“So glad you could all make this little gathering. First of all, we have some good news. This town will now be known as Rawlings, B.C. You all are its first new residents. Well, except for our buddy here.” Jake pulled the wounded man to his feet. “I want you all to understand clearly what happens to those that defy me. Do as I say, and we’ll all get along fine.”
The man’s eye was wide open in horror as he gazed at the ghoul chained to the tree. Its hair matted to the head. Congealed blood covered the trousers, the result of gunshot wounds. The thing tried to reach for Jake, but he was well out of the way of the chains. It hissed as fluid dripped from the jaws.
“No!”
“Meet my friend here, Constable Nielsen. How are ya today, Constable? Hungry, I bet.” Jake lifted the man to his feet and patted him on the back before shoving him towards the zombie.
The man started to plead. “I’ll do anything, God, no!”
Jake pushed the man right into the ghoul. Before he could react, it bit down hard on his shoulder. He screamed as blood fountained out when it tore off a huge chunk from his shoulder. He shrieked and held onto he wound as he staggered back towards the crowd, which moved backwards. Jake got in front of him and pushed the zombie back with his boot. The zombie tried to reach him, but the chains held him in place. The man on the ground coughed heavily, gurgling undecipherable words. Jake shoved the man away from the ghoul.
“Now, Constable, don’t get greedy. I’m sure I’ll have more tasty treats for ya soon. Geez, you give a new name to the word pig.”
“What do we do when he reanimates?” said Vance.
“Use him for target practice.”
Someone in the crowd fainted, while others looked up at the other tree near where the unfortunate constable, Jake, and the helpless man stood. The corpses that hung in the tree there were grim reminders that the town did belong to Jake and the Marauders.
Chapter 24
Trevor stood in the field near the house and wondered when his son would come back. He should have given up his shift long ago and gone back inside, but he was worried that something may have happened.
“I should have done this myself,” he said.
Erica out her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m sure he’s fine, just running late. Maybe they found some good supplies out there for us.”
“Yeah. If any—”
Erica pointed to vehicle moving down the road. “Look.”
Trevor readied his rifle. “Go over there and take up a position. We don’t know who or what they want. I’m gonna position myself by the house. If anything happens, open fire.”
“Right.”
Trevor moved at a fast pace through the grass towards the front of the house and the concealment of a tree there. The vehicle was still too far away for anyone to see him move. As it got closer, he trained his sight on it. He moved his finger near the trigger as the pickup came to a stop, but lowered his rifle as the driver came into clearer view. He moved out of his position, so he was visible to the truck occupants. He motioned his hand towards Erica as both Donald and Jason got out of the pickup.
Jason took a look at his dad’s rifle. “Were ya gonna shoot your own son?”
“You know we can’t be too careful. You didn’t exactly have a truck when you left.”
“Well, I figured it would be the best way to get all the gear and food we found back here.”
“Sure got a lot of things,” said Donald, “some guns, too. There are enough supplies here to last a while, I’m sure.” He chewed down on an apple.
“Run into any problems out there?”
Jason patted the shotgun slung over his shoulder. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. They aren’t exactly fast, you know.”
“Yeah, but too many of them is going to be a problem. We’ve been lucky here so far.” Trevor looked over to Donald. “Thanks for your help. I figure we’ll have a look at all this gear and take what we need. Perhaps the roads will be clear enough to get us there.”
“I’m with you. Gonna go inside and eat.”
“Right.”
Trevor waited until Donald went inside. “So did he give you any problems?”
“Problems? Well, no. It’s just that he runs like a frightened girl when he encounters them. He can’t shoot or even swing an axe very good. He’s about as useless as they come.”
“He’ll learn. I’ll show him how to shoot. Maybe you can help.”
“Help him? We have enough problems saving our own asses. He’s gonna slow us down just like the other two inside. Erica and Ian are the only good ones we have. Fuck, can’t save everyone we—”
“Because there fucking human, that’s why!” Trevor put his arm on his son’s shoulder and shoved him back some. “We’re all in this shit together. We have to save these people, or there will be no one left to save.”
“Yeah, you’re the big hero, out to rescue humanity. I’m out to save only one person and that’s me.”
Trevor stood back and looked at his son. “What the hell happened to you the past few days?”
Jason laughed. “Well shoot, you’re blind. Take a fuck and look around, dear old Dad. We are all as good as dead. If we try and be Mr. Hero, we’ll all die that much quicker.”
“We have to try. Won’t be many of us left. Life has to go on.” Maybe he’s right, Trev, your son is right. We are all so fucked.
“Well, if you say so. Just don’t send me on any more missions with that dimwit. I’ll take care of myself.”
“That will get you killed.”
“Yeah, Dad, it might. You could say they got it easy, those dead out there. They are just waitin’ for us to join them.”
“What are you waiting for?”
Jason gathered his backpack out of the pickup and turned towards the house. “I’ll let you know when I find it.”
