The Carnage Trilogy (Book 1): The Carnage [Unbending, Unyielding, Unforgiving]

by Birch, Matthew

  Maya sniggers out of the corner of my eye by the entrance. I shoot her a glare. She knows I am going to have to suffer this fool. He's not even that bad. He's a good man really. I just am not in the mood for a chat right now. "No, just a flare for the helicopter" I deadpan, hoping he gets the message I only seek rest right now. Not company.

  "Who the hell, in their right mind would shoot a flare anyway? That's suicide" William gets on his high horse, feeling intellectually better than the man who fired it in the first place. He makes it sound so simple. Except, William wasn't there, and he doesn't know the heat of the situation at the time. We would've shot the flare no matter what; certain death would have probably been worth possible rescue at the time. Not anymore though. Remembering William has basically just made a mockery of Patrick, I just have to look in our leader's direction for the sake of it. He sits down beside a wall opposite me, Linda still in his arms. Patrick doesn't seem entirely interested, but he heard. He heard and brushed it aside, good on him.

  William sees me staring at Patrick, and inevitably asks, “Why are you staring at him?” So I give him the rundown of everything that has happened so far which leaves William only more curious about everything. Asking questions, we already have tried and had no answers too. Luckily, he gets the point quick; we're all in the same sinking boat here. We just have to work together to keep the water out now.

  "So, where are they then?" The final question, the one that hasn't been asked yet...

  I think it's been on our minds for a little while now. But no one has the balls to ask it. We have had no problems so far. No interaction whatsoever with the hordes of creatures that roamed the resort barely two days ago. What happened?

  SMASH

  On my feet, staring down the hallway, hand racing to my machete first. I'm ready.

  Maya steps right beside me, one eye down the sight of her M4 carbine. We all wait silently for Ben, who is the furthest down the corridor, made us want to believe it was him who made a mistake, an accident, something. Something to cause that smash. Benjamin, however, was secretly lock picking the various lockers without anyone’s consent. Not that anyone had a problem. He seems rattled, nervously holding up his straight, open hand to calm us. He's difficult to see as he is so far, nothing more than a silhouette in this oblivion of a place. His hand is kept up, giving us the flag to wait.

  William shuffles back, shoes slipping on the floor and creating a squeaking sound-

  "Shut it" Maya snaps at him sharply. William snubs her, already walking outside without a little consideration for the rest of us.

  SMASH

  Whatever it is, it's smacking the hell out of something metal. The loud bangs are echoing through the halls of the building. Ben retreats, rifle up in seconds. He and Maya form a two-person line in the corridor. Guns pointed into the darkness.

  "Patrick?" Maya speaks to our leader, awaiting his move on the situation at hand. She doesn't face him, keeping herself focused on the abyss in front of us.

  "We’re not ready to move yet... We're gonna have to eliminate the threat" Patrick says in a hushed tone. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Patrick huddle Linda closer to him. Patrick's open right now, he is in no position to fight with her in his lap. "Please," Patrick’s undemanding, no order or command in his voice anymore. He's just another guy holding onto something he cherishes after losing so much. But, Linda, I can tell she is different. Hopefully, she can fight through her wound.

  "Come on boy," Cody says as he passes me, marching past Maya and Ben. "You two stay and protect them just in case the bastard slips by us" Cody takes the lead, already walking into the darkness before turning the light that is on his SWAT jacket to life.

  "Stay safe Bro" Ben pats me on the back as I slip between the gap between him and Maya. Maya huffs, lowering her weapon and turning around to face the entrance we came in from. "Fuck sake, he's throwing up" She hisses, walking out after William who throws up outside.

  First, it was Patrick and me. Now, it is Cody and me. Following the light, I finally catch up to him. "You're even slower than me" Cody laughs, wiping his nose. I laugh along with him for some reason but say nothing in return. Pacing down the hall, we trudge in the direction we last heard the noise. As we walk, I fall behind slightly. Already feeling useless again as he has the real weapon, and I have this machete. What am I supposed to do with a damn knife when everyone else has real weapons of war?!

  Wait, has he got a limp? Yeah, he has. How have I not seen that until now? Anyone else seen this? That man has me more curious than a dog who can't figure out that you can't catch a red dot from a laser pointer!

  Another smash catches our attention, and we turn towards the locker rooms. Cody stiffens for a moment, gulping. I shudder, my breathing irregular. I can't catch my breath. There are only two of us fighting whatever is in here!

  The lockers rooms-

  I don't want to die in a locker room.

  Chapter 12 - What are you?

