Black Fever_A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller

by Mark Gillespie

  Crazy Diamond reached over and grabbed Cody by the shoulders.

  “We’ll see you again soon,” she said. “Both of you.”

  “Yeah,” Cody said. He picked the Glock up off the floor and tucked it into his pants.

  “I’m ready.”

  Nick and Crazy Diamond exchanged a curt nod. Tucking themselves in at the edge of the doorway, they opened fire down the corridor.

  Cody didn’t hesitate. He ran as fast as he could down the corridor. Raucous gunfire rang out behind him. There was still a chance he could take a bullet in the back. And what of Nick and Crazy Diamond? What would happen to his friends if they couldn’t fight off the suits?

  He couldn’t think about that now.

  Rachel. She was all that mattered.

  And she needed him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cody pushed the door open and ran outside.

  A gust of foul-smelling wind hit him in the face. He could still hear the high-pitched crack of gunfire at his back, although it was less immediate than it had been just seconds ago.

  The headlights on one of the black Sprinter vans parked outside the building lit up. The engine growled and the wheels started to roll.

  “Son of a bitch,” Cody said.

  He watched as the van drove off in a southerly direction.

  Cody pointed the flip key at the four remaining Sprinter vans. The silver van parked at the back beeped and the lights blinked. Cody raced over to it while keeping his eyes on the bright headlights receding in the distance.

  He jumped into the cabin and turned the engine on. After a frantic search for the headlights, he put his foot down on the gas and the van roared down the street.

  Cody gripped the steering wheel. The van felt heavy and sluggish. He prayed to God there was nothing wrong with it – that was the last thing he needed, to lose his daughter to something as trite as mechanical failure.

  “Okay we’re moving,” he said, keeping his eyes on the black Sprinter van up ahead. “Now where are you taking her?”

  He followed Mackenzie towards the South Pan Am Expressway, heading north. The wreckage of downtown San Antonio passed by in a blur. There was debris lying on the roads and sidewalks. Some of it was human. That would account for the rotten smell blowing in the wind.

  They traveled north on the McAllister Freeway. The black van took a right towards Brackenridge Park, about three hundred and fifty acres of public space that included the San Antonio Zoo, the Japanese Tea Gardens, and other local attractions.

  Cody followed Mackenzie as they drove along North Saint Mary’s Street – one of several roads that cut through a large section of the park. Mackenzie must have known he was being followed – he was an asshole for sure, but he wasn’t stupid or blind. Judging by the leisurely driving speed he’d maintained, the man had shown little concern that someone was on his tail.

  Cody leaned forward in the driver’s seat. There was something up ahead – a strange reddish glow that lingered low in the sky like a solitary cloud.

  “What the hell is that?” Cody said.

  Deep down, he already knew.

  Mackenzie rolled the black van to a stop at the edge of the road.

  Cody took his foot off the gas, crawling forward at a snail’s pace until the silver van stopped a short distance away from Mackenzie’s stationary vehicle. He looked up at the small cluster of light forming above a section of the park.

  It was getting brighter.

  He pulled the key out of the ignition. In the silence, he felt small. Cody missed the presence of Nick and Crazy Diamond beside him.

  The driver’s door of the black van fell open. Mackenzie stepped out onto the road and looked towards the red cloud in the near distance. He then walked over to the back of the Sprinter, throwing a disapproving shake of the head in Cody’s direction.

  Mackenzie opened up the back of the van, went inside and came out with an unconscious Rachel in his arms. She was still handcuffed. He then cut across the road and walked onto a stretch of withered grass. Cody had kept an eye on the signs as they’d entered the park and if he was right, Mackenzie was taking Rachel towards the Tony ‘Skipper’ Martinez Softball Field.

  Cody stepped out of the van and looked at the red cloud up ahead. Sure enough, it was descending over the softball field.

  “Oh man,” he said, closing the van door.

  His muscles were taut and tense as he followed Mackenzie and Rachel. He pulled out the Glock 19 and it nearly slipped through his sweaty fingers. With a grimace, he secured his hand on the rubber grip.

