Age of Decay (Book 1): Contagion

by Brian Lamacraft

  ‘I’m with you, lad,” said Ian. He moved out a bit and swung his axe again, dropping another one in a vicious slice.

  “No, buddy. I need you to do something for me. Get Samantha, my wife, and Gail the hell out of here. Take them over the fence and towards the trees. That way should be fairly clear of them. If we don’t make it—”

  “Aye.”

  “Erica, Jason. Cover Donald so he can poor the gas. We don’t have much time.”

  The three of them stepped out in front of Donald as he poured the gasoline out. They fought back the dead with all they had. Trevor fired his rifle into the horde and brought down two more before they could get too close. Erica and Jason both brought down several more as they advanced towards them. In the fields ahead of them, the dead just kept coming.

  “Hurry up,” screamed Jason. “Get the gas out, we can’t hold them for much longer.”

  “The AR is out,” said Erica. She slung the weapon back over her shoulder.

  “Here.” Trevor tossed her a couple more pistol magazines.

  One of the dead lunged towards Trevor, and he lost his balance. He fell over and the thing landed on top of him, its jaws dripped salvia onto his face. The thing gurgled and hissed at him. He managed to put up his rifle to stop it from biting at his face. Erica took her rifle and came over to him She rammed the butt down and caved in the thing’s head as Trevor turned his head out of the way. He pushed the corpse off of him and got up.

  “Thanks.”

  Erica fired her pistol as another one got close. “Yeah.”

  Donald took the remained of the gas and soaked the bottom of a rag. “That’s it, the can is out.”

  “Get behind me.” Trevor hollered. He took the lighter out of his pocket and lit the rag. He waited until the dead got close enough and lit the gas on fire. “Go to the back of the house, now!”

  The flames would occupy the dead for at least for a little while. Long enough for them to escape. They ran as fast as they could as the dead reached the flame wall. They stopped for just an instant before plowing through the flames. Several of them caught on fire instantly, and they staggered around. Trevor and the rest of the group reached the back of the yard and the fence as one of the dead staggered into the front window. The burning corpse pounded on the glass, and it shattered as the thing fell into the open window. The living room began to burn. Another one caught the trees on fire in the front yard.

  “Shit, we need the rest of the guns,” said Trevor. “Can’t leave without them.”

  “Get Erica over the fence,” said Jason. “I’ll get it. I know where it is.”

  “No.”

  “Dad, just go, I’ll catch up.”

  “I’ll help him, Mr. Blake.”

  “It’s too risky. I’ll handle this. If anyth—”

  “Trust me, I can do it. I can run faster than you.”

  “Alright, make it quick. Meet us over by the trees.” Trevor helped Erica scale the fence before leaping over himself. Jason watched his dad disappear from view.

  “What are you waiting for?” yelled Donald. “We need that bag.”

  As Trevor and Erica made their way across the field, Donald and Jason went back inside and were assaulted by the smoke filing the house.

  “Front of the house is on fire,” said Donald.

  “The bag is in the kitchen!” yelled Jason.

  There was too much smoke for Donald to see. “Where are you?”

  “Got it, let’s go.” Jason pulled on Donald’s jacket, and the two of them went back out of the porch and down the stairs. Several of the dead had managed to make their way into the backyard.

  Donald went down the stairs first, and he buried his hatchet into the head of one of the dead. “We can make the fence, hurry.”

  Jason watched behind him and shot one of the other dead near the stairs. Only one of us going, Donald. He pointed his pistol to the back of Donald’s leg and fired. The bullet tore into the man’s flesh and turned his knee to a red ruin.

  “Fuck!” screamed Donald. “What the hell are you doing?” Donald wailed as the searing pain overcame him.

  Jason stood behind him. He grabbed hold of the back of Donald’s hair. “You shouldn’t try to take another man’s girl. Why did you do that, Donald?”

  “What? For Christ’s sake, I was giving her a hug. She told me her parents died. I was comforting her!”

