Humanity's Hope (Book 1): Camp H

by Greg P. Ferrell

  HUMANITY'S HOPE

  CAMP H

  GREG P. FERRELL

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  About the Author

  Also by Greg P. Ferrell

  Also From DevilDog Press

  Thank you!

  Copyright © 2016 by Greg P. Ferrell

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Thank you to my wonderful wife, Sam; without her support, input, opinions, and nagging this would have never made it to print.

  Also, my friends, whose inspiration and input made these characters feel real (you know who you are, but just in case): Kyle, David, Christi, Ron, Josie, Dale, Rico, E. Hicks, Billy, Tim, Mike, Kim, Melinda, Kenny, Brian, Pete, and Dave.

  Eminem, whose song Lose Yourself pumped me up when I need the inspiration to keep going, and Metallica for energizing me during the late-night writing sessions.

  My kids, Casey (Hope), Zoey (Renee), and Bryce (Patch) Ferrell who are the inspiration for the characters and whose constant words of encouragement made me realize this was going to be a hit. Also, their consistent critiquing of my writing made me realize I had been out of school a really long time.

  My mother-in-law Brenda for helping me fix all those writing mistakes by pre-editing the entire story for me.

  My mom for letting me be a dreamer as a child and encouraging me to be imaginative.

  Rob M. Miller for refining my writing into a readable and grammatically acceptable piece of work and for keeping my voice, when that seemed an indomitable task.

  Last but not least, Storm the greatest dog ever. We miss you, girl.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The greatest and most supportive mother-in-law, Brenda Presnell, for pre-editing and supporting me through the whole process.

  My daughter, Zoey Ferrell, for the awesome chapter heading artwork.

  Rob M. Miller for a tremendous editing job that made my story as smooth as butta. He’s so going to kill me for this.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE OUTBREAK

  David

  Hot, would’ve been the best way to describe June 9th. It would’ve been the only word used to describe it had the rest of what happened that day not happened.

  June 9th started out like any typical summer day in Tallahassee, Florida, warm and muggy at 7:00 a.m. when David walked out of the house. Eighty-five degrees by the time he got to work and started his bread route in his truck, and 95-degrees by noon, with no end in sight to the ever-increasing temperatures. The forecast predicted 103-degrees at the peak, just another typical day in the North Florida summer.

  David stopped for lunch at the local diner for a cheeseburger and sweet iced tea. He welcomed the respite from the heat with the cool air-conditioning blowing over his head.

  His cell phone rang. “Hello?”

  “Poker night at my house,” Kyle said over the other end of the phone. “Let’s kick this weekend off right.”

  “Works for me,” David answered. “I need a break after the week I’ve had. What time?”

  “Nine, and bring the wife and kid. Sam’s cooking nachos and she has some movies to occupy the little hellions.”

  “Ten-four. See ya then.” David hung up the phone and tossed a 10 down for the waitress and walked out. He had to finish the day first before he could get a start on the weekend.

  The rest of the day was just stop and drops, which meant not much talking to anybody and the day would be over quickly. As he left the little diner, he was oblivious to the TV in the corner. In fact, no one was really paying attention to the news flashing overhead because the sound was muted, but the closed caption was rolling across the bottom of the screen. The words on the ticker told of a third strange attack that day.

  Miami authorities report that an unidentified man was fatally shot by officers responding to numerous calls reporting a violent man attacking another as yet unidentified man. Witnesses on scene report the attacker was shot and killed by MPD while trying to eat the other man on a highway overpass.

  Getting to his last stop of the day at the Publix on Mahan Drive, David walked to the back of the square van where he noticed someone staring at him from the alley across the street. Just some guy, perhaps on a smoke break. Disregarding the person, David continued unloading his truck.

  After he dropped off the final load of bread to the store, he began to relax as he thought about his weekend. While he headed towards his truck, he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced back over towards the alley. He found the smoker, who had earlier been in the shadows of the alley behind the store, was now standing at the sidewalk’s edge. Upon closer observation, the person looked rough and ragged and possibly homeless.

  As he continued his speculation, the stranger let out a loud screeching growl and started to charge towards him. The snarling stranger stepped into the street just as a city bus hit him straight on. Startled at the sight of this, David immediately ran across and down the street to check on the stranger. He arrived on the scene realizing there was nothing he could do. The stranger had been dragged about 75-feet across the asphalt, and among the splattered blood and bits of flesh, there was not much left of him to identify.

