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

by Birch, Matthew

  Now I know why this place is half looted. Stupid looters smartly got out of here in a hurry, unless, they never did. Maybe it's not just the bullets that make him look ominously huge. Suppose, he ate them as well, literally leaving no trace of anyone behind. During the first week, there were others. We were aware others had survived but that's all we knew. Any attempts to track them down or help them never worked out. Not a hint of human presence anywhere we looked. Only those at the ranger station remained. So, why didn't the monsters strike us sooner? Is he smart? Was he waiting until the exact, precise moment to strike...?

  "LET GO OF HER!" My demands are wasted effort. Why would a monster ever listen to reason? Lifting her up, Chloe cries out in distress, her hair being stretched as her body weight drags her down. Waving my machete, I prepare myself and charge right at him and shove my blade right at his-

  Bumping into him, I completely miss and am shouldered back. Steadying myself, I feel myself freeze as my face pales. Did he just dodge me? He leaned back and side-stepped me?! Angrily, his face pulses several times as he flings her across the room. Chloe hits a cupboard, its contents and the cupboard itself fall onto her like little bombs. The impact leaves her laying there motionless. The last I see is her hand racing down her spine-

  And her boyfriend comes at me now-

  Gasping, the weight of his left hand sends me tumbling backwards. Everything’s a daze. I try standing. Coughing violently as I recover from his thick snap of the palm against my chest. My rib cage feels squished beneath his might. Defenceless and off guard, he catches me again, getting my chest a second time so hard he sends me out the door! I tumble and roll, chest burning and saliva dripping from my mouth like a tired hound. When I barely recover, I get just enough time to look at my reflection in a shard of glass. My pupils flare and blood drips from my tongue. I had bit my poor tongue subconsciously. The aching in my torso hides it though.

  Weightless now, I float in the air. The world around me is spinning. Tightness wraps around my chest, suffocating me. I hear my top tear, and I hit the floor. Growling with intent, the monster steps right in front of me now, his heavy footsteps bend the wooden floorboards. My top is baggy, and the wood beneath me creaks. I'm back inside now. Okay, I'm getting my senses back a little better. All I really want is to shout but no words come out. No one is coming anyway. The gunshots begin to slow down, soon enough coming to a halt entirely. Did the horde-

  No, it can't be...

  Sweet, little balls of spit drip drop onto the floor in a one, two pattern. I glance up. Chloe's boyfriend just resembles a curious, sadistic puppy, his face twisting in a contorted, devilish smile. Lifting his right hand, he puts on a show as it mutates. His blood red hand shifts and transforms. Sinking into his arm, his hand disappears before being replaced with a protruding spike.

  Oh my god.

  A crushing weight drops on my chest, his foot wiggles and I hear the monster giggle in delight at my agony. Lifting the pulsing, grimy spike above my skull, with a slight chuckle, the disturbed monster waves it around like it's a brand new toy. My pupils follow it needlessly. Taunting will be his downfall. I know what I have to do. I can't die here.

  Wait for it-

  He lifts the spike.

  NOW

  Debris is sent into the air as he smashes the cabin's floorboards, causing him to get stuck temporarily. While he growls and struggles to withdraw the mutated weapon, I find myself rotating my neck to look at what nearly cost me my life. With a nasty scowl, he prepares himself a second time. Smirking, I reach out and grab my machete which had been at my side. One thrust later, and he yelps in agony, bouncing back with my machete still in his foot. Keeling over, he huffs and puffs, glaring at me dead in the eye. His mouth moves as if he's going to say something-

  I beat him to it. "Hey", I say. Booting him right in the face!

  And...

  Now he's more pissed off.

  Swinging around, he reequips the overly sized palm with no fingers, making it resemble a mushy sledgehammer; I am caught like a fool in his trap. Sending me across the wooden floorboards and crashing into the kitchen. With a gasp, I feel the weight of it all now. My chest feels so heavy. My lungs twinge and my heart throbs. It hurts so much-

  And he gets closer-

  And I grit my teeth in hopeless anger-

  This is it.

  I blink, and I miss the bullet go straight through his skull. Blinking a few more times, I think, ‘Am I really alive right now?’ Each time I blink, I miss glimpses of the upgraded creature falling to the floor and popping into a bloody mash of whatever was going on inside him.

  "I guess you could say that he was back for revenge" Chloe grins behind a shadow of self-hatred. Limping beside me, she holds her spine with one hand while the other lazily holds her pistol. "Fuck this is gonna hurt for a bit..." She peers down at me, chewing the outside of her lip as she winces. "If he was gonna be such a dick, I would have broken up with him sooner" She laughs lightly. For some reason, she makes light of the situation, past all the damn pain we're in...

  "I d-don't think now... is the time to joke around" Choking the words out, I slowly crawl off the floor. Using the broken kitchen counter for support, I pull myself up. Rubbing my hand on my chest softens the bruising.