  Ed

  We move between the shadows, going from light to dark as we pass the windows speedily, we keep our footsteps light, venturing deeper into the shell of a once prosperous building. Stopping at a corner, we take a moment to catch our breath. Cody holds a finger to his lips, imitating a shushing sound. I nod, and he nods back. The smashing of the steel lockers sends ripples through the ground, vibrating all the way up to my terrified soul. I'm on edge, sweat discharging from me. My heart is hitting my rib cage, wanting to burst free from the hold in its cavity. I am going to do this. I can't back out. Not now, not ever. This is my time to prove myself worthy.

  I feel short of breath.

  I can't breathe.

  Oh my god, why can't I breathe?!

  Cody places a hand on my shoulder, giving me an ugly stare. Lip reading him; I can tell he is urging me to quiet down. When no improvement is found in calming me down, knowing better, Cody leaves me, quickly twirling around the corner and leaving me where I am.

  I pant, watching as he disappears into the locker room.

  I am alone.

  In the middle of a panic attack.

  No.

  No, no, no!

  The banging stops. Everything goes silent. I am left in darkness. Something lurks in the shadows, waiting for the moment to strike. I do a full three-sixty turn. Surveying the area for whatever that noise was, I look for the distant slithering. I pinpoint its origins in the adjoining locker room, the female changing rooms. Wiping the sweat from my head and withdrawing my pistol, I deliberately and painfully slowly, become snail-like, stepping forth, I anxiously begin walking into my sure to be death. I am going to die. What the hell am I doing here? No, no, no...

  I'm so sorry Marcus; I'm so sorry I won't ever make it back to see you again. I broke my promise. I'm sorry...

  Except, the female locker room is untouched for the most part until I border a pile of cabinets that are in a pile on the floor? Around them, at the other end of the room, I see where a strange amount of light bursts through a hole in the wall. Debris from the wall lies at my feet; a crashed car is planted through the back wall and into another. It never caught fire, only made a destructive clutter of wall and metal. The outside world is there, making me feel more at ease. Moving towards the huge gaping hole in the wall, I push my way through, ducking my head down as not to hit my head. Shifting my legs, I walk through the tall weeds and bushes until I step on something squishy. Freezing up and bending my neck downwards, I look at the amputated arm that's been torn from its torso. Nothing new, but it only adds to the mysterious circumstances of this crashed car.

  I hear a single cracking sound behind me.

  I freeze for the second time today. My shaking hands lift my machete up. I have no time to reach for my pistol. Taking a breath, I steady myself a little then spin to find-

  Nothing?

  The cracking sound stops and all I see is the car in its rightful place. Well, that was where the sound was coming from anyway. I clench my teeth, gradually edging towards
the car to get a better view. Observing the wreckage, I find the driver's door is wide open and a fresh blood trail leading inside the building. Was it like this before? The passenger seats doors have simply had the windows smashed instead of opened. Two more combined blood trails are there too?

  I hum to myself, feeling too curious to care about how scared I am. Safety concerns go out the window as I follow the two other trails outside and around the building until I see it leading up a wall and into the male locker rooms where I am sure Cody is?

  I still see the light from his jacket as he wanders about, searching for the culprit of the banging. He seems just as clueless as I am until he sees me poking my head through the open window and he just unwinds himself, falling back against a locker with a sly look on his face. Shaking his head, the man who I am certain is Canadian says, "If it were any darker outside, I would've shot ya' by accident" Cody says unambiguously, a grin on his face as he cocks his gun towards me jokingly. I smile, giving him a nod. He limps over to me, standing up on a bench so we can talk easier.

  "What you doin' outside Eddy?" He asks, his eyes darting around to look for any hints beyond me. Stepping back, I let him see the blood tracks. "Come to the female changing rooms mate" I gesture, pointing in the direction I came. He nods, hopping off the bench and stomping through the locker rooms.

  Breezily walking back, I find the open hole and push my way through to look at the car again. I'm not sure what happened here, but it's recent. Cody pops in seconds later, checking things out for himself. "It's recent" I state. Cody's jaw tightens, "Yep' Plus this blood trail (He points at the single trail that travels from the open door and into the next room) leads into the other room, only to end with no trace of a body. The blood trail you found comes through the window and towards two lockers" He explains, turning to face me. He leans back, resting himself on the broken car while rubbing his stubbly chin. "I'm not one hundred percent, but I think something was making its food storage?"

  "That's messed up" I mutter, scrutinising the direction of the male changing room. I'd rather stay in the light at this point. Lamenting, I look back at Cody who shrugs his shoulders, saying, “I don’t know what caused the banging”

  Well that’s it then, is it not? After an unfulfilling mission, we start to walk back. Cody flips the light back on again after turning it off when we walking into the trashed female changing room and we continue our journey. Course, we had to barely get down the corridor before the banging starts up again. Jolting in place, we fasten ourselves to the floor and slowly turn around. Cody furrows his brows, getting agitated now. "I'm getting real tired of this'" His face wisps into annoyance, already marching back down the corridor before screaming at the top of his lungs, "COME ON OUT YA' TWAT."

