Dead Hearts Grow Cold: A Post-Apocalyptic Novella

by Stacey Slothlief

  Remy and Dale grabbed Ben and headed out, Cooper made a move to follow them, but I held on to his leash tightly.

  Five minutes passed before the first update: “Moving out of the lot now, sir,” said the voice on the walkie.

  “Thanks, Dale, check in when you arrive,” Tex replied. He smiled at me. Even from this distance, I could feel the evil emanating from his eyes. I did my best to give reassuring looks to the girls, but both of them had their heads bowed, Noah was weeping.

  Thirty minutes before the next message: “We’re here, got a little orange vial and a syringe, guy says there’s more inside. What should I do, boss?”

  “Any dead ones nearby?” Asked Tex.

  “Uh, I see a few of them down the road,” Said Dale, apprehensively.

  Tex drew his pistol and raised it at Geo. “Get Remy bit. Give him the vial. See if it works. Check back in when it’s done.” Geo perked up in defiance, but Tex’s stare, and his pistol, brought him back down. Tex looked back at me, “I don’t appreciate the way you’re lookin at me, boy. I may not feel so bad killin’ you if your buddy tries to get smart.”

  Freja had worked her way out of her gag. “Jake just run,” she yelled, taking a step forward. “He’s gonna kill you two either way!”

  Tex grabbed something off the ground and pulled it, causing Freja to stumble backwards. I squinted my eyes and finally noticed the ropes tied around each of their waists, each with about 15 feet of rope dangling behind them.

  “Careful, sweetheart, I don’t wanna break your pretty little bones. Not yet, at least.”

  “Kill us, then, we’re not going with you,” Freja spat back at him.

  “Fine,” Tex said. He pointed the gun at us. “Then stay still or I kill your boyfriend and that damned lil’ doggie. Anyway, I don’t need you conscious, or alive for that matter, as long as ya’ll still warm s’all that counts” He licked his lips. Noah let out a frail whimper. I couldn’t tell if it was Cooper growling or me. This man was going to die today, and I was going to be the one to kill him.

  We stood in turgid silence for what felt like half a day. Speculation turned to worry as each second passed. If he killed their guys and took their guns, he could find a way to sneak in and take both guys out before they know what hit them. But can he do that without hurting the girls? Or maybe he lured them into some Reds, since he knows he can survive a bite or two. If that’s the case, though, it’d be hours before he stops hallucinating, even longer before he’s in physical condition to take the other guys on.

  I should do something. I need to do something. Now.

  I loosened my grip on Coop’s collar and started to rise. The sound of Dale’s voice on the walkie left me frozen.

  “I’ve got it, it works, took a little longer than expected, sorry boss. Bringing the truck around now. Area’s clear. Their guy should be coming through the back in a second.”

  Sure enough, I heard footsteps approaching from behind me, and Ben appeared on my right. Bewildered, I looked at him, he kept his eyes forward, staring at Tex.

  “Excellent, come to dock 2” Tex said through the walkie, “Geo, get the door.”

  Geo made his way to the large metal handle at the bottom of the door.

  I couldn’t help the brief look of concern I shot Ben, and he reciprocated with a slight nod towards the loading door, which Geo had just swung open.

  “Just watch.”

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  The Reds grabbed Geo before he had a chance to react. His body was out of sight within seconds, as an endless horde of Reds streamed through the entryway. Tex hesitated for a moment before turning and firing several rounds into the approaching mob, giving the girls enough time to get to their feet. Freja bounded towards us and leaped off the ledge, rolling as she hit the ground. Noah stumbled immediately and fell to her knees, wincing in pain as she drew herself to her feet. Tex was getting overwhelmed. A Red attacked him from his right and grabbed his arm, knocking his pistol out of his hand and distracting him long enough for another to crawl up from behind and take a chunk out of his left calf. The hands on his body multiplied as he fought them off, descending deeper and deeper into the horde of bodies as if it were quicksand. Freja reached us and threw herself into my arms. I began untying her wrists while poking my head around her torso to check on Noah.

  She was limping.

  Ben sprinted toward her. He made it two steps before Noah’s body lurched backwards, eyes open wide she flew through the air. She landed on her back, inches from the horde, where Tex’s outstretched arm held tightly onto the rope tied around Noah’s waist. Her first bite was on her right shoulder. The next, her left ear. Left forearm. Back of her neck. She didn’t fight. She didn’t scream. Ben stopped running as she picked the pistol off the ground. She looked up at us, her body rising as more Reds tore at her flesh. She gave us one last smile. And as she pulled the trigger, everything went black.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  The sun forced its way through the part in my curtains directly onto my face, as it always did at this part of the morning. Mother Nature’s natural alarm clock. I pulled the covers over my face.

  5 more minutes.

