The Last Days (Books 1-3)

by Julie Cooper Brown

  It was so strange, I realized I had heard the song many times before but could not put my finger on it. I looked around for Angel and I saw John and Tisha in line for the Ferris wheel. I ran to them for help and when they turned around, they were undead. What I thought was a cone of cotton candy at a distance I could now see was a cone of bloody brains. They continued taking bites from it and staring at me as I backed up into the arms of another undead. And I screamed…

  “KATE! Wake up! It’s just a dream!” Tisha was shaking me by the shoulders and she looked so concerned. “Man, you scared the bejesus outta me! You gonna be okay?”

  I grabbed her and hugged her.

  “Thank God it was a dream.” I was relieved she wasn’t dead or undead for that matter and that everyone was probably alright. “Where is Angel?”

  I stood up and smacked my own face to make sure I was awake. I have never in my life had such vivid dreams as I have had lately. I didn’t ever want to dream again, or sleep again for that matter. Unfortunately that couldn’t be helped.

  I now immediately figured out what the song was, for it would not stop echoing in my head. It was Boogie Woogie Wu by Insane Clown Posse.

  It didn’t surprise me that the band I conjured up in my head was undead clowns. I’ve always liked that song, the music was good and it was a great Halloween tune to scare the kiddies with, but I don’t like it so much at that moment.

  And what was that key for? I don’t have a key like that. I’m sure the rest of the dream had to do with what was going on, but I felt like some of it was a message of sorts, though I can’t be sure what kind of message.

  One thing is for sure, I have to protect Angel. She so innocent, well except for the good slap she gave Kimmy, but Kimmy deserved it.

  “Everyone is outside. Dave and Tank are syphoning gas and John and Allen are putting the stuff we need to take in the van. I was coming to wake you when you started screaming. What kind of dream were you having?” She asked as we walked out into the bar. I saw Angel and a wave of comfort washed over me. I guess if everyone is okay then I will be fine for the moment.

  “It was just a bad, bad dream. They have been really lucid lately. I’m glad you’re all okay. How come you didn’t wake me sooner? I would’ve helped.”

  “Dave said to let you sleep a little longer, that you were gonna need the rest. Besides, there really wasn’t anything for me to do either. The guys took care of it all.”

  Angel ran to me and I picked her up and hugged her.

  Kimmy looked at me with her creepy weird eyes and laughed. I don’t know why. She then walked up to me and opened up her hand and held it out to me. In her palm was a small shiny purple heart, though there was no key attached.

  I felt the goose bumps rising all over my body as I remembered her hand holding out the keychain in the dream, and thinking it was mine. I reached out with my free hand to get it, and she snatched it away and ran out the door. I thought she was giving it to me and I admit I was stumped. I didn’t recall seeing her with it before.

  Where did it come from? Or had she had it the whole time and I just didn’t pay any attention to it? Why else would I have dreamt about it?

  Tisha and I let Allen and John go through the door with their bags first, and we followed them out. The guys were finished syphoning gas and filling the tank so it was time to roll. I was happy we would be back on the road.

  THE CHURCH

  Once everyone was settled in the van and Tank began heading down the half mile driveway, I was feeling normal again; as if the dream had stayed behind with the bar. We all talked for a little while and learned more new things about each other. Dave was not very talkative through the conversation and I didn’t want to put him on the spot by asking him what was wrong in front of everyone. He’s usually a private kind of guy so I would respect that and talk to him later. Now that I look back, I recall that he was a little pale and withdrawn.

  The conversation eventually grew stale and I was watching the road pass us by through the window, lost in my own thoughts of the purple heart that Kimmy held. Where in the world did this kid come from? So, I asked Tisha.

  “Where did you find Kimmy, Tisha?”