  "Is that all I get?" she furrows her eyebrows. Taking aim at her ex-boyfriend once more, she pulls the trigger. "Better to be safe than sorry," She says confidently whilst grimacing in horror. I know she's feeling weirdly mixed about this. Killing your monster boyfriend is not something you'd ever see yourself doing.

  "He sure looked stronger than the others?" She questions while lending me a hand. "Yeah and thanks" I take her hand and she finally helps me get on my feet properly. Chloe gives me the once over, "He thrashed us up good, huh?" Chloe sighs then turn away, and limps around the puddle in the kitchen, ignoring her first monster kill and heading right out the front door. Looking down at my father's machete, I kneel down, wrapping my hand around the hilt of before wriggling my weapon back and forth until it charmingly pops out without any effort required. The most I was able to do, was stab his bulky foot. Holding it up; I slide a finger along it caressingly. "Next time, I won't make any mistakes" I mumble to myself. Chloe saved my life, without her, I'd be dead right now.

  "MARCUS, THERE'S A FLARE!"

  Ed

  Handing the clean tray back to Marcus, I see him waffle in shock at how I had eaten all that food. "You know he made you extra for all the rations you missed, right?" He says eyes wide at how much food I had just gobbled down. I wipe my mouth, stomach happy and taste buds satisfied. A good meal is all I wanted; the drink is what I needed. Now, I am finally content. Marcus laughs to himself, taking and placing the tray down. "Good to see you happy though"

  I burp, gaining another laugh from him. Rolling his eyes, he places his hands on his thighs as he sits up straight while clicking his neck. "Sorry, feeling stiff from sitting so long... Anyway, it only gets worse..."

  Marcus

  First shots hit the chest, only staggering the creature, the second misses, and the bastard moves faster in a rage. Chloe curses herself as she reloads her weapon. Her cover for us wasn't as good as I was expecting. I see she's shaky, and because of that, she is a terrible shot during the worst possible time!

  "Steady yourself! Take a deep breath!" Calling out, I keep advising her while kneeling down beside an injured Ben who had unfortunately sprained his ankle. Alight in flames from the flare Ben put in its eye socket, is the creature that caused his pain, now, it lies dead beside him. I shrug my shoulders while scanning the burning corpse. A trail of red smoke rises from its body. "Good shot at least mate" With a heave, I pull Ben onto his feet, supporting him best I can, his arm around my shoulders while I have one arm encompassing his body.

  "Why the HELL were you two gone so long?!" Ben shouts furiously, his voice resounding in my ears. "Shut up! We'll talk about that later" I shout back for some reason. I'm really not in the mood right now. Distastef
ully, Ben snorts, looking away from me. "If we get back" He's pissed and I really can't blame him.

  When I finally turn back to Chloe, I watch her just as she nails the shot on her fifth attempt, hitting the creature square in the head. Chloe smiles, turning towards me while reloading. "Let's go boys!" With a skip in her step, the proud woman rushes to our side as fast as she can, excusing the limping and the little, "Ow" She mutters with each step she takes. "You alright Ben?" She asks nicely only to be given a harsh, "Fuck off" In return. I and Chloe exchange a glance but shrug his comments aside. Ben has every right to be pissed at us. Before we turn to leave, Ben quickly pipes out, "What about the rucksack?"

  For the second time amidst the madness, I and Chloe share another look. The large rucksack is a few feet back, its contents sprawled out in a mess. Ben gawks at us, begging that we take it back. "It'll slow us down Ben" Chloe points out softly, having finished reloading. "Besides, your life matters more mate" I add on, really not wanting to run for it. Before long, it'll be trampled in the incoming horde anyway.

  "No! Take the rucksack, we need it!" Ben begs harder, his eyes darting between us and the rucksack frantically. Choosing to run is choosing life while running back to get the rucksack is death. It's an easy choice to make-

  Actually, maybe we could use it? We need as much as we can get now and with the horde taking back the streets, going out to loot may not be an option for a while. Fuck it. I'm wasting time thinking. Ordering Chloe to take Ben, I hand him over and focus on the rucksack. If the rucksack has anything that helps the group in the long term, then it is worth dying for. Maybe, worth dying for... I don't know. I'm going to find out.

  Calming myself with a deep breath, I peer back at Chloe and Ben and nod, gesturing for them to get moving. Now, with them safely hobbling away, I am left to risk it all. Live or die. It doesn't take long though; I only have to pick off one creature before shoving everything in the bag and zipping it back up. Luckily, I had enough time to get it on my back. There are more gunshots from the forest, and some of the creatures are drawn in that direction, buying me time.

  Whoa! This bag is heavy?! How the hell was Ben carrying this around all day? I catch up with them eventually despite the bag that slows me down enough that I am walking at the same pace as them regardless of Ben's sprained ankle and Chloe’s limp. Ben winces with each step he takes. He’s a lucky bastard really. If he didn't have that flare gun then I and Chloe would have walked up that path to find a dead Ben.