  Coop seized the opportunity to lick my newly uncovered feet. Mother Nature’s other natural alarm clock. “Alright, alright, I get it buddy, time for school.” I rubbed his head and rolled out of bed, digging my toes into the rug as I landed. Freja was still in bed, probably best to let her sleep a little longer, lord knows I don’t want to be the one getting her up too early. As I brushed my teeth, I could hear Ben talking downstairs, hopefully that meant breakfast! Of course it meant breakfast, Ben wouldn’t get up this early if there wasn’t breakfast involved. I basically jumped the entire flight of stairs down to the dining room where, sure enough, five plates were set up. Noah and Mom had their backs to me, while Ben was at the head of the table. I made my way to my seat across from the ladies of the house - maybe I should have woken Freja up, after all, oh well. I pulled my chair up to the table.

  Hmm, I guess no one brought the food out yet.

  “Hey Mom,” I said, glancing up from my plate. The woman across from me was not my mother. She had the same hair as my mom, but her face was completely different. Or was it? Weren’t her eyes a little closer together? Her nose is smaller, right? Her face began to change, slowly at first, gradually transforming faster and faster until I wasn’t even looking at a person anymore, but a jumbled puddle of contorted features. I turned to Noah, frightened. She was smiling back at me. The same smile she always gave, except wider. As I kept staring, it slowly grew wider and wider, creeping higher up her cheeks. The house began to rumble. Books on the shelves across the room tumbled to the ground, the chandelier above the table rattled violently. As the earthquake intensified, Noah’s face began to crumble away, along with the rest of the room, until all that remained was her smile.

  I jerked awake when we hit the next rock. Ben briefly lost his balance as he tried to keep the wheelbarrow steady, but stopped and set it down once he noticed I had come to. We were about two miles off the coast.

  We’re in Savannah? How long was I out?

  “Ben...where..”

  “Savannah. We drove. Get up.” Ben sounded more terse than ever before.

  “How long..”

  “Two and a half hours. Get up.”

  He had his right side to me, his bloodshot eye pointed down at the ground. His gaze was lifeless.

  Why is he being so weird? Maybe Noah kno...Oh.

  My heart shot up to my throat. The blood began to drain from my head so I grasped the sides of the wheelbarrow to keep from passing out again. I heard a muffled voice from out ahead of me, felt Freja’s soft touch on my cheek, the shock of cold water on my face. I shook my head and blinked several times. Freja had knelt in front of me, dark bags and heavy concern lace
d her stare. I slowly pulled myself upright and out of the wheelbarrow. She grabbed the back of my head and hugged me as tightly as she could. I responded with as much strength as I could muster.

  “You should talk to Ben,” she whispered. She lingered a few more seconds and let go, and I walked to Ben and grabbed his shoulder, unsure of what to say. The instant I made contact he turned and grabbed me, burying my face in his chest.

  “Jake...I’m so sorry”

  Startled, I hesitated for a minute, “It wasn’t your fault, Ben.”

  “I should’ve saved her,” I could feel his chest tightening, “She was right there.”

  “It happened too fast. There was nothing you could do. I’m sure Noah knew that.”

  “I’m not talking about Noah.”

  We were both still. Only the sound of the wind intruded on the silence. Ben backed away, keeping his hands on the outside of my shoulders. Suddenly, the misery in his eyes made sense. Months of silence, apathy, hopelessness, all brought on by something much, much deeper than I had once thought. I didn’t know how to feel. Anger from being deceived since this whole thing started. Despair knowing I had lost the one person I had spent the last three months looking for. Loneliness after losing my two best friends. Sadness because my mom was dead. I locked eyes with Ben, he struggled to maintain contact.

  “Did Noah know?” I asked, flatly.

  “Yes, I told her not to say anything to you, I said I would tell you when it was the right time.”

  I glanced back at Freja, her eyes welling up with tears, “Did you know, too?”

  Ben answered, “I told her in the car, when you were passed out. She said I had to tell you now.”

  I had to stop myself from shaking. “Why couldn’t you tell me, Ben?”

  He swallowed hard, “I don’t know,” he stammered, losing his battle to hold back tears, “You were so determined, so optimistic about finding her. We wouldn’t have made it so long without that. Even Noah fed off it, she was only so happy because you were around, Jake. I couldn’t kill that hope, or else we would have been killed with it.” He looked back down at the ground.

  “Still, Ben, I deserved to know. She was my mom too for Christ’s sake.”

  “When I was back in Mom’s lab that day, the day she died, I sat there for two whole minutes after the doors broke down. Not because I was drugged, or tired, no, I sat there because I was scared. I was too scared to get up and walk twenty goddamn steps to see if our mom was okay. And when I finally did grow some balls, I got to her office and she had already been dragged out down the hallway. Someone in the building had gotten infected and it spread almost instantly. By the time I saw her, she was covered in Reds, but she managed to look up at me and say one thing: ‘Save Jake’.” He raised his head. “And I promised myself I would do that, Jake. I know I’ve been a shitty brother, but the best thing I could have done for you was to give you something to live for. Even if that meant keeping that secret and making you hate me, I couldn’t let you give up hope. I couldn’t keep Mom or Noah safe, but the one thing both of them wanted was for you to survive, so I will do whatever I need to to make that happen, Baby Brother.” He pointed at Freja, “And I will protect her, too. I promise.” Ben’s stare burned through my soul. I was physically and emotionally overwhelmed, but strangely, for once, my mind felt perfectly clear.