  I wince, not wanting to go any further. If it didn't know we were here before, it certainly does now.

  "We should radio it in-" I call out to him, stopping him in his tracks luckily. I release the tension in my chest as he turns and hobbles back over to me and whispers right in my ear. "I haven’t got a radio unless you're willing to go back alone?"

  I say nothing.

  Cody leans back, a smug look on his face before spinning and taking off again. Leaving me standing in the dark alone.

  That bastard! What's he playing at?

  Gripping my pistol, I muster the courage and follow after him. Difficult to see though, I can't tell where he is. For some reason, he turned off his flashlight as well, but I see his form moving through the dark. Then, he's gone.

  I get to the locker rooms and begin searching thoroughly for Cody. The last I heard the banging from, it would have been the female locker rooms this time. Whispering his name as audibly as I can to get this morons attention, yet he's nowhere to be found, and I am not so sure I want to go looking any further.

  One last bang echoes from the female changing room. Followed by a shotgun blast going off-

  Silence.

  Timidly, I back away from the female changing room and find myself in the male locker room. Back pressed up against a locker, I hold my pistol up in the darkness. "Cody!" I whisper one last time. Still nothing...

  I take my machete and pistol in my hands, this time I’ll be ready for anything!

  There's a small yelp, sounds like a scared rabbit? Followed by a plop on the tiled floor of this room; it's coming from where the window is, on the far side where I and Cody had spoken initially. Hurried footsteps pitter patters the flooring before I hear another tiny, high-pitched grunt. Smaller, quieter banging echoes through the ceiling. That's not Cody. Whatever it is hastily moves through the air ducts above me.

  Moving away from my spot, I move deeper into the room, unable to find my way-

  I step forward-

  I fall-

  I grunt, face hitting the ground-

  Everything is a daze - a ringing feeling in my ears. Groaning outwardly, I lift myself up slowly, rubbing my head and massaging my elbows that received the most impact from the fall. What caused my tumble is the fresh deceased body in a heap on the ground next to me. My eyes go wide as I scramble backwards in the same fashion a dog would rub its bum across a rugged floor.

  The body is fresh, untouched. Was it there before? Surely Cody would have seen it when he was in here. No, he said there was nothing there? Craning my neck upwards, I look up at the air duct with a torn metal grating panel. I look back at the man's body. He looks, unusual. Are different limps in places they shouldn't be? Cody said something was storing bodies in here like a food storage...

  Then, I feel something sticky touch the tips of my fingers. A rotten stench fills my nostrils. Eyes wide, heart dead. I look over my right shoulder and come face to face with the two lockers that have bodies stuffed in them. I don't move, only staring in horror. Two young girls, disfigured from the car crash, their skulls bashed wide open. Brains are spilling from them like expired spaghetti. Getting to my feet, I take a closer inspection of the surrounding lockers. They have all had a dent smashed into them, some of them with remains of bone, flesh, blood and hair on them. Whatever did this was trying to open the lockers. The splatters of human remains are on some lockers, specifically, the ones that trail from the window, only to end here. This must be where I can only guess the creature finally killed its prey. Making them easier to stuff into a locker I suspect. The man on the floor, ageing, maybe his late forties, died only to be stuffed in the air duct when he couldn't fit anything else...

  Which means the two bodies in the lockers are his children...? His daughters...

  Then, that same slithering sound makes its reappearance behind me. Grimy and wet slobber drips to the floor in little plops like raindrops. Holding my gun I up, I aim; though, I don't shoot. I'm not sure why. Is it because I am scared or is it because what I am looking at was once nothing more than what could've been a five-year-old boy. He- No, more it now, has lost more of its human features. Red pulsating gunk growing in more and more places all over the kid's body, part of its skull has been smashed in, chunks of rock left in its wake. Once again, it all looks recent. Maybe the father or one of the two young girls was making a final stand. Now, the chunks of rock become fused with the big dark red bubble taking its place. Veins are popping out all over the oversized cyst that takes the place of what was once a part of the skull. The little creature watches me strangely, cocking its head to the side. Bit by bit, it lowers itself down from the air duct, and I learnt why it was slithering. Its legs are literally sludge. Red goo takes the place of what were once its legs. Very much like the stone in the skull, the boy’s lower body has traces of metal and brick in it. I can only presume something happened and the father drove right into the kid who was only lazily walking around the back of the building. Whether the kid was human or creature beforehand, I’ll never know. Even worse is the unknown reasoning behind how and why the estranged father drove right into the wall.