Although she tried her best to be brave, she couldn’t stop the tears rolling down her cheeks.
Vincent took her hand and placed it into Ethan’s. ‘If they do get through, take her somewhere and hide,’ he whispered.
‘Sure. That’s something I’m good at,’ Ethan said.
‘They’re moving the vehicles,’ Kristin said.
Sure enough, one man backed up the Hummer so it was well clear of the fence, then returned for the second car, while his counterpart rolled out the spool of wire.
They watched it all unfold on the monitors, helpless to do anything about it. When they saw both men retreat to the road, they knew what was coming next.
‘What are they doing now?’ Emily said.
‘Cover your ears,’ Vincent said.
The sound of the explosion roared across the grounds of the facility and into the building. It appeared as an intense white flash on the monitor, and then the screens flickered, as did the lights and every other piece of electrical equipment.
‘Bastards,’ Salty groaned. ‘Bastards!’ He ran for the door. Vincent and Kristin followed, trying to stop him from doing anything impulsive.
Emily tried to go too, but Ethan held her back. ‘Let go of me,’ she said struggling.
‘We have to stay here.’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘I’ll be honest with you, Emily. I’m a crap babysitter. Just the thought of being responsible for a child terrifies me, but the monsters are out there, and I don’t want them to get you.’
Now that he’d mentioned the monsters, Emily stopped trying to squirm out of his grasp and went to sit back in her chair.
Once Ethan was satisfied she wouldn’t run, he turned his attention back to the security feeds. The section of fence that had borne the brunt of the explosion was nothing more than a mangled collection of smouldering metal. The Hummer burst in through the opening, knocking aside the debris in its way.
Outside, Salty raced towards the fire, still unsteady on his feet from the concussion. The Grahams tried to keep up, shouting after him. The Hummer seemed to spot them and changed its direction accordingly.
Vincent lunged and almost grabbed the back of Salty’s shirt, but instead stumbled and fell into the grass.
‘You stupid sons of bitches ruined everything!’ Salty stood his ground, panting after each word as he lifted the shotgun and took aim at the oncoming vehicle. ‘This was ours. Ours.’ The first blast of the weapon missed its target. It was too far away, but that didn’t stop Salty firing three more rounds.
The Hummer responded by increasing its speed, heading straight for him, lining him up in the beam of its headlights.
Before he could get off another shot, the pop, pop, pop of rapid fire rang out from somewhere above them. Kristin was helping her husband back to his feet and they both hit the deck. The shots were precise – there was not a single stray bullet. They peppered the windshield of the Hummer, turning it white with fractured veins of shattered glass. Full of holes, the vehicle veered away from Salty, over the road, slamming into a nearby tree at high speed. The front end crumpled like a toy, but the sturdy trunk didn’t even shudder on impact.
Bemused and out of breath, Salty lowered the shotgun, first looking at the steaming wreck, and then up to the observation tower. He caught a brief glimpse of someone moving around on the top platform before they were shrouded by darkness. Exhausted, he dropped to his knees, the fresh, gaping wound in the fence never far from his mind.
Vincent and Kristin crept towards the ruined Hummer, aiming their pistols at it. Vincent hung back when they got close, but his wife didn’t stop.
‘Kris, wait,’ he said.
‘Wait for what? We have to know. Just cover me.’
Vincent gripped the gun tighter to steady his hand and Kristin crouched low as she approached the driver’s door. She yanked its handle twice before it opened. The fumes from the engine filled the Hummer’s interior, clouding the two bodies slumped over the bloodied dashboard. Each splinter of glass that covered the backs of the two men was stained red like macabre confetti. Their torn fabric of their clothes showed signs of exit. The driver had been struck by one shot, which had blown out the back of his head and splattered the roof with his brain matter.
Kristin recoiled, almost vomiting as she stumbled back to her husband.
‘Are they?’
‘Yeah. They are,’ she said.
