Age of Decay (Book 1): Contagion

by Brian Lamacraft

  Trevor knelt in the brush beside Billy as he looked though his binoculars. “They’re at Jacob’s home now. He’s older, so I don’t think he’ll fight. He doesn’t have a gun, basically just a friendly fellow. He’s been at home through most of it. He won’t talk to us much. Basically keeps to himself.”

  “Like anyone,” said Trevor, “he’s just scared.” He looked at Galen and Steven. ”Stay down,” he whispered.

  Jason and Erica covered the other side of the street as they moved slowly to the driveway of the other home.

  “No sign of them yet,” said Billy.

  “Still inside. We wait till them come out then take them out. We need a prisoner,” said Trevor. “It’s the only way we’ll know what we’re up against.”

  “Shit,” said Steven. “Look down the road, one of those roamers. Haven’t seen one for a while.” He raided his rifle.

  Trevor put his arm on the gun. “No.” He motioned across the street to his son and pointed to the figure that walked slowly up the road shuffling left and right like a drunk.

  Jason nodded and drew his knife. He snuck quietly passed the driveway and drove it into the neck of the thing to silence it.

  “We cleaned most of them out from around here,” said Galen. “I guess we missed a few.”

  “Try the city, Uncle.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  “Roamers?” Trevor said looking at Steven.

  “Yeah, that’s what we have been calling them up here. They move from place to place, looking for their next meal.”

  “Yeah us,” said Galen.

  “Get down,” said Billy. “Look.”

  They could see the group of men walk out. One of them was pushing the old man with a rifle.

  “Come on, old timer,” said the man. “We don’t have all day.”

  “Why don’t you just leave me alone? I got nothin’ you want.”

  “You sure you don’t know of anyone else up here?” said the biker with the protruding belly and greasy white muscle shirt. He scratched his jaw. “I’d sure appreciate it, gramps, if you told us all you know.”

  “I said, I’m not interested in Hope. Just leave me here. I wanna die here. This is my home. Judgement is upon us, say the Lord.”

  “He’s nuts,” said the fat biker. “Hey you kid, take him out into the yard.”

  “Me?”

  “See anyone else round here? You want to prove yourself to Jake, do as I say. I’ll put in a good word for ya. Maybe he’ll give ya some tail.”

  The third man burst into laughter. He turned when he heard a sound over by the man’s shed. “Hey, I heard something there. You got someone in the shed?”

  “Don’t you hurt my boy!” said the old man. “Jared is a good man.”

  “Fuck,” said the fat man. “You hidin’ him in there? Mitch, check it out.”

  The fat biker drew his pistol on the old man. “Not a good idea hidin’ things from us.”

  “He’s safe in there I assure you,” said the old man. “Lord will keep him.”

  The younger man spoke up. “Hey, just let this guy go, he’s not hurtin’ anyone.”

  “You shut up. Mitch, open the shed already!”

  The other biker shook the lock. “Locked.”

  “Fuck you’re dense. Blow off the lock, dumbass.”

  “Okay.” The biker pointed with his rifle and shot the lock off the shed lock and opened the door. The old man’s son stood there in the doorway. He was clad in dirty overalls and a baseball cap just like he was when he died of the flu. The old man was unable to kill him, so he stuck him in the shed before he died. His skin was gray and spit dripped from the corner of his mouth. He’s eyes were white and vacant. He hissed at Mitch, who screamed. The biker backed up, but he was too slow due to shock. The thing that used to be Jared clamped down on his arm and ripped off a shred of skin. The biker screamed again as the thing bit into his neck.

  The old man began to cry. “My boy!”

  “You old fuck,” said the fat biker. He shot the old man point blank in the head. His blood sprayed over the younger man who stood there, unable to move.

  Jared lumbered over to them. Before the got halfway across the yard, several rounds tore into the fat biker, who dropped like a sack of rocks. Trevor, Galen, and the rest of the group ran into the yard.