Erica approached Trevor who stood there watching his son leave. “What was that all about?”
“Beats me. Give me a hand with this stuff.” Trevor went over and began to pick things out of the truck. “That’s someone I no longer know.”
***
The supplies Jason and Donald had picked up were modest, but they were well worth the trip. Jason had found a few rifles and some ammunition which they had in short supply. They had enough camping gear as well as clothing to go around for everyone in the group. Once another vehicle could be picked up and an ample supply of gasoline obtained, everything would be set. The back roads would be safer until they made their way to Hope, or that was what they wished for. There was no telling what would greet them on the way. It was a time of great fear, as the world descended into utter chaos and mankind descended into the base need for survival.
The group all gathered around the dining room table. Lauren had set out candles she found in a Christmas box. The light filled the room and illuminated the weary faces of the survivors. It would be their last meal in the house before setting out to the mountains, with no idea what was in store for them. The meal was simple with whatever they could put together from the food that was left in the house. Gail had created a nice salad with the leftover vegetables, there was canned tuna, crackers, cheese, and soup warmed on the wood stove downstairs. It would carry them ‘til tomorrow.
Trevor poured a bottle of wine he had found in the liquor cabinet. “I know this isn’t much, but we have to save our supplies. I don’t know when we will be able to pick up more or just how safe we’ll find it out there. I just hope we come across more survivors. We’ll get through this, everyone. We do it together, there’s no other way.” But who’s going to make the right choices? If you make the wrong one Trevor, everyone dies. They all die.
Erica spoke up. “I’m not very religious, and I don’t know if anyone else is here, but I’d like to say a few words before we eat.”
Lauren clasped her hand. “Sure.”
“Oh Heavenly Father, Grant us the strength to see it through these dark days. Guide us with your wisdom so we may find the light. Allow us to rebuil
d and create a new world. Thank you for this meal. We ask these things in your name. Amen.”
“I liked that,” said Samantha.
Across from her, Ian smiled. “Couldn’t have said it better myself, lass, well done. Shall we eat? Its good company tonight, let’s make the most of it.”
“Yeah.” Trevor took a long swallow of the wine. “This is a great meal, we should be thankful after all we’ve been through. Might not get another one like this for a long time. It’s been too quiet, and that worries me.”
George cleared his throat. “It’s a good salad, honey. The dressing is terrific.” No more fighting, Dammit, I do love you. Maybe this can bring us closer together.
“I made it from scratch. I guess we have to get used to that now, don’t we? Go back to the old ways.”
“Jason should be here,” said Lauren. I worry about you, out there with who knows what around the corner. We’re just existing now.
“Aye, but he wanted watch,” replied Ian. “He took my place, Donald went with him.”
“I’ll put a plate aside for them,” said Erica. “Take it town and relive them. I have to thank him again for the great jacket he got me. It will take the chill off at night.”
“He can be thoughtful at times,” said Lauren.
“If it’s alright with you all, I’d like to take the watch after that,” said George. “You all have done so much, and my leg feels much better now.”
“Are you sure?” said Trevor. “I wouldn’t want to rush you with that leg. We can handle it.”
“Yes.” George took another bite of food. “I want to pull my weight around here. As you said, we have to work together. I’m a fast learner, just give me a few pointers with a gun, and I’ll be fine. Hell, I’ll just fire the damn thing in the air to warn you.”
“Now, Geo—”
“No, hon. You know I got to do this, understand?”
“Alright.”
“It’s settled, then,” said Trevor. “Once Jason gets back, it’s Erica and myself, then George and Ian. That will get us through until we leave. I don’t know what we’ll find out there, but hopefully we can come across someone that knows what is going on and how to solve this.”
Erica raised her wine glass along with everyone else. “To friends.”
“Amen to that, lass,” Ian raised his glass. “Amen to that.”
Chapter 25
The gunshot shattered Trevor’s sleep, and he bolted upright in bed. Lauren wasn’t beside him, and he could hear the commotion going on in the house. Just what I was afraid of, our comfortable life here, I knew it couldn’t last. Dammit, we should have left earlier. Trevor got out of bed in a flash and threw on his vest and gear as Erica came running to the doorway. It was still late, and the sun hadn’t come up yet.
“Hurry up, they’re coming fast!”
“How many?”
“I can’t count that high.”
“Shit.” Trevor grabbed his rifle and flew down the stairs into the yard. There he ran into Ian, who was breathing heavily.
“Lad,” he said between laboured breaths.
“Where’s George?”
Ian fought for his breath. “He must have fallen asleep out there. Everything was quiet until I heard the gunshot.”
“Where is he now?”
“Lad, he’s still out there.”
Trevor peered out into the fields, but he saw no signs of George. All he saw were bodies lumbering towards them. The fields were thick with them. They shambled through the grass, a wall of absolute horror.