  The softball field was just a short walk from the road. Apart from the ball of light gathering overhead, it looked like any other softball field. The diamond infield consisted of patchy lumps of reddish-brown dirt while the grass on the outfield had worn down to a shadow of its former glory, although some wild flowers had shot through in its place.

  Cody approached the open gate.

  The gate was open. Mackenzie was standing inside the field, still cradling Rachel in his arms. There was a look of rapture on his face as he watched the mist forming above his head. It was swelling up in size. There were other colors now, intermingling with the initial red – blues and greens, the colors blending together in a dazzling collage that was in stark contrast to the black sky that surrounded it.

  Mackenzie placed Rachel on the dry grass, her face pointing to the sky. He dropped to his knees and looked up at the cloud in anticipation.

  Then he saw Cody standing at the gate.

  “It was a good try,” Mackenzie said. “But it’s inevitable Cody. Give up – we all have to let go at some point.”

  Cody’s gaze skipped back to the colors. It reminded him of photographs he’d seen of the Aurora Borealis – the dancing lights caused by collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun. Only this was a much smaller and more concentrated version.

  “I want my daughter back,” Cody said. He walked into the softball field and pointed the Glock at Mackenzie. “She doesn’t belong to you. Or to them.”

  His trigger finger flinched as a sudden noise seeped out of the colored lights. It was like a chorus of dissonant cellos playing in the sky. And over the wailing cellos came something else –a low-pitched frequency sound, like a massive pod of whales all talking to each other at once.

  Mackenzie dropped onto his knees. He looked up at the singing colors with a crazed look on his face. The colored mist descended, spreading itself out until it encircled both Mackenzie and Rachel.

  Mackenzie reached for the light. He was like a greedy kid grasping at a bowl of candy but the light evaded his grasp.

  “Yes!” he yelled. Mackenzie held his arms up in a victory pose and looked up at the sky. “I’m here.”

  The mist wrapped itself around them further. It was like a giant python, slowly seizing a hold of its prey.

  “Rachel!” Cody yelled. “Rachel, can you hear me?”

  She didn’t move.

  Cody dropped onto one knee, aiming the Glock at Mackenzie’s forehead. There was no way he could miss from here.

  “Give me back my daughter,” he called out.

  No answer.

  Cody squeezed the trigger and fired. The bullet should have ripped through Mackenzie’s head but instead there was a loud ping as it bounced off the mist.

  “Oh fuck,” Cody said. “That’s not fair.”

  He shot again. No luck – the mist was shielding Mackenzie. Whatever it was, it was bulletproof.

  Cody had never felt so helpless in all his life.

  Now things were getting worse.

  Rachel was fading away before his eyes. So was Mackenzie. They were both being absorbed by the colors that skipped and danced around them – every speck of which burned brighter than anything Cody had ever seen or dreamed of. Brighter than anything his imagination could conjure up. Whatever this light was, Rachel and Mackenzie were becoming at one with it.

  They were being taken away.

 
Somebody was stealing his daughter.

  Cody’s heart was racing. He had to do something – anything to try and stop it happening. The trouble was he’d run out of ideas.

  All except one.

  Cody charged at the colored mist with a wild shout of rage. It didn’t matter if it sounded more like a scream of terror in his ears. He was a berserker with a gun in his hands. He was going to get his daughter back or die trying.

  Mackenzie saw him coming. He sprang out of the mist and intercepted Cody before he could get too close to the light. Both men fell backwards, away from the colors wrapped around Rachel.

  Mackenzie leapt to his feet first. He reached over, wrapped a hand around Cody’s throat and lifted him up off the ground.

  Cody felt like a Tyrannosaurus Rex had its teeth locked around his neck. The lights were going out in his mind – black walls closed in from all sides. The pain receded into a blissful, numbing sensation. Don’t give up. He choked and fought for breath. His legs kicked at Mackenzie, hitting nothing but air.