  “She came with Miss Blake, about two weeks ago. They just showed up at the front doors of the mineral springs. At first I thought they were sick because of Kimmys demeanor,” (she chuckled) “But when I realized they were okay I let them in. I didn’t think that anyone even knew that there were people at the springs, so it was funny when they showed up knocking on the door. Miss Blake was nice enough, but Kimmy had her wrapped around her little finger.”

  “Did she say where they came from?” I thought showing up unexpected to a place no one should have known anyone was there was a little odd.

  “No, I didn’t even think to ask. I was just helping someone in trouble.” I was not satisfied so I asked Kimmy.

  “Where did you come from, Kimmy?” This bratty child answered me with,

  “Don’t speak to me, Bitch.”

  I was taken aback by not only her language, but her adult tone and she showed no sign of the childlike pronunciations of her words as she has done this whole time.

  “Kimmy came straight from Hell.” Allen said as he raised his hands in front of his face to protect himself because Kimmy had turned in her seat and began beating at his head with Barbie’s torso. I snatched it from her and threw it out the window. She screamed and raised her fist to hit me and before I knew it Angel had Kimmy by the wrist and said “You don’t hurt my Kate.”

  She squeezed Kimmys wrist and Kimmy screamed louder and cried out, “You’re burning me! You Bitch, you’re burning me!” I told Angel to let go and she did, her face remained passive as if nothing happened at all.

  She loving placed Teddy cap and his head and pressed it down to try to make it stay. Kimmy pulled her arm to her chest and rubbed it as she glared at Angel with more hatred than any child should ever carry in her eyes. They seemed to glisten with it. On her wrist there was a deep red hand print. It did look very sore, but there’s no way Angel could have burned her.

  I got the sewing kit out of my jacket pocket and began threading the needle and began sewing Teddy’s hat back on his head. Angel smiled brightly at me. I would never get tired of seeing that.

  “See Tisha,” John said “you and your bleeding heart invited the Devils Spawn into our midst.’ He chuckled getting a kick out of throwing her own words back at her.

  We all got a good laugh and Kimmy settled down for a bit. I finished with Teddy and then got the purple ribbon out of my pocket as well and put Angel’s hair in a ponytail and tied the ribbon around it.

  I was becoming worried about Dave because he was being less social when he had been fine only the day before. But still, I let him alone. I knew that when he was ready to talk to me he would, and if he didn’t, I was going to approach him. After all, what are friends for?

  We had gone pretty far, we had crossed into Tennessee and it began raining again. It was pretty cold outside and the only one prepared for that kind of weather was Tank. He told me where a jacket and sweater were in a Rubbermaid storage bin that was in the very back of the van. I got them and handed the sweater to Tisha, I then asked if anyone else might’ve wanted the jacket and they declined. So I covered Angel and myself with it and dozed for bit. I slept better than I had at the Hideaway, and felt a lot better when I woke up.

  It was dark by then and still raining, but was raining much harder than before. I looked back at Dave who was laid out across the very back seat. His face was turned toward the seat so I could not see it.

  I wanted to wake him to see if he was okay, but I thought he might be coming down with something considering we weren’t used to such chilly weather, so he would need to rest. We would need to stop for gas soon, so I told myself I’d wait till then to wake him.

  Suddenly we heard the tire pop and the van weaved violently across the road. We were thrown around and forward and finally the van slid fifteen
feet or so before we screeched to a complete stop.

  “DAMN IT! I don’t have a spare! We used it on our way to Florida.” Tank yelled.

  “We’ll have to wait for the rain to stop, and then we’ll walk.” John said

  “Walk where? I don’t want to leave my van until I can see daylight. I’m sorry. This is probably the end of the road for all of us.”

  “No, Look!” Angel said. We all looked in the direction of her pointed finger and about a hundred yards ahead of us sat a tiny white church. There were no lights of course and it was very dark. We were in the hills of Tennessee, there were woods everywhere. The cross on top of the church seemed to be brighter than the rest of it, which is probably how Angel saw it. The dream came back to me again and I dismissed any thoughts of it. It had been too strange.