  Jason fired again into another dead that came into the yard. He jumped over Donald who slumped on the stairs. “Goodbye, Donald.” He fired again into the other leg and headed for the fence as the dead swarmed into the yard. “You’ll make a good meal for them.”

  “Wait, don’t leave me here!” Donald tried to crawl. He reached out for Jason.

  The blood attracted the horde. They virtually ignored Jason as he went over to the fence. You’ll never touch her again. She’s mine! Behind him, Donald shrieked once before the horde tore into his body, pulling him apart. They severed him in two as his guts spread out on the steps of the house. The flames made their way to the rooftop and the entire building went up. The horde filled the backyard now, and many of them slammed into the fence, trying to get Jason who stood there on the other side for a few moments watching them devour Donald before he made his way over to the forested area to join his companions.

  ***

  Jason ran as fast as he could across the fields towards the rendezvous with the rest of the group near the forest. Behind him, the house was now engulfed in flames and owned by the dead. The sun was just beginning to rise and it cast an ominous glow over the horizon with what may lay ahead of them in the coming hours.

  Jason called out. “Dad? Erica?” He stopped to catch his breath and lifted his head as a faint voice could be heard off in the distance. He had found them. He squinted and wiped away the sweat that was running down from his temples as his father came into view.

  His father ran up to him and embraced him in a hug. “Thank God you’re safe. We have been looking all over for you. What the hell happened, are you okay?”

  “I got the gun bag.” He pointed to the bag he had dropped near him as he gasped for air. “They were everywhere.”

  “You shouldn’t have risked it, but I’m glad you got the weapons, we’re going to need them.”

  “Jason!” His mother came running up and wrapped her arms around him as the rest of the group arrived. There were tears in her eyes. “My baby, I was worried sick.”

  Jason pulled away from his mother. “I’m not a baby anymore, Mom. I did what had to be done to protect us all.”

  “We’re proud of you, lad,” said Ian.

  Samantha began to look around them and peered off into the distance. “Where’s Donald?”

  Jason stood there and allowed the tears to come to his eyes. Gonna lie to them, aren’t you. He had to die, he had to. I love you, Sam, no one will ever hurt you again. “I tried to help him.” He looked to his father. “We barely got the gun bag and a bunch of them came into the backyard. We fought them off. You should have seen him, he was so brave. He fought until the end. There was nothing I could do. They surrounded him, th—”

  “You did fine, “said Trevor. “He was a good man, we’ll miss him.”

  “Dammit,” said Eric as she fought back her tears.

  Samantha broke down in sobs. “No, he was so nice. Why?” Samantha choked back the tears.

  “It’s okay, Sam. I’m here.” Jason put his arms around her and allowed her to cry into his shoulder. “I tried to save him, they would have gotten me, too. I barely got over the fence.” He held her close to him. “I’ll make sure you’re safe.” He brushed his hand over the back of her hair, feeling the softness under his fingers. She was so warm and so comforting. As he stroked her hair, he peered off in the distance at the house that burned in the glow of the rising sun.

  Jason smiled.

  Chapter 26

  The group rested by the trees, thankful to be alive. Gail sat back against a stump, her face emotionless and va
cant. The trauma of losing her husband was too much for her brain to process. Although she could still walk and say a few words, she wasn’t all there at the moment. The stress too much for her to handle. Erica tended to her and kept watch as she looked for any positive changes in her condition.

  “How is she?” asked Trevor.

  “She went through a lot, and she has severe stress right now. She should be able to walk with us, but she might wander off. We have to keep a close eye on her.”

  Jason paced by the tree, looking out to the forest beyond. “Just leave her here. We can’t take her with us. She’s only going to jeopardize the rest of us.”

  Trevor walked over to his son. “As I told you before, we don’t abandon people, no matter what their condition. We can find medical supplies and tend to her. You’re supposed to be on lookout, so do your job. Is that clear?”

  “Yeah, Dad, it’s clear.”