The soft squeaking sound of rubber soles on moist grass came from behind them, waking Salty from his haze of self-pity. Raine walked towards them from the observation tower where she’d got the drop on the second wave of intruders. She was striding with purpose again, her assault rifle still hot from its short but violent burst. She never once glanced at the Hummer. Even when her face caught the light, not a flicker of emotion could be found there.
‘We get what we need, check those vehicles for gas, and leave tonight,’ she said. Her tone suggested this wasn’t being offered up for discussion.
Before anyone could respond, the lights powered down around the whole facility and everything went black.
‘What’s happening?’ Ethan called from the entrance to the Management Centre. He had Emily with him, and he was protecting her with Salty’s hatchet.
‘Stay where you are,’ Raine replied.
Another flicker and the exterior lamps dotted over the preserve found their glow again.
‘The back-up generator just kicked in,’ Salty said. ‘But it can only provide power for the basics – everything else is on lockdown.’
‘Was it the explosion?’ Vincent said.
‘Must have caused a surge. I think I can fix it, but I’ll need tools and I’ll need to find my way around the power station,’ Salty said.
‘No one’s fixing anything. We’re leaving, now,’ Raine said. She continued her purposeful journey past the Management Centre.
Ethan finally allowed Emily to slip his grasp so she could run into the waiting arms of her father.
‘I know you didn’t want this, Jake, but I don’t see what choice we have now,’ Kristin said.
Salty got up off his knees and smiled sarcastically. ‘Don’t worry, Mrs. Graham. You got your wish. We’re headin’ back out into the big bad world. I personally can’t wait to navigate that forest in the middle of the night, not knowin’ if we’re driving headlong into a herd or another group of murderous sons-of-bitches. But I guess we should look on the bright side. It’ll be so dark out there we won’t be able to see each other die.’
Salty carried on ahead alone and the Grahams shuffled back into a protective huddle, Emily at the centre.
‘Don’t go without me.’ Ethan turned back for the door.
‘Where are you going?’ Vincent said.
‘There are a few flashlights inside. I’ll just be able to find them in the dark.’
When they reached the visitor centre, Raine had already forced open the automated doors, now inactive due to the loss of power. She was upstairs rifling through the food in the storeroom of the restaurant’s kitchen. ‘Someone go out to the lot and check those vehicles,’ she said.
‘I’ll go,’ Vincent said. ‘Where are the keys?’
‘Here.’ Raine fumbled around in the darkness and slid the bunch of keys she’d found in the observation tower across the floor to him. ‘They’re labelled.’
Vincent guided Emily to Kristin. ‘I won’t be long. Stay here with your mom.’
‘Be careful,’ Kristin said, putting her arm around her daughter.
‘I will,’ Vincent said. ‘Just be ready when I get back.’
Ethan came up behind Salty and held out one of the flashlights he’d found. Salty shoved his arm away. ‘What the hell would I want with that, Twilight?’
‘To see where you’re going?’
‘I see exactly where we’re goin’.’
‘You two, get over here and start making yourselves useful,’ Raine said.
8
The man in the pas
senger seat of the Hummer woke to the smell of blood; he could taste it in his mouth. He lifted his head from the dash and sat back. The cubes of shattered glass jingled as they fell from him and into the footwell.
He felt the blood from his wounds sticking his clothes to his skin. There was no pain at first – not until he tried to move, at least. When he found the strength to twist his neck, he saw what was left of his associate. He’d taken enough bullets to kill five men. Tugging on the door handle and leaning forward, he managed to tumble from the wreck onto the soft ground. It was only as he stood and straightened himself that the pain set in, causing him to curl into a ball again. He’d taken one shot to the centre of his left shoulder; another had ricocheted through the hood of the vehicle and entered the top of his thigh. However, the real wound, the one that convinced him he was not long for this world, was the hit to his gut.
His injuries made it excruciating to move, and he could see from the deep red trail collecting in the wet grass that he was bleeding out fast.