  The younger man backed up and collapsed on the ground. He put out his arms to shield himself from Jared who reached for him with red, bloody jaws.

  “No!” screamed the kid.

  Jared pitched backwards as a bullet tore into his skull, taking off the top part of his head in a sick bloody display.

  Three rifles surrounded the kid as he lay on the grass with tears streaming down his face.

  “Don’t move,” Trevor said.

  “Billy, deal with that other guy.”

  Billy brought his rifle up on the other man. “Please… help.” Blood poured form his arm and the huge gash in his shoulder, which spread blood over the front of his jean jacket.

  Without saying a word, Billy pulled out a knife and shoved it into the man’s head to silence him.

  Trevor took his knife and drove it in to the fat biker’s skull before wiping the blade on the grass. He put his rifle on the young man’s chest. “Anyone else with you?”

  “No, I swear, please don’t kill me. I was only doing what they told me to do.”

  “Get him up,” said Trevor. “He’s got some talkin’ to do.”

  ***

  The group stood outside of Galen’s cabin while Trevor took the man inside. They found out his name was Phillip, and he was a resident of Hope. They needed to know how many they would be going against, and they needed to know that information now. Trevor would do what was required to get it out of Phillip.

  Lauren flinched as she heard Phillip cry out. “Is this necessary? I mean, he’s just a kid.”

  “Yeah,” said Billy. “We have to know more about what’s going on in Hope.”

  Lauren turned to look at Billy. “We torture people now?”

  Galen rubbed his jaw. “Trevor is doing what he has to do, you know that. Our lives depend upon it.”

  “We told you what that biker did to the old guy, Mom,” said Jason. “They are going to pay.”

  “None of us like doing this Lauren,” said Galen. “I wish there was some other way.”

  Inside Trevor paced around the chair. He had tied up Phillip and smacked him in the lips again with the back of his hand. Blood poured out from his cut lip and stained his shirt.

  Trevor lifted up his head by the hair. “How many of them are there?”

  “I didn’t count them all. Maybe twenty or thirty altogether.” Phillip coughed. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “You should have thought of that before you wasted the old man.”

  “I was just doing what they told me. They are hurting people down there that don’t join them. I was scared.”

  “Who’s the leader?” Trevor brought his knife up under the kid’s chin. “Tell me or I’ll cut you into small pieces. I’ll start with your fingers.”

  Tears swelled up in Phillip’s eyes. “Please. The guy’s name is Jake Rawlings. That’s all I know.”

  “Anything else I should know? Or should I just start cutting you now?” Trevor pressed the knife into his chin, drawing some blood.

  “Shit, please don’t. He’s got my sister. They are raping the girls. He’s crazy. Feeding others to the thing, he’s got tied up. Tomorrow there’s going to be another demonstration. I heard it from one of the bikers I was with.”

  “Demonstration?”

  “Yeah. He gather’s the town together… He… feeds that thing…”

  “What else do you know?”

  “I heard them talking. Tomorrow if the rest of the town doesn’t do what he says—”

  “What?”

  “He’s going to execute them.”

  “Shit.”

  “Please, I’ll do what you ask. My sister…”

/>   “Alright, Phillip.” Trevor pressed the knife into his chin once more. “But if you screw us, I’ll kill you. Is that clear?”

  “Yeah, clear.”

  “Good. I wouldn’t want us to have any misunderstanding here.”

  Chapter 33

  Trevor took the bloody Phillip outside with him and brought him over to the group. Lauren winced at his cut lip and black eye.

  “Phillip here has agreed to work with us,” said Trevor. “We need to move fast because tomorrow, the crazy bastard there is going to feed that thing he has tied up.”

  “Do we know who the leader is?” said Galen.

  “Some guy named Jake Rawlings.”

  “Rawlings?” said Galen. “Shit, what is that clown doing back up here?”

  “I take it you know him, Uncle?”

  “Yeah, I do. He’s an old local thug. He grew up here and was in and out of jail. You know the type. He got arrested so many times we lost count.”