  “So where are we going to go from here?” said Erica. “We can’t go back there. Sorry I’m just not familiar with this area. I never got out here.”

  “Well, we can’t get through this brush as we would get lost, but we can follow the train tracks down by the water, and that will take us through to Chilliwack. We can get some supplies there, a couple of vehicles, and head on up to Hope.”

  “Assuming we don’t run into any more difficulties?”

  “We’ll that’s the thing, we don’t know what’s out there, but this is our best shot, to get away from them as much as possible. If the highway is fairly clear, we should be able to make it up there.”

  “We will, lad,” said Ian. “You got us this far.”

  Yeah, this far and we keep losing people. “I can’t promise anything.”

  “It’s going to be fine,” said Lauren.

  Samantha clutched the bat she held. “I’m ready to fight if I have to.”

  “Well, Sam, that’s not a bad idea,” said Trevor. “Everyone listen. We are running low on ammo, as we wasted a great deal of it back there. We have to conserve as much as possible. We are low on rifle ammo especially, so use pistols. Switch to other weapons, only use our guns if it’s absolutely necessary.”

  “Loud sounds attracts them. I saw it in the hospital. They move towards the source of any sound.”

  “They can still hear?” said Trevor.

  “Yes, I guess in a limited way. Sound seems to draw them to the source. I don’t know all the answers here, just observations. They also appear to travel in large groups from time to time. I guess it’s like a herd of cattle, if you want to call it that.”

  “And we don’t want to attract the buggers’ attention,” said Ian.

  Trevor rubbed his shoulder, which still ached from his fall. “Right. We need to avoid them as much as we can. There’s no need to fight off a few if they aren’t a threat to us, as they are too slow to catch us moving.”

  “It’s the large groups that terrify me,” said Lauren.

  “By following the railroad by the water, we should be safe until we get to the other side. It’s going to take a day or so to get there, so we better get moving. When we rest, we’ll sleep in shifts. There are going to be no more chances, no letting our guard down. We can’t let that happen. Does everyone agree?”

  “Yeah,” they said together.

  “Good. Let’s get moving, we have a long walk ahead of us.”

  ***

  It took a full two days before they made it into the outskirts of Chilliwack. Gail had slowed them down some, and they needed to rest for her. Ian carried her on his back a good portion of the way, without saying a word. They had left the camping supplies behind, abandoned in the truck, and they were down to just a bit of water from the two canteens they had with them. The group was hungry, tired, and on edge about what they would find moving through Chilliwack.

  Erica stretched out her back and took a swing form the canteen that was just about empty. She handed it to Trevor. “No, it’s okay, give some to Lauren.”

  “You would make a lousy patient. Go on, take a drink.”

  Trevor let out a weak laugh. “Alright, Nurse. We can follow this road down a bit, we should hit some houses. Hopefully get what we need there, then back to the highway with vehicles.”

  “Up ahead,” said Ian.

  “They are in our way, so we have to clear them out. We can’t attract large groups of them.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll handle ‘em.”

  Samantha came over to Ian. “I’ll help.”

  “Right, lass, you stick close now.”

  “Hey, I’m tougher than I look.”

  “Aye. I saw that in the store, when we first met. Take the right one, I got the lady on the left.”

  “Half her arm is missing, she’s no lady.”

  “Take the chap in the tie. Shame though, black is my favorite.”

  Sam approached the first ghoul and swung her bat hard at the thing’s head. She connected hard, and it staggered backwards. She swung again, and it crashed to the ground. She went over to it, and before it could raise its head she smashed the skull in which splattered gore over the front of her bat. Ian swung his axe and took the head off of the other one in a clean stroke. He went over to Sam and used the man’s suit jacket to clean off his blade.

  “Aww, you ruined a good suit.” Sam smiled at Ian and gave him a big hug.

  Ian wiped away a tear from his eye. “Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime you need help, you just holler.”

  “I will, lass. That I will.”

  “Hey, Ian,” said Lauren. “You two make a good team.”

  “Aye.”

