd done it: the men were expecting the beasts. He needed to let them know he was human.

  The men stopped moving and swung their weapons in Joseph's direction. Excited chatter hit the air as they tried to determine who was lurking nearby. After a few moments of peering and talking, one of them broke off and headed toward the noise.

  Kelsey swallowed as she realized what that meant. She'd have to be ready. She ducked out of sight and around the front edge of the house, peering out just enough so that she could see the man on the field. He swept his weapon back and forth as he progressed toward them. She held her breath, afraid she might alert him to her presence. When he was a hundred feet away, the man stopped. He peered into the dar
kness.

  Kelsey's stomach hitched. Should she fire? Should she wait? He seemed too far away. She felt a swell of anger inside her as she pictured Flannery and Mike lying in the snow. Even her nurse's training had been useless when faced with two obviously dead men. She could still see their lifeless blue lips, their bloodstained coats. These men had killed them in cold blood.

  She felt no sympathy for them.

  At the same time, she doubted she'd hit the man from this distance. If he'd get closer, maybe she'd have a chance at landing a bullet. She wished she could signal Joseph to make more noise. Get him to come closer. The man peered into the shadows; for a moment, it looked like he was going to retreat. The voice of his companion rang through the air.

  "Harold! Get the fuck away from there!"

  The man swiveled. "What's going on?"

  "Look!"

  Kelsey stared across the field. It didn't take her long to see what the other man was referring to. Several dark shapes had emerged from the corners of the field, stalking the man in the field.

  Chapter Thirty

  If Tom was standing up, he might've keeled over. Somewhere in the background of his mind, he heard shouts. But he couldn't focus. His mind was consumed with overwhelming urges. His body surged with incredible heat.

  Once again, his skin was stretching and contorting, succumbing to a will other than his own. Looking next to him, he saw Maria writhing against the ropes. This time she wasn't trying to break free.

  She was trying to get away from him.

  The flickering flames of the fire felt like they were burning him up. Needles of pain coursed through his skin and his head, like shards of glass cutting through the outer layer of his skin. He tried to scream, but he couldn't breathe.

  A gunshot ripped through the air.

  Squinting through his pain, Tom saw Harold battling off one of the creatures. The beast had him in its mouth, shaking him back and forth. Harold's legs dangled beneath him as he tried to find footing. His rifle lay useless underneath him.