  The afternoon grew hotter as sirens from emergency vehicles were soon heard blasting in the distance. David decided there was no reason to wait for the ambulance and cops to give a statement, and that it was best for him to just slip away. Besides, there was nothing he could do for the stranger, anyway, as he was most assuredly dead. The only thing his presence would achieve would be to delay the start of his weekend. After the heat of the day and the long week had, he was more than ready to leave the craziness all behind and head over to Kyle’s place for a little escape from his adult responsibilities.

  CHAPTER 2

  THE DAY BEFORE

 
Martin

  Martin finished his shift at the Kansas City Sewer and Water reclamation facility in the early evening hours of June 8th. He slowly made his way to the parking lot when he ran across John, a fellow co-worker. Damn, here it comes again. Guess I didn’t get out of here fast enough. John waved and yelled out across three rows of cars.

  “Another shitty day comes to an end. Smell you later.”

  Martin replied with a little hesitation, “Smell ya next week.”

  Ugh. Ten years, and Martin had traded that salutation every day with John. One day, I’m getting the hell out of here. One damn day.

  On the way home, Martin decided to stop and pick up a pizza for supper. Even though it was a Thursday night, it was the start of Martin’s weekend, and he’d had the same ritual for the start of every weekend for more than five years. He pulled up to a little strip mall and saw that it wasn’t too busy at his favorite pizza shop. He ran in and ordered his usual meal and traded the same small talk with the same staff he did every week.

  “No, just for me. No, not a girlfriend. No, no kids.”

  Even after all the years with the same routine, they still asked the same questions and he always offered the same answers. Martin had been single for a while. It was hard for a woman to stick around when they found out he dealt with other people’s excrement every day, but he’d adapted to it. He had his cat at home and the cat never complained, and as a bonus, it listened to him vent every night about his job or life. What more could he want? He finished the friendly exchanges, grabbed his food, and headed for his apartment.

  After a short drive home, Martin opened his apartment door and slung his keys onto the table, but, instead of the usual metallic clang, the response was more of a dull thump. He turned to look and see what the keys hit while he flipped on the light switch. The florescent light flickered to life and he found his cat lying flat on the table with a steady dribble of blood dripping from his small furry mouth. Startled, he dropped the pizza to the floor and took a step back as he tried to accertain if what he saw was real. He collected himself and moved closer to check on Oscar the cat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure move towards him. He quickly turned to check it out and was flung to the floor by an unexpected blow. As he fell, his hand bumped the light switch and he hit his head on the edge of the table. The lights blinked out before he hit the floor, and between the blow to his head and the fall, he felt himself start to black out. The last thing his muddled mind saw were the teeth coming, right before they sank into the flesh on his face. As the darkness swallowed him and he began to sink into the depths of agony, he had one last thought, At least I won’t have to hear John’s stupid one-liners anymore.

  CHAPTER 3

  JUNE 9TH

  Kyle

  The clink of the chips hitting the table was driving Sam mad. “Quit it! For the last time, put the chips down and help me get the kids ready! Everybody’s going to be here soon.”

  Kyle slipped the poker chips back into the metal case and slid the chair away from the table. “Alright, woman, whatcha want me to do?” He laughed as Sam barked orders at him while he headed down the hall to the kids’ room. “Okay, you little hellions, Mom sent me to lock you in the closet or get your jammies on. I can’t remember which. What do y’all think?”

  Patch and Renee jumped up from the board game they were playing. “Ah, Dad, you know which it was. It’s jammy time,” Patch, his youngest, said as he grabbed his PJs and headed towards him, bouncing the whole way.

  Patch grinned. “Dad, when’s Jacob getting here?”

  “Soon. Let’s get you dressed and in the living room, so when they get here I can start the movies. I think we have some good ones. I’m ready to play some poker, so the quicker y’all get settled, the quicker I get to making some money off those guys.”

  Kyle was heading back toward the kitchen when suddenly he heard a loud banging at the door. Before he could get there, though, the banging came again. “Ah-ha! The first victims have arrived! Come in, you losers!”

  The knob turned and as the door opened he found a familiar face flying at him. “Hey, Jakey! I was wondering if you were ever gonna get here. Come and give your Uncle Kyle a hug.”

  The young boy bounced down the hall and grabbed Kyle by the leg. Just as quickly, however, he detached and sprinted into the living room to find Patch. As he disappeared down the hall David and Christi came in with chips and drinks in hand.

  “It’s ’bout time ya got here. My left hand has been itching all day, which means I got some money coming my way.” Kyle grinned as he rubbed his thumb across his fingers.

  “Left hand means money is leaving, I do believe.” David grinned back at Kyle. “Right hand means it’s coming in. But either way, you ain’t beaten me in months. You should just hand it over now and go to bed, so you can at least get a good night’s rest out of all this.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Throw your stuff in the kitchen and meet me on the back porch. We’ll sit out there ’til the rest of the crew arrives.”