  “Jake caused a lot of trouble for the local RCMP,” said Steven. “People used to make fun of him in town. Last we heard he was in some gang.”

  “His kind never change,” said Billy.

  “Now he’s back,” said Erica.

  “Lad wants revenge,” said Ian. “For what the town did to him.”

  “Well I don’t care what this guy’s past is. We need the supplies in the town, and we’re going to get them. As far as we are concerned, he’s just in the way. Time to take out the trash,” said Trevor.”

  “He always has the demonstration at noon,” said Phillip. “Most of the other bikers are still in the hotel or getting drunk somewhere. We can catch them off guard.”

  “Yeah, and he plans to execute anyone that doesn’t agree with him,” Trevor said. “We have to move fast and take these guys out.”

  “Do you have a plan?” said Steven.

  “Yeah,” said Trevor. “We have to take out the hotel and catch them there. We can use Molotov cocktails and hit the hotel hard before they know what is happening. Everyone will be in one area, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to get most of them.”

  “What about the civilians?” Billy asked.

  “Some of them will get caught in the crossfire, we can’t help that. We’ll try and save as many of them as we can.”

  “There are always several guards around while Jake speaks,” said Phillip.

  “Galen and Billy will provide sniper fire,” said Trevor. “They are both good shots.”

  “How are we going to get close to them before they know what’s going on?” said Steven.

  “We’ll pin down Jake and his buddies with sniper fire, then hit the hotel hard and take out most of his gang there. The commotion should confuse them so we can take them out,” said Trevor.

  “What about Jake?” Galen asked.

  “Hopefully, we can capture him alive. If not, it’s not a great loss.”

  “Ian, I’ll need you here to look after Lauren, Gail, and the others who can’t fight. I know you want to help, but your axe isn’t much help against a rifle.”

  “Aye, lad. Not a problem.”

  Trevor checked his rifle. “It’s going to be risky, but we can’t wait any longer. We have to free the town if we want to survive. There’s nowhere else we can go right now. The people of Hope need us. We can’t abandon them to these bikers.”

  “I’m ready, Dad,” said Jason.

  “Where am I going to be in all of this?” said Erica.

  “Well, I have something special planned for you.”

  “Oh, I don’t like the sound of that,” said Erica.

  “We’ll need to clear the guards and get the road open into town. That’s where you come in.”

  “There’s usually two guards,” said Phillip.

  “Good, that shouldn’t be a problem then,” said Trevor.

  “So what do I do?”

  Trevor looked at her. “Smile and look pretty. Tomorrow morning, we fight.”

  ***

  In the pickup truck, Erica drove towards the biker checkpoint. She adjusted her short blue halter top. She was showing plenty of cleavage and her belly button in the shirt. She had found the outfit in one of the homes around Galen’s place. She also wore tight jean shorts and black boots. She would definitely grab the attention of the guards who were coming up ahead of her. Erica swallowed hard, knowing they may just shoot her, but she was willing to risk it. They had had to get town before noon, which is when Jake and his bikers sacrificed another person, then slaughtered the rest that wouldn’t go along with his plan. Erica put the pick-up into park and got out near the overturned cars and makeshift barricade across the road. She leaned on the side of the truck and lit a cigarette. The bikers raised their weapons.

  “Hey, girl. That’s far enough,” said the biker with the ample belly and black leather jacket. “You can’t go through here. Get back in your vehicle and go back wherever you came from.”

  Erica walked slowly from the truck. She undid her hair from the bun and let it fall to her shoulders. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I’ve been on the run from those things out there. You have a camp or something? It’s pretty scary out here you know. They are everywhere now.”

  The biker with the big belly pointed his shotgun at her. “Go back if you know what is good for you.”

  The smaller man with a black shaggy beard next to him tapped the bigger man on the arm. “Hey, man, shut up. She looks like she could be a lot of fun. Jake would like her. Hell, I’d like her right about now. He keeps all the pretty ones to himself.” He slung his rifle over his shoulder and called out to her. “What do you have in that truck we could use?”