  "Give us a fucking break," Chloe says continuously under her breath. Ahead of us are several more creatures in their own pack, having been attracted to the lake by the gunshots no doubt. Either that or they circled round. We can't get past. I need to make a choice. What's it going to be? Hold up, I remember on the first day when all this shit went down, I and Ed escaped through the forest. Guess what, the path we took is right here! "Follow me!" I order, and we take off. Pushing and shoving our way through bushes and branches. Look at where I am, over a week later in the same place and situation as last time. Although, different people. And Ed-

  Oh god, let Ed be okay. I am not a believer but right now someone had better be watching down on Ed or else. I am stressed as it is and now all this shit is happening. I don't know if I can do this. This rucksack is weighing me down too much. Maybe I should just drop it. No, I can't do that. Ben begged me to keep it for a reason, a reason that is above my own needs.

  "Marcus, where are we going?" Chloe frets from behind me. "Trust me" I gaze back at her and take in the sight of two injured and disheartened people. We're all fighting for life, even though I bet we are just as ready to give up and slip away into the nothingness. It might be better than the life we are living now.

  I laugh at myself crazily.

  Imagine that, ending it all right now.

  I mean, we'd never do that right?

  Chapter 29 - Shadows

  Ed

  "So, we carried on until we found Patrick fighting that monster..." Marcus finishes, finally standing up with the tray in his hands. "I'm sorry, I should go and apologise to Patrick. You gonna be alright?" He asks me sympathetically.

  I smile weakly at him, "You sound like you've been through a lot mate. Are you sure you don't need some help?"

  My bittersweet kindness has Marcus chuckling to himself. "To be honest mate, at this point, I'm not sure anything really fazes me anymore. I'll be fine, rest up Bro" He says before taking his leave.

  Marcus

  After putting the tray back in the kitchen and taking to personally cleaning up Ed's mess, I start searching for Patrick. Wandering outside, I see him on the far side of the car park in a watchtower. Moving through the night, I evade the annoyed looks from the Officers and William, who especially gives me death, glares.

  Reaching the tower, I climb the ladder and join Patrick. It's amazing what Cody can do. He constructed this tower from the resources we found from a nearby warehouse. Both of us get an overlook of the resort. The lake’s shimmering as rays of moonlight bounce off it; giving us a gorgeous view. I exhale the breath I had been holding and finally break the ice. "I'm sorry about not cooking-"

  "Doesn't matter, you were only caring for a friend" Patrick cuts me off. I nod, secretly jumping for joy on the inside that he's gonna let this one slip by. We stand in silence for a minute, both of us just watching the lake. Patrick coughs. I rub my nose awkwardly. Linda's request is still fresh in my mind. I think it's time I fulfilled it. "I know you're feeling run down mate. You don't have to hide it"

  Patrick contently exhales. "I don't think we can handle them" That one, short but bittersweet sentence dissolves any shred of hope or fight I had left in me. Patrick glances at me from the corner of his eyes with the bored look he beams ever so nonchalantly. "Marcus, what do we do once they are done with the creatures?"

  The question throws me off. I can't answer him. "I think I've figured it out. Monsters prey on the weaker creatures. They seem to, get stronger and mutate with each successful meal they get after the hunt" Patrick hums, going over the explanation in his head as he figures it out. He puts his thoughts into words. Thing is, he knows he is right. Without any fight left in me, I already find myself giving up and turning to leave him.

  "I am scared, Marcus. I'm not that different from the rest of you. I stay strong because I want to protect you all..." Finally, the sudden heart to heart Patrick has for the briefest of moments tells me everything I need to know. I nod, half-heartedly smiling at him.

  "We'll make it through this, both of us, right?"

  Patrick does nothing to indicate a response. I can't tell, but he's straight up ignoring me and giving me the cold shoulder unless he doesn't want to tell me the harsh reality of our situation. Feeling forlorn, I finally leave the watchtower and return to Linda to give her an update on Patrick. The man is stubborn, hopeless. When I find her in her room, we talk for a few minutes. She tells me as a leader, he has to face the reality. It's what a leader does that makes the difference. You know, facing the tough choices ahead with long-term results in mind. This means Patricks always thinking. Trying mostly to prepare for whatever may come at him. Because when it comes down to it, Intuition is what will not only keep him alive but us alive as well.

  Ed

  The wind picks up, rustling the bushes outside my window. Hands behind my head and eyes closed, I let my mind drift. Eating so much food and then trying to get some more sleep doesn't work in my favour. So, I lay here, my mind about everything Marcus told me. When you add in Patrick's story, the whole picture begins to paint itself. A few days ago, the monsters made themselves known and ever since, the hell was brought to us. But, where are they now? We're all alive. If anything matters, it's that for sure.

  Footsteps approach.

  I perk up, removing my hands from behind my head and shifting over so I am lying on my belly. Gazing at the window, I see the curtains gently sway back and forth. The window is partly open, letting in a small breeze. The draft is already affecting th
e warm temperature of the homey room.