  Mackenzie looked at him. His eyes were two dead, black orbs.

  He threw Cody across the softball field. Cody hurtled through the air and crashed into the chain link fence.

  With a groan, he fell onto the diamond.

  His fingers clawed at the dirt. He fought his way back to his feet but his head was still spinning. Something was wrong. The gun was missing – he’d lost it during his mid-air flight across the softball field. There was no time to look for it.

  “I’m coming Rachel,” he said.

  Cody ran across the field towards the light. It was a blind charge, all heart. His body ached but his determination carried him forward.

  Mackenzie blocked his way. Cody looked past the silver suit, past the black eyes, towards his daughter.

  The light was dancing across Rachel’s body; it was a multicolored display of electric sparks that skipped over her legs, chest, head and hair. She was covered from head to toe. The low-frequency noise had dulled. There was now a spitting noise coming from the light, like the pop and crackle of a wood fire.

  The cloud was trying to lift Rachel up off the grass.

  “No!” Cody said.

  He raced towards his daughter. Mackenzie held his hands out like a soccer goalkeeper, grabbing Cody and throwing him backwards. Cody fell hard and his innards jolted.

  “Stop fighting it Cody,” Mackenzie said. “Remember what Harry said. Some fights you just can’t win.”

  Cody looked up.

  The light had elevated Rachel several feet off the ground. She was fading further into the misty depths that would swallow her whole. She would be gone soon – in a matter of seconds.

  Cody leapt to his feet.

  Mackenzie punched Cody in the stomach, forcing him to double over. Cody’s hands clutched at the crippling sensation around his solar plexus. It felt like an elephant had kicked him.

  Cody staggered and fell to the ground. He tried to get back up but his legs wouldn’t obey the commands of his brain.

  A steel-like hand shot out and seized his neck.

  Mackenzie dragged Cody up to his feet with brutal force. Cody choked as his lungs fought desperately for air. He tried to swing several punches at Mackenzie’s face. His blows were nothing – he might as well have been trying to swat a dragon with a rolled up newspaper.

  “It’ll be over soon,” Mackenzie said. “Stop fighting me.”

  Cody felt the lights going out for a second time. There was no pain. If not for Rachel, he might have welcomed the end.

  “No,” he said.

  And then he saw something – a flicker of movement over Mackenzie’s shoulders.

  Rachel was back on her feet. The colored lights still danced around her body like she was a living, breathing Christmas decoration. Red lights, blue lights, green lights. There was a sense of desperation about their attack now. They bounced off Rachel’s skin like tiny mosquitoes. The light would scatter. Then they’d come back and try again.

  She wasn’t fading away. Her body was fully back in Brackenridge Park.

  Cody smiled, despite the fact he couldn’t breathe. Mackenzie tilted his head in confusion. He looked over his shoulder and dropped Cody to the ground. Cody fell onto the grass in a crumpled heap; he was on the brink of unconsciousness but somehow he found the energy to get back to his feet.

  “What’s going on?” Mackenzie yelled. He was screaming at the mist like it had wronged him. Like it was an unfaithful lover. “I brought her to you. Take her!”

  The lights above the softball field had dulled. Those electric sparks were like the petals of a dying flower, still beautiful but not for much longer. An agonized groan bled out of the retreating mist – it sounded like a wounded animal, howling in pain.

  “Take her!” Mackenzie yelled.

  Rachel looked up at the mist. It was floating away, like a balloon rising towards the night sky.

  When she turned back to Mackenzie, her eyes were as black as coal.

  “Rachel!” Cody cried out. His voice was thin and raspy. He could barely hear it himself.

  Mackenzie shook his head in disbelief. “What’s happening?”

  Rachel’s arms were still bound by the handcuffs. She looked at the restraints and her lips moved, whispering something that no one else could hear. The cuffs clicked open and fell to the ground.

  Mackenzie reached for the retreating lights above their heads. His hands clawed at the sky.

  “Don’t close the gate,” he said. “You promised to take me with you.”

