The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire

by Scottie, Charles

  “We threw a rock that connected with the body, and it made no motion to respond. More importantly, we believe we saw a figure inside the building respond to the rock’s clatter, but failed to pursue it. That suggests a human remains, hiding inside.” Every word was a lie, and somewhere, a far off part of Natalie was revolted at her actions.

  It’s necessary. BJ wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t. Try as she might to convince herself, the words felt hollow. The irony wasn’t lost on her that she had resorted to lying to herself out of some sense of necessity. It was an easy habit to excuse.

  Their guide had gotten to his feet, and though his progress was hampered by his nerves, it was obvious that the false news had brightened his spirits. He truly believed the thing was dead, and worse, he was hopeful that he’d find someone he knew in the ruins.

  BJ made his intentions clear as they crossed the street in a rush, now just a few buildings down from their destination. In a quiet tone, he told the man that the crew would stay back while he made contact, then move in to secure the building behind him. Desperate for a positive turn of events, their captive ate up every word.

  The truth was simple enough: they were using the man as bait. First, if the creature was alive and did respond to his action, BJ and the rest of them could duck out of sight without risk. Second, if it didn’t, then the man might try to warn his “companion” inside, if not outright make a break for it, proving him unreliable. Last, he would provoke any undead inside the building, ensuring that there would be no surprises awaiting them when they entered.

  In a fit of shame, Natalie contemplated what would happen if they actually did throw a rock at the thing, but she knew it wouldn’t work in their favor. If they woke it up, it would probably begin hunting and might find them. Whatever got its attention had to be alive, if only to placate the monster’s hunger when it stirred.

  Wryly, Natalie forced a dark smile. Let’s turn a stranger into bait, sure. Good thing we don’t know his name, or this might feel wrong. The sickness in her stomach roiled, but she fought it down with a practiced ease that nearly made her ill again.

  Her morality could scream at her all it wanted, but the reality remained: they had no choice. Any other option presented a direct risk to the team, and they had to investigate the building if they wanted to try and keep the outpost safe. If someone was going to die… it was better him than them.

  With bated breath, Natalie watched the man make his slow crawl toward the building. Once or twice, he glanced back at them as if to confirm that the creature he was so near to was truly dead. Each time, BJ nodded stoically, sternly gesturing him onward toward his uncertain fate.

  As he finally made it to the entrance of the store, the man tossed a small stone of his own, obviously testing for himself the claim that the beast was no longer operational. A second later, he let out an obvious exhale of relief, and Natalie did the exact same. She hadn’t realized how tense she felt over the man’s fate, her subconscious silently cheering him on. At least I’m human enough to care about what happens to the poor bastard. Haven’t lost that part of me yet.

  Seemingly content that he wouldn’t be torn apart, he called out low, trying to get the attention of the survivor he believed was hiding inside the building. He even offered an awkward wave to the crew behind him, his confidence slowly returning as his belief in his safety increased. Natalie briefly wondered if she had seen him smiling.

  Seconds turned into minutes as the crew awaited some kind of reaction from within the building, but without any response forthcoming, the man seemed to renew his worries. The instant their bait stepped inside to investigate for himself, BJ signaled for the rest of the group to follow him.

  No sound came from within, which made Natalie simultaneously hopeful and concerned. The quiet was enough to confirm that there was no undead presence in the building, but did nothing to assuage her fears of a human threat. For all she knew, their prisoner had his throat slit and was dying silently around the corner, or he was working with the ambushers after all and this had all been a part of the plan.

  BJ entered the store first without conflict, Rico right behind him, and the tension that immediately radiated from them sent shivers down Natalie’s spine. As the two men parted in front of her, there were a million images of what she was expecting to find all flashing through her head. None of them matched the scene before her.

  The room was chaos incarnate. All around, shelves and walls had been torn asunder by the hulking thing that now lay dead at their feet. Whatever fight had taken place here had been a doozy, but it was the yawning pit in the floor that had Natalie’s attention.