Erica fired her rifle twice, and it connected with one of the nearest dead. The first shot hit the thing in the shoulder, but the second connected with the middle of the head and dropped the ghoul to the grass in a heap. “Where the hell are they all coming from?”
“The suburbs,” said Trevor. They ran out of food.
“Get everyone together, and get to the truck,” yelled Trevor, as Lauren came racing out of the house. Trevor peered down the road, a road swarmed with bodies heading their way. There was no way to get the truck out, and even if they did, the horde would overwhelm it quickly. There goes camping supplies and all the food. Shit! In a few minutes, the dead would be at the house. There was nowhere to run, they were totally cut-off.
***
George struggled to move his legs, but his knee slowed him down. You just wanted to be a hero, George, help out. You knew your knee still hurt, you knew it! Sleeping on guard duty, you stupid fool! He turned around and fired the rifle again, hitting one in the chest, but it kept coming. With the basic training Trevor had given him, he just wasn’t good enough to get a head shot. He fired again and somehow hit the neck on one, which spewed gore and pitched the thing backwards to the ground. It was of no consequence, however, as the swarm of dead now descended upon him from all directions. He swung the rifle, and it connected with another in the head and it, too, fell over. George tried to run, but his knee sent pain through his body, and he stumbled some. Sorry, Gail, so sorry. As his knee gave out he tumbled, but the horde caught him. Teeth sank into his shoulder and ripped away his flesh. They surrounded him like pack and tore at him. He screamed as his arm was ripped from his body. They heard the screams at the house, it was a sound you couldn’t forget. It was a sound that would wake you up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, unable to forget what you heard. It was the sound of a man being torn to pieces. They feasted on him, then continued towards the house. A few stragglers bent over what was left of George and devoured that, too. They were driven by their desire for flesh, for it consumed their existence utterly.
Gail stood there and heard it, too, the scream that terrified them all as George was ripped apart by the dead. Gail started to scream and sob as she came unhinged, her life shattered in an instant. “George!” She shrieked his name over and over again as she ran, but Trevor caught her with his arm.
“No! You can’t help him, he’s gone.”
Gail punched and shoved at Trevor. “Let me go!”
Trevor let her go for an instant before he clubbed her over the back of the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking her unconscious. “Donald, take her inside.” Ahead of Trevor, the horde advanced toward the house, the fields covered in them. The road was now inaccessible, and they couldn’t move forward. They had nowhere to run.
“What do we do?” said Ian.
Trevor readied his rifle. “There’s only one thing we can do. We fight.”
***
The group moved out in front of the house to face the onslaught of dead. They looked at each other with the grim realization that this may be the end of them all. They had come this far, but the rising tide of dead was now unstoppable.
Ian went out in front of them, brandishing his axe. He swung it at the first one that got near him, cutting off half its head in a full swing. He swung again and decapitated another of the dead as blood sprayed in all directions. Erica fired her rifle towards another one. As the round tore through the skull of the ghoul, it crashed to the ground in a heap. There was an eruption of gunfire, but it was no use, there were simply too many of them. It was all a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed. Samantha screamed and swung her bat hard at one of the creatures, which went down hard. She pulled the pistol out of her waistband and fired into the head of it.
“Keep firing,” screamed Trevor. That’s it, just like I taught you, Samantha. Not that it matters now. How the hell do we get out of this?
Donald swung the hatchet he now had and cleaved the head of another one in two. “There’s too many!”
Jason pushed one backwards with his foot and blew it apart with his shotgun. “Just keep fighting, we’ll make it.”
One of the dead stumbled towards Lauren. It opened what was left of its bloody jaws and brandished its teeth. The thing tried to lock down on her arm, but the hockey padding she wore kept the bite from going through. She pulled her knife out of its sheath and shoved it through the side of the ghoul’s head, then stabbed it agai
n.
Trevor’s mind raced for answers. The decision to not try and run for it was the wrong one, as they were now backed up near the house with nowhere to go. The forest, it’s our only escape route, if the way is clear, we’ll make it. The gasoline in the garage. It could buy us some time.
“Lad, they’re closing fast,” said Ian “Don’t think we’ll outgun ‘em.”
Trevor screamed over to Donald. “There’s a gas can in the garage. Go get it and some rags or anything that’s going to light. Go!”
“What you have in mind?” said Ian.
Trevor fired his rifle again at another one. “We need a distraction, light the gas and move back to the house. We can go over the fence and run for the forest behind us. We can’t stay here, it’s our only chance. If we all just run, they’ll keep following us. They’ll get confused by the fires, which will buy us time.”
Donald ran back with the can of gas and some rags. “What do you want me to do with this?”
“Take it out front and pour it around near the house. We’ll hold them off so they don’t get near you,” said Trevor. He fired his rifle again and changed his magazine. “Then I’ll light it.”
Age of Decay (Book 1): Contagion Page 13