  We grabbed what we could and got out and walked the three hundred feet to get there in the rain.

  Tank in front and Dave behind us watching for Infected as we went. As we got closer, I saw a shimmer of silver beside the church.

  I squinted my eyes to keep the rain out so I could see.

  It was the most beautiful red mustang I ever saw. I wondered who it belonged to. It looked to be a 1965 model. I would make it a point to check it out later.

  We approached the door and it was chained shut from the outside. This could’ve been a bad thing. I thought maybe a horde of undead, were chained inside.

  I did not want to be the one to let them out. Tisha and I stayed huddled at the entrance with the girls in our arms while the guys checked around the sides.

  I think I heard Tank whistle as they passed the pretty red mustang.

  John and Allen returned a minute later but Tank and Dave were gone for several minutes. I handed Angel to Allen, and told them to run if I didn’t return in one minute. I got around the side and Tank and Dave were coming back, accompanied by short nervous looking elderly man. I saw his collar and realized he was the Pastor or Father, whatever his religion called for.

  “Kate, this is Father Barrett.” Dave introduced us and then broke into a coughing fit. He needed to get out of the cold rain. We all did, we were soaking wet shivering at this point. Father Barrett only nodded at me and we went to the doors. With shaky hands he produced a key ring with several more keys on it than anyone should need, other than a super or something. I noticed a shiny red key. Must be the key to the mustang.

  He unraveled the chain and let us all in, then he shut the doors behind us and chained them back up from outside.

  I put Angel down on the floor and she walked away while I was helping to organize the stuff we were able to carry and sat them in the pews. Father Barrett came back in from the side door, I was guessing.

  “I am not locking you in; I’m locking the others out.” He laid his key ring on the alter. Angel stood staring at the large Jesus nailed to the cross on the wall at the back of the church. She did not look away for a second, and I am almost sure that she nodded her head once but didn’t speak.

  I looked around for Dave and saw him sitting in one of the back pews. He was holding on to the cross necklace that he’s worn since high school. I assumed he was praying so I left him alone for a while. He had never expressed whether or not he had a religious preference, so I wasn’t sure.

  Tank and the others were talking to Father Barrett so I joined them.

  “Thank you, Father, for letting us in.” I said.

  “You’re very welcome, though you probably won’t want to stay here long. I have a spare tire in the church van out in the garage. The van doesn’t run, so you can take all the tires if you like. There’s even a hand jack back there. I suggest you be on your way at first light.” He said quickly and walked behind the pulpit to grab a bottle of scotch and pour a shot. “I’d offer you some, but it’s all I have left.” He downed the shot.

  “Now, there are two small rooms to the left that we used to use for daycare, if you feel like lying down. This room here.” He pulled a red curtain back to reveal a set of double doors that were chained up like the front doors. “In this room, is the risen dead of my congregation, well, most of my congregation. Do not touch these doors, do not touch my keys. You see why I say you won’t want to stay.”

  They heard us because they became restless and were shoving the door and moaning. The door opening just a little but held together by the chains. One of them had their fingers out through the slit and Father Barrett pushed the door shut and it snatched its fingers back.

  “Now go, get some rest. Eat. Do whatever it is you have to do and then you must leave in the morning.”

  “How did you get them all rounded up to go in there?” Tank asked him as he eyed him suspiciously

  “Some of them were already in there for a meeting to discuss what was going on.”

  “Obviously one of them were infected, but all of them? How many are in there?”

  “Thirty one.” Father Barrett looked down and took another shot of scotch.

  “And you did this all by yourself? No one helped you?” It did seem very weird that this one little man had herded all those undead into that room all by his self.

  “Well, no. Another member of my congregation helped me.”

  “What happened to him?” He really wanted to know because for some reason Tank did not trust the Father. Tank wasn’t going to let it go.