  Jason chewed on a piece of grass. “Well, Dad, looks like the way is clear. Lead on, boss.”

  “I don—”

  Lauren grabbed his arm. “Don’t, let him be. He has to work thing out in his head.”

  “No, what he has to stop doing is being a dumbass or he’ll get us all killed.” He hollered over at his son. “Hey, by all means go up ahead and scout around. After all, you don’t need me. Why don’t you be a man, for once? Go on now, we don’t have all day. I want to be on the road shortly.”

  “Sure, I’ll do that.”

  “Yes, you will.”

  Erica came over, holding onto Gail, who stumbled around in a daze. “We need to get her some rest soon, she needs it.”

  “No time for rest, but I’m not about to knock her out again.”

  “Sleeping pills would do it. Allow her to work this out of her system. Maybe in Hope we can find other medication so I can treat her better.”

  “Alright, we’ll check the house up the road, then get the hell out of here. I don’t want company to arrive.”

  As they approached the house, Trevor motioned for the group to stop. “There’s no sense in all of us going in there. Erica, take Samantha with you.”

  “Right.”

  “Sam, follow Erica and listen to her closely. I want you to learn how to enter a room, then clear it if necessary.”

  “Okay.”

  “Don’t take any risks, just look for the medication she needs, then get out. Never use your weapon unless you absolutely have to.”

  “I understand.”

  Lauren put her hand on Erica’s shoulder. “I’ll watch over Gail to you get back. Is she going to be all right?”

  Erica checked her pistol. “Not sure she has stress disorder. She may recover from it or she may get worse. Medication may help her some.”

  “Lass will be alright,” said Ian.

  “Well, Sam, let’s go check out that house. Stay tight with me.”

  “I’m ready.”

  ***

  “Why aren’t you going yourself?” asked Ian.

  Trevor rubbed the side of his elbow. “Need to give responsibilities to other people. The more we can do together as a group, the better off we’ll be.” He leaned up against the lamppost.

  “Makes sense.”

  “So tell me, Ian, what was a big Irishman like yourself running a sporti
ng goods store?”

  “Ah, yes. Well, you see, my grandparents came over here as immigrants and opened up a clothing store. It was a tailor’s shop, basically. Back then it was suits and dresses, people always needed work on their clothing. Then my parents did the same thing after that, so tailoring ran in the family.”

  “I take it you didn’t get into that field?”

  “Ah, ya I did. So in a way a followed in my parent’s footsteps. I ran a shop for several years.”

  “So why the sports store?”

  “Well, you see. In high school, I fell in love with hockey. Don’t ask me why, as I never cared for football which is so popular in Europe. I just had a passion for it. I wanted to play, but my parents didn’t allow it.”

  “I take it there’s more to the story?”

  “Aye. After high school, I went to work in my father’s shop. I did my best, but I was miserable. I had no passion for clothing. Heck, I couldn’t wait ‘til closing, just so I could watch an NHL game. One day, my father suffered a major heart attack, and he was critical in the hospital.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Ya. I spent a lot of time with him during his last days. Before he died, one thing he told me was to follow my dreams, cause it’s the only way to be truly happy in life.”

  “What did you do?”

  “After his funeral, I confessed to my mother what he had said and that I wanted to open a sporting goods store in his memory. I knew he would be proud of me, so I did. I followed my dreams.”

  Trevor looked to the debris on the street, the body face down in the grass. The once pristine suburban neighborhood, now empty and lifeless. “Not much for dreams now, it’s all gone.”

  “Yeah, lad. That it is. We’ll create new ones, help rebuild, if we survive.”

  “I guess they’ll never win the cup after all,” said Trevor.

  “Eh, lad?”

  “The Canucks.”

  The big man burst out laughing. “Oh, bloody hell. Now, that’s a good one. The Canucks. Were they ever gonna win lad? Were they ever?”

  For the first time in a long time, Trevor laughed, too. “Yeah, I guess not.” He glanced over at the house. “Maybe we should go check on them.”