  The light continued to fade. The colored cloud over the softball field had become a pale shadow of itself. Soon there was only darkness.

  “No!” Mackenzie cried out. “Come back.”

  Cody dropped onto the grass. His head was spinning and he expected to pass out at any moment.

  Mackenzie looked over at Rachel. His eyes had reverted back to green. His body was as taut as tripwire. He turned around and with a frantic grunt, tried to reach for Cody’s Glock, which was lying on the grass nearby.

  The weapon flew out of range before he could touch it. It was as if somebody had pulled it away with hidden wires.

  Mackenzie spun around to look at Rachel.

  “What’s going on?” he said. “What happened to you?”

  Rachel’s face was like a block of white stone. Slowly, she tilted her head back and looked towards the sky.

  She pointed a finger at Mackenzie.

  “I said what’s going on?” Mackenzie shouted. His voice was screechy with fear. “I can help you Rachel. You’ve taken something from them, I can see that. Power. It feels like too much doesn’t it? Well I can help you understand. I can help you control it. Nobody else can help you – only me.”

  There was a whooshing noise.

  Cody looked up. He saw something in the sky – a sea of movement. An army of black shapes swooped down towards the softball field, their wings flapping in unison. The whooshing got louder – it sounded like a monster was running across the park towards them.

  “Oh God,” Cody said.

  The crows dive-bombed Mackenzie. They were like hundreds of jet-black missiles aimed at his face. They flew low, thrashing around him, their glistening beaks pecking at Mackenzie’s handsome features like a thousand woodpeckers drilling on a tree. They stabbed at his eyes, nose, mouth and pulled furiously on his ears with their beaks, twisting the flesh back and tearing it off at the edges.

  Mackenzie screamed. He tried to cover his face with his hands but it was no use. The birds tore at the flesh on his fingers, some of them trying to peel the fingernails off with one sharp pull of their mouths.

  Mackenzie’s mangled hands muffled his cries for help. He tried to run from the softball field but fell several times. The birds weren’t in the least shy of getting closer to the ground either – they went low, resuming their vicious attack on the fallen man. Not giving him a second to breathe.

  Rachel continued to point at Mackenzie.

&nb
sp; Cody crawled backwards, away from the carnage. But the birds weren’t interested in him. Those who weren’t pecking on Mackenzie were waiting on the sidelines, their wings flapping furiously as they searched for an opening.

  Mackenzie climbed back to his feet after yet another fall. He spun around several times, running one way and then another, searching for a way out. The crows had blinded him and shielded his escape route. In the end, Mackenzie charged in a straight line and vaulted the nearest fence. After that, he ran for his life with whatever strength he had left in his legs.

  Cody watched him go. In a matter of seconds the darkness had swallowed both Mackenzie and the birds.

  The screams lingered before silence filled the park.

  “Rachel,” Cody said. He climbed back up to his feet, ignoring the jolt of pain that shot up and down his body. He wobbled on unsteady legs. His arm reached out for something that wasn’t there.

  “Dad!”

  Rachel ran over and grabbed a hold of him. She took his arm and Cody waited for the dizziness to pass.

  He looked at Rachel and cupped her face in his hands. Her eyes were blue, thank God.

  “What happened?” he said. His voice was still hoarse.

  “They tried to take me with them,” she said.

  “I know,” Cody said. “But Rachel, your eyes, that light on your body…what’s going on?”

  Rachel tapped a finger off her head. “I took something from them,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  She shook her head. “They tried to steal me away. But I ended up stealing something from them. That’s how I knew how to call the birds for help.”

  Rachel’s expression darkened. “There’s something else.”

  “What?” Cody said.

  “I heard them talking,” she said. “When they were leaving.”

  Cody cleared his throat. “You did?” he said.

  “They’re angry,” Rachel said. “Angry with me because I wouldn’t go with them. Because they couldn’t make me go with them.”

  “Angry?”

  Rachel nodded. “They can’t beat us,” she said. “They can’t win. At least not from where they are.”