  “Her. Diane helped me and she’s in there as well. I guess your next question will be is how did she get in there? Well, don’t bother to ask. I pushed her in at the last minute. She was sick too, and beginning to show signs. I could not risk my life!” He stomped back behind the pulpit and produced another bottle of Scotch. This one was full. He was shaking violently as he poured another shot, he spilled some of it. We hadn’t been there fifteen minutes yet and already he’s had three shots. He was half soused. Tank and I had looked at him in disbelief. Lies, lies, lies from the Father. He would be the last person I would expect to lie to us. It’s every man for himself for sure.

  “How do you know they were all infected? Had any of them turned before you locked them in there?” Tank kept drilling him.

  “One had turned. A few others were injured in the scuffle. I could not be sure who was infected and who wasn’t. I locked them all in.” He said this with no remorse. What kind of man of God did this type of thing?

  “You mean to say… that you locked them all in and only a few were infected? You locked innocent, very much alive people in there with them?” Dave had entered the conversation and wasn’t happy.

  “You’re no Man of the Cloth! You’re a murderer of innocent people. What makes your life more important than theirs? You’re a selfish piece of shit, and you will get yours!”

  Dave had walked up to the pulpit and backed the Father against the wall.

  Father Barrett was definitely nervous now, and trying to cower away from Dave yelling at him. Dave slammed his fist into the wall beside his head and disappeared into the hall that led to the restroom.

  Father Barrett stood there for a moment and cried. He slid down the wall to his butt and wrapped his arms around his knees. I looked back at everyone else and all I could see was Kimmys ugly little face and black eyes, she was laughing.

  I went in search of Dave and found him still in the bathroom. I knocked gently.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Sure, only you though.” He was sitting on the edge of the toilet seat, I stood leaning on the sink.

  “You don’t look too hot. You okay?” I asked. He shuffled around on the seat and put his head in his hands.

  “No, I’m not okay at all.” He tilted his face up to look at me. The only light in the bathroom was a short stubby candle and I could barely see his face. “Bring the candle and come closer.” He said.

  I did as he asked and approached him with the candle held up. His face was really pale now, and the white of his eyes a bright pink. There were also bags under his eyes and they were bluish in color. He didn’t look like this, twenty minutes ago. I inhaled
sharply and stepped back. I almost dropped the candle.

  “Oh, Dave, Dave. No, no. What happened? When, How? Damn!”

  “When I went into the bathroom at the Hideaway to wipe the blood off of my boot. Some got on my hand and I have a small cut on my index finger.”

  He held his hand out to me and the little cut was an angry red. The sadness washed over me like a bucket of ice cold water and I reached out to hug him and to try to comfort him but he pushed me away.

  “You know that if anything of me gets on you, it’s over. I don’t know how long I’ve got but it can’t be a long time. Take this.” He removed the cross from around his neck and put it on a piece of tissue and gave it to me.

  “Find a way to wash that off. Keep it for me, please. It means a lot to me, my mother gave it to me. I want you to get them and get out of here. Father Barrett is not right in the head. I don’t trust him.”

  I was crying harder than I had ever cried in my life. This was my friend and it hurt to know there was nothing I could do to help him.

  “Dave, what are we gonna do? There’s still time I’m sure!”

  “Time for what, Kate?” He yelled. “Nothing…there’s no time for anything. My main concern is you and Angel. I care about the others, but you have to be safe. Angel is important, I can see that. Can’t you?” I was beginning to feel that way too, but I didn’t want to leave my old friend to suffer through this alone.

  “I’ll stay with you, and then I’ll do it for you.”

  “No, I will do it myself; at the right time. I have a feeling something is gonna go down and I need to be ready when it does. Maybe because I’m dying I can feel the tension getting ready to snap better than anyone else. But we have to go back out there and pretend for a while. If I turn, then do what you have to do. If I don’t then just take it as it comes. Okay?” I was so sad now; I didn’t even care about anything else at that moment. I nodded my head yes and turned to leave the bathroom.