  Their prisoner had said that the thing that attacked his group had come from below, but Natalie hadn’t realized exactly what that meant. At the time, she had suspected maybe a basement, or some kind of pipe system, had allowed for a surprise attack. Instead, she was looking at a tunnel, sloppy but efficient, that had clearly been created by the monster in the room.

  No one could deny the evidence now. As Natalie looked over the hideous corpse, more and more details came to life. It was huge, easily dwarfing even BJ in size, but most of its bulk was in the upper body, the strength in its arms easily outweighing the power of its legs. The hands were webbed, each finger ending in sharp, hard points, ideal for clawing through rubble and dirt. The damage that had been done to its skull was heavy, but Natalie could clearly see one gigantic black eye that would be perfect for seeing in the dark.

  Questions assailed Natalie’s mind, though one in particular stood out. No matter how hard Natalie studied the mangled remains of the creature’s head, she could not make out if it was human or not. The group that had fought the thing had certainly given it their all, though it appeared that none had managed to survive the encounter. Even if they did make it past the beast, the noise of the fight would have drawn biters to finish them off while they were weakened.

  At her peripheral vision, she could see BJ having a low conversation with the injured man who had brought them here. Their guide was alive and unharmed, though the look of crestfallen heartbreak had reclaimed him. BJ was resting one hand on his shoulder, and seemed to be leveling with him. Natalie tried to smile at that. He’d been telling the truth after all. I don’t know if that makes this better or worse.

  A wide trail of blood, marked also by the occasional dusty shoe print, disappeared into the tunnel below. Hoping that the prints had been made by humans instead of zombies felt absurdly naive to Natalie, especially since the gore path that accompanied them was almost certainly the result of bodies being dragged down. Sooner or later, she would have to tell the man that his company had been killed. Judging by the look on his face, she suspected he already knew.

  Casting her gaze aside, more from frustration than anything else, Natalie paused. Peeking up over the edge of the counter were what appeared to be fingertips, though the gentle light shining through what was left of the window proved them to be pale and lifeless. Furrowing her brow, Natalie flagged Rico’s attention at the door and readied her crowbar.

  Knowing that her backup was now paying close attention, Natalie moved behind the countertop with her weapon raised. What she found was a badly damaged corpse. The head had been mutilated beyond any kind of recognition, and beyond the massive shredding of its torso, it was also missing an arm and a leg. Rico cocked his chin at her, silently asking if she would require his services, but a dismissive wave from the young woman returned his attention to the pit.

  It was a horrific sight, but Natalie had been bombarded with those since day one. Moreover, there was something unsettling about it that went beyond mere appearance. The source of her uneasiness struck her a moment later. You shouldn’t be here. Bodies never get left behind.

  Natalie briefly wondered if she was reading too much into it, but after a moment of consideration she was certain she was right. Not once had she seen a body in the open. Even if they weren’t hungry, the undead would still collect corpses for feeding later, just l
ike they had done at the gas station. If this room had been filled with newly turned, as the tracks down into the tunnel had suggested, why wouldn’t they have taken the meal with them?

  What if walkers didn’t make the tracks? It seemed impossible, but there wasn’t another answer that could match the scene. The marks in the tunnel didn’t guarantee zombie activity, and the fact that a corpse was left behind heavily implied that their culprit was human. Confused, Natalie shook her head.

  Doesn’t make any sense. Too much blood for just one casualty, and if even a single person turned undead, that body should be gone. Plus, where the Hell are his arm and leg? The freak is huge, but even it couldn’t have just swallowed limbs whole. Natalie closed her eyes, attempting to focus on everything that the man in their custody had told them about the attack.

  There were seven people. One got “torn apart,” which would probably be the guy I’m looking at here. Our prisoner ran away. That leaves five others. Reopening her eyes, Natalie scoffed at the sheer carnage around her. There is no way in Hell five people survived this. Though…

  Gear. There should be gear somewhere nearby. Seven people traveling together would have supplies of some kind or another, like a backpack or a duffel bag. Plus, the attack had happened at night, if the reports of gunfire could be believed. They would have been bedding down, but there’s nothing.