He turned to the east, towards the glow of the torch beam bouncing around near the entrance to the visitor centre. He wasn’t confident of making it over there before he got too weak, and he had no idea whether his gun had fallen on the ground somewhere in the dark or if he’d left it inside the Hummer. He shuffled around gingerly and looked west towards the hole they had blown in the electric fence. Even through the oil and gore, an unmistakable smile of satisfaction could be seen on his face. Suddenly, he found the will to walk a little further.
9
Raine collected two packs full of canned food and passed one to Kristin. She then grabbed another one containing frozen meat and handed it to Salty. ‘Are there any ammunition supplies on the facility?’ she said.
‘There’s nothing in here except for tranquilisers. Farrington loved security, but he was no fan of firearms.’
‘Shit.’ Raine took up one more bag for herself and left the storeroom.
‘We’re gonna need a lot more than a few pop-guns to find our way on the road,’ Salty said.
‘Yeah, I get it – you think we should stay. But you’ll just have to suck it up,’ Raine said.
Salty got out of her way so she could start down the stairs. ‘What made your balls just drop, Miller? Could have done with your help long before now.’
Raine stopped and half-turned. ‘There’s an explanation, but it’s not something I feel like sharing with you.’
At that moment, Vincent returned, pushing the entrance doors shut behind him. Kristin ran to the middle of the staircase to meet him, hand in hand with Emily. ‘How were they?’
‘The pickup has three-quarters of a tank left. Sedan has about half, if that. I couldn’t even get the Ford to start.’
‘It’ll have to do. Let’s go,’ Raine said.
The whole group headed for the door, following Raine’s lead.
‘What about the medical supplies?’ Kristin said.
‘There’s no time,’ Raine replied. She stopped in her tracks, skidding on the polished floor and causing everyone else to pile into the back of her.
The wounded man appeared at the entrance and fell against the glass, smearing his blood over it.
Raine dropped the bags of food and flipped the assault rifle by its shoulder strap and took aim.
‘No, Miller.’ Ethan grabbed the weapon by its hand guard and forced her to point it away from the door. ‘Just wait a second.’
She had no clue why he wanted her to, but she knew by now to trust him when he gave a warning. The dying intruder smiled as more blood poured from the bullet holes in his body. He extended his middle finger to flick them the bird. Then, out of the darkness behind him, they began to appear: the rotten deceased, putrid and chattering, coming to the end of their hunt. More and more of them surrounded the entrance to the visitor centre, all hungry for this slab of meat who had offered himself as bait. His final ‘Fuck you’ to his killers. As soon as they got within reaching distance, they were on him, tearing and biting at his already dripping body. The man’s satisfaction was quickly replaced by terror. The blood from the gunshots was nothing compared to this massacre of the flesh. His eyes popped, his intestines spilled; the only thing that made him recognisable as what he used to be were his screams. He was literally turned inside-out by the gaggle of hands, and pieces of him were passed around to fill as many mouths as possible.
Vincent and Kristin were so transfixed by the horror, they didn’t think to shield Emily from it. She saw it all, every last gruesome drop of dismemberment.
‘Good God.’ Ethan turned away and retched. ‘Miller, the door,’ he croaked.
Raine reached out to Vincent. ‘The keys.’
Salty snatched them from his hand. He found the correct one as he made his way to the entrance, jamming it into the lock and twisting it. He backed up to the rest of the group and watched the multitude of hands claw at the panes of glass. Their groans sounded like a celebration – celebrating the pleasure of their latest feed and the promise of more to come.
The dead knew they were in there. All they had to do was to break through the thin barrier that separated them. More and more heard the call and joined the feeding frenzy. The glass started to buckle under their collective force.
Episode Seven
Bugs in a Jar
1
The tortured faces peered into the visitor centre, withered flesh peeling away when it was pulled from the glass. The front entrance was smeared with the insides of the man who had led the herd there.