  “Who else we got coming?”

  “The usual,” Kyle responded. “Ron, Josey, Dale, Kenny, and 9-finger Brian.”

  “Cool, the whole crew for a change. This outta be fun. What about Vince? Is Ron bringing him?”

  “No, he’s at his grandmother’s tonight,” Kyle answered as he headed out the back door.

  David took the chips and drinks into the kitchen and found Sam making a dip for the party. “How ya doin’, girl?” He nudged Sam on the shoulder. Before she could answer, he disappeared out the back door, following Kyle.

  David found Kyle sitting in the corner on the porch trying to light a cigar and pulled up a chair next to him. He grabbed a cigar out of the box, promptly bit the end off, and spit it just over Kyle’s head. “Gimme the lighter when you finish playing with it.”

  After the fourth attempt the cigar started to burn, and Kyle tossed the lighter to David. Kyle then leaned comfortably back in the deck chair. After a quick puff of the cigar, he looked over at David and motioned him to lean in conspiratorially, as if he had a huge secret to share. “Man, let me tell you about my da—”

  “Whatever it was I got ya beat,” David interrupted. “But go ahead, you first.”

  “Whatever. You’d feel bad if I took you up on that bet, so here ya go. Okay, you know that convenience store up by the airport? The one that sells bongs they swear are for decoration only?”

  David nodded in recognition.

  “Okay, so I’m driving towards there, and I see like 10 cop cars everywhere, right? Dude, highway patrol, sheriff, and cops all sitting in between the store and the airport entrance. I’m watching my speed, and barely doing the speed limit, when I look to my left at the tree line where it borders the forest. All of a sudden, four cops come stumbling and running out of the woods. Three of them looked fine, but the fourth guy was practically dragged out by the other three with what looked like a leg wound. They looked totally panicked.” He paused and shook his head as if he could hardly believe what he was about to say.

  “Anyway, I kept on driving, and I looked over my shoulder to see another person coming out of the woods. This one looked like either a plain-clothes officer or a civilian. But the funny part was, it actually looked like the cops were running away from the last guy. By that time, though, I hit the big curve in the road, so I didn’t get to see how that finished up. I stopped at the convenience store around the corner to get some gas and a soda. While I was pumping the gas, I swear I heard some gunshots. By the time I finished, I noticed the highway patrol had completely blocked off the road.” Kyle paused, then took a small shuddering breath as he looked at his friend. “Weird, huh?”

  David just nodded his head in stunned agreement.

  “I got home and looked on the Internet and nothing has been reported on the news yet,” he added. “I ain’t said anything to Sam, since that’s only about a mile as the crow flies from here, and she always overreacts to everything. Well, guess it’s your t
urn then. Top that one, buddy boy.” After Kyle finished his story, he leaned back in his chair, took a long drag off the cigar, and relaxed, confident that David didn’t have a chance in hell to top his tale.

  As David told his story of the incident witnessed while finishing up his bread route, Kyle sat up and listened. After the man finished his own retelling, Kyle conceded that both of their stories were equally screwed.

  “What the hell do you think is getting to people?” Kyle asked. “It’s too early in the summer for heat strokes and such.”

  David nodded and shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m going to hate to see this place during the heat of August.”

  CHAPTER 4

  LATE NIGHT, JUNE 8TH

  Martin

  Martin opened his eyes, quite surprised to find himself awake, let alone hearing the voices he heard all around. He slowly started to identify where the unfamiliar voices were coming from. As he opened his eyes fully, he found an EMT checking him out and trying to keep him from getting up. A couple of feet away, a uniformed police officer stood beside his next-door neighbor, Ralph. At the doorway, another officer stood barring the entrance, with several familiar faces of the other neighbors trying to peer over the cop’s shoulder.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  The paramedic responded, “Careful, man, you were attacked. I think you may have a concussion. Now let’s have you try to slowly sit up. Can you stand?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Martin said. “Give me a hand for a sec.” Martin pulled himself up and steadied himself on the table in the entryway. The EMT guided him over to the chair next to the table and sat Martin into it. Martin’s head throbbed, but not as bad as he expected it to. Nothing that a couple of Advil couldn’t fix. He looked at the scene around him as he tried to piece together what had happened. When he saw his cat Oscar lying on the table, it all came back in a flash.

  “Shit, the teeth. Oh, shit. What the hell happened?”

  One of the cops walked over . “Mr. Martin I have a couple of questions. Are you up for helping me out?”