  It was a small enough building, but anywhere Natalie looked, the place was empty. The only sign that people had been here, beyond the blood and body, were the bullet casings that littered the ground. There had been a fight, that was certain, but no indicator to what had happened afterward. Natalie chewed her lip, trying to piece together anything that seemed feasible.

  “Natalie, report.” BJ was being careful to keep his voice down, but as always it carried a remarkable authority. That wasn’t enough, however, to stop Natalie from blinking in surprise. Glancing at the others, she noticed she was the only one who had been investigating the scene.

  Both cousins were watching for attacks, either from the street or from below, and BJ had been speaking with the prisoner. Recalling their moments since entering, Natalie realized that none of the others had made even a cursory attempt at understanding their situation. Instead, they had left the burden of examination to their newest member. Natalie had a unique service to the group, after all. There was a hint of a satisfied smile on her face as she dove into what she had learned.

  “I don’t know what the Hell this thing is, or if it was ever human to begin with, but I know that it’s meant for tunneling. Webbed feet with hard claws for digging, upper body focus to give it the power, and what I believe are extremely light sensitive eyes for darkvision.” As Natalie spoke, she found herself being reminded of Dr. Mejhit’s clinical mannerisms. After spending as much time together as they had, and being forced to address any number of sickening or unsettling issues, Natalie had acquired a similarly detached stance when discussing such things.

  In fact, Natalie’s only hesitation was about whether or not she should bring up the strange situation with the body while they were in front of their prisoner. Until she had a better handle on what had happened, she thought it would be unwise to bring up her concerns in front of him.

  Thankfully, it wasn’t something she was forced to address aloud. While Natalie had paused, considering what she should do, BJ had risen to his feet and nodded his head approvingly.

  “Excellent. Then we have what we came for. Time to return to camp with our findings and proceed from there.” BJ dropped a hand to the wounded man’s shoulder once again and gave it a reassuring pat. “This is Thomas. He’ll be joining us for the journey back, as our guest. I have already explained to him the situation, and he has forgiven our… earlier behavior.”

  The look of appreciation on Thomas’ face was briefly shadowed by fear, no doubt at the memory of his previous treatment. Natalie doubted he had really forgiven them. More likely, he knew he could use their help in getting back and saw no reason to further endanger himself. It was a decision that Natalie could appreciate from firsthand experience.

  “Marco, teach Thomas the basics. Natalie and I will watch the street until you’re finished.” Marco’s groan was obvious, and Thomas was clearly uncomfortable, but Natalie was pleased. She would have her chance to speak to BJ openly after all. Quietly, the two of them exchanged places with Marco, and the moment they were certain Thomas was distracted, BJ gave Natalie a subtle nod to continue with reporting her findings.

  “There’s a body behind the counter, twice-dead, and missing an arm and leg. Out of the way enough that a person might miss it, but I’m having a hard time believing a biter wouldn’t notice.” BJ’s expression remained unchanged as he surveyed the street alongside Natalie, but she was certain he was mulling over her words.

  “There’s also footprints and bloody drag marks going into the tunnels, almost definitely from a corpse being brought down. At first I thought zombies, but if that were true, the body up here would be missing too. Plus, I didn’t see any gear left behind. I think somebody was alive, but…” Natalie paused, again chewing her lip in silent contemplation. Taking the moment, BJ rumbled to life, speaking the facts aloud to himself.

  “Seven people were here, approached by an extremely dangerous enemy that had the element of surprise. One died, one ran, and five are unaccounted for.” BJ paused, bringing a hand to his chin in thought.