Raine grimaced at the deathly figures awaiting them outside, picked up her bags, and marched in the opposite direction. ‘Take it there’s a back door to this place?’
‘Course. Fire exit,’ Salty said.
The group followed her through the lounge to the exit under the staircase. Raine yanked the push-bar and flung the door open. The fenced-off parking lot was less than fifty feet away. As she stepped onto the concrete, she heard noises coming from the left of her – something was dragging on the ground. Popping her head around the open door, she saw twenty or more creatures shuffling from the side of the building, and then just as many coming from the other direction.
They spotted her, reaching out with their skeletal fingers and groaning in collective acknowledgement. The dead shifted their tired bones to quicken their pace. Raine stepped back and shoved the others inside. ‘Go, go.’ She slammed the fire door shut just as the creatures reached it. ‘Shit!’
‘What now?’ Ethan said.
‘I shut it,’ Vincent said. ‘After I checked the cars, I shut the gate. They can’t get into the lot.’
‘Great, but how do we get to it?’ Ethan said.
Raine took some deep breaths, gently tapping the back of her head against the door. Without a word, she marched into the lounge again to face the hungry dead pounding on the glass at the front of the building. She crouched behind one of the sofas, urging everyone else to do the same. ‘Best to stay out of sight. We don’t wanna rile them up any more than we have to.’
‘That glass is reinforced, but if they keep piling pressure on it, it’s gonna break sooner or later,’ Salty said.
‘So it’s not safe here. Is there any way onto the roof?’ Ethan said.
‘There’s a skylight. We go up there and there’s no coming back,’ Salty said.
‘Will you two just shut up and let me think for a minute?’ Raine snapped. She gazed over to the bar, and then into the foyer. Seemingly unperturbed by their enemy, she moved from her hiding place, walked to the foot of the staircase and pointed to the polished floor. ‘Here.’
‘Here what?’ Salty said.
‘We’ll fortify this area. When they come through the entrance, we can fight our way out.’
‘Excuse me?’ Vincent said. ‘I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but we’re not soldiers. We have a little girl, for Christ’s sake.’
‘And I’m giving her a shot. You wanna take your family and make a run for it out back, be my gue
st.’
Her words struck a chord; he pulled Emily close to him.
‘We don’t have much ammunition,’ Salty said. ‘Few rounds each for the handguns, a couple of mags for your rifle, maybe twelve shells for this, if we’re lucky.’ He held out the shotgun.
‘We have a cocktail bar full of alcohol,’ Raine said, raising her eyebrows.
‘I don’t fancy being inside this place with fire dancing around,’ Salty said.
‘If we’re not out of here pretty fast, we won’t be leaving anyway.’
Ethan ran his shaking hands through his hair and locked eyes with Raine. ‘So how do we do this?’
‘We grab whatever we can find to put obstacles between them and us so we can slow them up.’
‘OK. Like she says, we don’t have much choice.’ Kristin got up and stood next to Raine. ‘Let’s get to work.’
The three men looked at one another, realising that regardless of whether or not they liked Raine’s plan, it was the best and only option they had.
‘Ethan, with me,’ Raine said. ‘Come help me search for things we can use for our special cocktails.’
He did as she asked without any questions and followed her up to the second floor.
Meanwhile, Salty, Kristin and Vincent were forced to work mainly in the dark, using their flashlights by cupping their hands over the beams to lessen the glare. The only other source of light came from the emergency lamp just outside the front entrance. First, they moved the furniture from the lounge area, all save the sofa Emily was sitting on, and turned each piece upside down, positioning it in a staggered formation around the foyer. Next they took down the interactive panels in the Discovery Station and broke them up, propping them horizontally to act as reflective screens.
The rest of the materials were pillaged from the souvenir kiosk. The metal-framed carousels and wooden shelves were emptied of their merchandise and added to the makeshift barricade. As Raine had instructed, they left a small alcove clear near the foot of the staircase where the group could operate from.
Everything Dies [Season One] Page 20