  I gave a slight, slow nod to Ben. “Ok then, let’s go find a boat.”

  We were still about a mile from the harbor, almost entirely downhill. The fatigue from the day's events set in heavily in the three of us, minus Cooper. Ben and Freja had gathered two large packs of supplies while I was passed out, and till this point had been carrying them on their backs, save for when they were driving. Now, the packs were stored comfortably in the wheelbarrow. I knelt down to Cooper, “Hey buddy, you go down and scout things out, okay Coop?” His tail wagged in agreement and he ran down towards the harbor. Ben stopped to tie his shoe, while the rest of us trudged on ahead. Down at the harbor, I noticed that not much had been disturbed here, at least not recently. It seemed like everyone who had come through here either did so right away or very quietly. There were also several small boats left. I turned to Ben to let him know. We made eye contact the moment the gun went off. I watched in horror as Ben collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest. Behind him stood something resembling a man, a familiar man, except he was covered almost entirely in bandages, with the exposed parts of his body completely devoid of skin. His only defining feature was his cowboy hat.

  Tex raised his pistol and pointed it at us, his one exposed eye bloodshot and open wide. I pushed Freja to the right and rolled to the left as Tex’s shot missed. I jumped to my feet and sprinted along the left side of the path, hoping to draw his fire. He turned as I ran, staring intently down the barrel. His next shot grazed my shoulder, causing me to stumble slightly. I heard Freja call out to Tex. He turned on a dime and fired right past her head.

  Here’s my chance.

  I charged at him full speed from behind. Freja ran into the bushes, while Tex readied his next shot. I lunged at him, but he heard me coming. He dodged to his right and thrusted his shoulder into my sternum, launching me further in the air. I landed on my back several feet away, unable to catch my breath. Tex sauntered up to me, pistol at his side. I could almost hear him proclaiming his victory in his head in that terrible drawl. He stopped a foot from me, his eye fixated on my forehead. He fired a warning shot towards Freja, and pointed the gun back at my head. Every muscle in my body tightened. My mind screamed for me to roll away, grab the gun, do something, but my body was frozen. It was over. I closed my eyes.

  *CRACK*

  I felt a large weight drop on my body, forcing what little air I had accumulated back out of my lungs. I opened my eyes to Ben standing over me with a large, bloody rock in his hand. He leaned down and rolled Tex off of me before smashing his head in until we were positive he was dead. I crawled to my feet, keeping my hands on my knees so I wouldn’t pass out again. Freja had made her way back out of the bushes, blood trickled down the side of her head - Tex’s shot must have gotten closer than I thought.

  She put her arm around my shoulders her hand on my face, “Are you okay?” She asked. I nodded - I still couldn’t quite form words, yet. “Ben,” she said, “what about you?”

  “I’m fine,” He responded. He wasn’t. The bullet went straight through his torso, right underneath his ribcage, and though he tried to hide it, his wound was bleeding an alarming amount.

  “Ben, we really need to find somewhere to fix tha…” Freja was interrupted by rustling in the bushes to our right. And to our left, and behind us. Reds stumbled out of seemingly every direction.

  This is why we never use guns.

  “Get to the boats,” Ben said quietly. “Now.”

  We took off back towards the harbor, there were already dozens of Reds in our path, and we still had a good three-quarters of a mile to go. I grabbed a fallen branch off the ground and bashed a Red in the middle of the path. Freja darted in between several Reds as they grasped out at her. Ben lagged behind, his wound drastically slowing him down. I doubled back. We still had about a third of a mile till the docks. Ben objected as I threw his arm over my shoulder, but I had already started quickening the pace.

  Quarter-mile left. Freja stumbled ahead of us, falling into a pair of Reds, knocking all three to the ground. They grabbed her arms as she struggled.

  “Go!” Ben demanded, shaking my arm off his shoulder. I was there in seconds, and stomped the first Red’s skull in, making the second one drop Freja’s arm. She used a rock to her left to take care of it.

  “Did you get bit?” I asked her, frantically trying to get a look at her arms.

  “I...I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head, “I can make it to the dock, go get Ben.”

  Sure enough, we were only about 200 yards away from the docks, and Ben was barely advancing with his limp, the Reds were rapidly gaining ground on him. I darted to his side
, throwing his arm over my shoulder like last time, when I felt a sudden sharp pain in my left hand. I looked behind Ben’s back and saw a Red standing just over his left shoulder, chewing on what he took from the back of my hand. I took a deep breath, swallowed, and charged forward, practically carrying Ben on my shoulders. We got to the docks, where Freja and Cooper had already boarded a small boat three docks down. Freja was working on the motor while Cooper was barking his head off. Ben and I fell into the boat head first, causing it to rock violently, seconds before Freja got the motor to start.

  We sat in the boat, battered and bloody, everyone too shell-shocked to speak. Ben’s eyes were rolling, as he was struggling to stay awake. Freja’s eyes were completely closed, her breathing labored and quickened. That’s when I noticed the blood dripping from her wrist. I shot to her end of the boat and turned her arm over to see a small bite taken out of the underside of her forearm. My heart sunk.