  “Oh, honey, I got lots of things you could use. I have some ammo, food, water, and other supplies. You’re welcome to it if you want.” Erica got closer to the bikers. “I got other things too, you might like.”

  “Yeah,” said the smaller man, as he took in her chest and long slender legs. ”You got all sorts of things we like, darlin’.”

  “What do you say? Will you take me to your camp? I bet you boys could take real good care of me.” She reached out and ran her finger down the bigger biker’s gut. “Yeah, you could really take care of me, you know.”

  The bigger biker wasn’t impressed. He pushed his shotgun into her gut. “I say we shoot you right now, and take all your stuff.”

  “I don’t want any trouble, honey,” said Erica. “I just want safe passage and a good time. A girl needs a good man after all this happened.” She got close to the fat biker again and pressed her chest into his. She looked him in the eyes. She tried not to wince at his disgusting smell. “I have lots of things you need, baby.”

  The bigger biker began to relax and lowered his shotgun. “Like what.”

  “Like this.” She put one arm around his neck and kissed him on the mouth.

  “Fuck yeah,” said the other biker. He reached for his belt and began to unbuckle it.

  As the bigger biker leaned into Erica’s kiss, she reached behind her back and drew the knife from its sheath she had hidden behind her back. In one swift motion she slammed it into the fat biker’s guts and twisted the blade. “Sorry sugar,” she said. “You’re not my type.” She sliced his stomach open, then withdrew her blade as he staggered backwards. She kicked him and the man staggered backwards, clutching his guts. She then sliced his across the throat which sprayed blood all over.

  Before the smaller biker could even process what was happening, an arrow went through his neck, and he dropped like a stone. Erica drove her blade into each one of their skulls so they wouldn’t reanimate. Out in the grass behind her, Galen and Trevor appeared, along with Steven, Billy, Phillip, Jason and several of Galen’s neighbors behind them.

  “Nice work,” said Trevor. “Jason, go back and get the truck.”

  Erica wiped her blade on the grass. “Thanks. Great shot with the arrow, Galen.”

  “I prefer my rifle, but I’ve taken down some deer with it. I never thought I’d need to take out a h
uman, though.”

  “You did fine,” said Trevor. “You taught me all in know about hunting and firearms in general. I miss those old days of my youth. Remember that moose we got?”

  “Yeah, good times,” said Galen.

  “I hate to breakup this family reunion.” Billy looked at his watch. “We better get moving soon. Need to be in position before it starts.”

  The group made their way towards the town. In about a half an hour they would be engaged in a battle for Hope and control of the town they desperately needed. If they had gone the other way, they would have ran into a far deadlier group that was headed for Hope, too.

  They came from the suburbs of the towns, the apartment complexes, and other areas, they marched relentlessly without a care for anything, they had only one need. They had no interest in control of the town, they were simply hungry.

  They were the dead.

  Chapter 34

  Jake Rawlings brought the woman outside to the tree where the constable was. It really didn’t matter who he killed, he just needed to get the town behind him and intimidation was the best way to go about doing that. He had picked the forty-two year old out at random, beat her up in the jail, and was now going to feed her to the hungry constable he kept as his little pet. Didn’t think ya would serve the town in this capacity, did ya Constable? You and your boys arrested me enough. Consider it a little payback. Jake stood near the tree in the park. The woman was on her knees in front of him with her head down. Several bikers stood guard with their guns draped over their arms. In the parking lot by the trees were several cars and trucks Next to the tree where the constable was tied up, were several people that Jake had hanged. They were turned and hissed out at the crowd gathered there. It was a sick display of Jake’s lust for power. Most of Jake’s men were still in the main hotel in town, getting laid, drinking, or passed out. The girls he had picked out for them were keeping the men happy. Just the way it needs to be. Soon this town will worship me as their savior.