  “If undead had been present, the body behind the counter would be gone, and, presumably, so would the digger.” BJ’s observation caught Natalie off-guard. Of course, damnit, of course. They cannibalize, unless these things are different somehow. If the body left behind was legitimately overlooked doesn’t matter; there’s no way they missed the giant feast in the middle of the floor. Taking BJ’s lead, Natalie continued theorizing.

  “Since the digger’s body is still here, and it created the tunnel in the first place, it’s a safe guess that no walkers have used the tunnel at all.” Natalie glanced backward at Marco and Thomas, ensuring that they were preoccupied. Marco looked annoyed and Thomas, confused. They had a few more minutes yet.

  “If all five people had survived the encounter, there wouldn’t have been an extra corpse left behind for anyone to drag into the tunnel in the first place, which implies that at least one of the five others was killed here.” Another quick peek, and Marco was showing the signs for identifying targets. Thomas looked uncertain.

  “That means, for some reason, there were survivors here who opted to drag one of their own into the tunnel. I thought that it could have been somebody who was badly injured at first, but then I can’t find the guy from inside’s missing arm and leg either. Somebody must have carried them off with them, and if they did, who’s to say they didn’t bring a whole body, too?” As Marco slapped Thomas heavily on the back behind them, Natalie realized their time was rapidly coming to a close.

  “If we’re sure no dead have been here, then what the Hell are we looking at? Why the fuck were people carrying bodies down?” Whether or not BJ had an answer for her, Natalie was unable to find out. Marco had finished with his duty, and begun his natural saunter back over.

  “Guy’s an idiot but he knows the basics, so can we get the fuck out of here, please? The death pit is giving me the heebie-jeebies.” Over Marco’s shoulder, Natalie noticed Rico’s face twitch in irritation. It had been Marco who had suggested Thomas be killed earlier, and his remark about him being an idiot was made casually in front of the man. There was no one who could claim Marco was good at making friends, and his continued disregard for the people around him made that a fact that was rarely forgotten.

  Natalie and BJ exchanged a final look of concern, now sharing a renewed fear both about the possible danger that lay ahead, and regarding Thomas’ identity. For all they knew, they were now delivering a dangerous person straight into the camp.

  The temporary marching order now included Thomas wedged between Natalie and Rico, and as they made their way back toward home, Natalie r
esolved to find out as much about the stranger as possible. Being in such close proximity to him reminded her again of the extent of his burns. That he was so coherent, even when enduring what should have been crippling pain, was both a testament to his strength and a pointed warning to Natalie.

  You shouldn’t be standing, let alone traveling. Back with Mejhit, Natalie had seen a fair number of burn victims of varying severity. Most of them had been in such agony that it overwhelmed them, making even basic communication challenging, yet here Thomas was. He was ahead of her in line, but the burns wrapped around his face and down his neck, giving her the opportunity to observe them more closely without giving herself away.

  Third degree… even when these heal, he’s going to be scarred beyond any kind of recognition. It was hard to tell through the bandages he had draped around his head, but Natalie could almost swear the burns followed a pattern. Somebody did this to him, and only a few days ago. Not an accident, this was a deliberate action. Why?

  Every step Natalie took was very near to Thomas, their whole group crouching low together to avoid any unwanted attention. It wasn’t an intentional move on her part to get closer, but when Thomas’ footing slipped and he fell to one knee, Natalie heard a distinct rattle from his coat pocket. His eyes met hers, before quickly glancing away, a noticeable tremble overtaking his frame. Despite being an average sized man, his posture and attitude made him seem deceptively frail, a trait Natalie was keenly aware of.

  “Please… don’t tell them.” Thomas was muttering under his breath, but he was peering out of the corner of his eye at Natalie. Slowly, he revealed the source of the rattling: painkillers. Natalie noticed the white knuckle grip that he held over them, and a light flicked on in her head. That’s how he’s handling the burns. Explains why he seemed so addlebrained, too.

  Natalie remained suspicious of the man, but she had to admit that a lot of her concerns about his strange behavior had reasonable explanations. What she really needed to know was who he had been traveling with. To that end, she had an idea.