Age of Decay (Book 1): Contagion

by Brian Lamacraft

  Beside him stood Vance, who was having second thoughts about what was going to take place. “One of our patrols isn’t back yet. They have been gone all night. Something’s up.”

  “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, we need to get this town in line with us. Once they see what lies out there for them, they’re going to go along, you’ll see.”

  “You sure you want to do this, man?”

  Jake turned to him. “Ah shut up, I know what I’m doin’.” He stood by the tree and addressed the large crowd there. “We are all here for a reason. Out there, beyond the safety of this town, lies the dead. If we all come together and work as a team, we can have safety and security here.”

  A man about sixty-two spoke up from within the crowd. “How is this security? You kill innocent people. How can I trust that you won’t kill me next?”

  Jake put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Hey, old man. You have food, water, and shelter, do you not?”

  “Yeah,” he replied.

  “Out there it’s a new dangerous world friend. Only the strong will survive. In here, I’ll keep you safe. You work, do what I say, follow my rules, and everything will be just fine. You comprehend that?”

  “Sounds like a dictatorship,” grumbled the old man

  Jake raised his voice. “You all have a choice. Become a part of my new town, and live in security away from what is out there. Out there are no rules and no hope for you.” He pointed to the constable. The man that was once Andrew Nielsen was an absolute wreck now. Dried blood was congealed on his face. His lips and teeth were stained bright red. The white eyes gaped out at the crowd. He reached out his arms and tried to grasp a hold of Jake. His hissed and spit ran down his chin. “This is what you face out there. Is that what you want? Watch and learn, my friends.” He pushed the sobbing woman into the constable.

  The crowd watched in horror as the ghoul ripped into the woman’s neck. It tore off a huge chunk and blood gushed out. The woman screamed and tried to step away, but Jake used his boot and pushed her back as the thing tore into her arm next and then ripped open her guts and began to devour the content of her stomach. The woman twitched on the ground, the last shrieks dying out as she died.

  “Watch what happened to you out there. Get it through your skulls, people. That is your reality. Horrible, isn’t it. Man, he sure is hungry, look at him go.” The constable raised his blood-soaked face and stared out at the crowd. Many of them were now crying, and two men had picked up a woman who had fainted. An older woman bent over and vomited on the ground. The old man and several others, however, stood tall and didn’t move a muscle.

  “There’s your choice!” screamed Jake. He was becoming unhinged now. His desire for power overwhelming him. “Those that want to live, step back!”

  Most of the crowd stepped backwards. Children were crying and women tried to comfort them. Many in the group held hands or hugged each other tightly. Only about a dozen or so out of the one hundred plus residents stood their ground, including the old man.

  “Oh, that’s so noble.” Jake laughed at the old man. “Maybe I should salute you or something. Hey guys, gramps is out to save the town. It’s just like our constable friend here.” Several of the bikers burst into laughter.

  “I’m not like you and your buddies,” said the old man. “I know I’m gonna die, but I’ll die proud and on my feet. I won’t live on my knees with the likes of you.”

  Jake pulled his pistol out of his waistband. “Oh, I can grant you that right now if you like, Gramps, right fucking now.” Fucks like you aren’t gonna stop me. This is my town, get it!

  The crack of the shot tore through the sobs of the residents who stood there, but it wasn’t the death of the old man. People screamed and ducked for cover as the head of one of Jake’s biker’s exploded in a spray of blood and brains. Vance ducked behind a car.

  Jake pushed the old man back and took cover by another tree. “Vance, grab my rifle over there!” He pointed to his rifle which laid against a car tire. “Keep your fucking head down, we got company.”

  “Right!” Vance moved out from his position by the car.

  Another shot rang out, but it missed one of his men and instead tore into the head of one of the residents that ran in all directions trying to get away from the gunfire.

  One of Jake’s biker’s got off two shots towards the rooftop of a building down the street from the park. He yelled out to Jake. “On the roof, down there. That’s where the shots are coming from. We got snipers!”

  Chapter 35

  Ian Patrick hated to be away from the fight, but he knew that he wouldn’t be much good with just an axe. Gah, I’ll have to get the lad to teach me how to shoot one of those bloody things. I wish things could be different, so much death now. Have to be strong for these women here and the children, Ian. Who in the bloody hell will be strong for me?

  Samantha finished pouring the coffee. “I hope Jason is alright,” she said. “I wish they would have let me go with them.”

  “Need more practice with that pistol, lass, but you’re mean with a hatchet and bat, I grant you that.”

  Sam smiled. “Thanks.” She sighed and sat down. “I miss my parents.” She took a sip of the black coffee. “Ew, how do you drink this?”

  Ian laughed. “Sugar in the cupboard over there. Sorry there’s no milk or cream for it.”

  “It’s my first coffee.”

  “In these times, I’d switch over to whiskey, lass.”

  Another woman sat beside Ian and took a sip of her coffee. “Thank you for protecting us, Mr. Patrick. I would hate to leave the children alone.”

  Ian put his hand out on hers. “My pleasure, Sue. It’s always good to be in the company of a lady.”

  “He’s a flatterer too, Sam.”

  Ian laughed again. “Oh, bloody hell.”

  A small boy about six came down the hallway. “And how are you, my little Tommy?” said Sue.

  “Just playin’ cars.” He ran his fire truck along the table making truck sounds.

  Sam rubbed his hair. “I found them in a house down the road.”

  “Thank you. He hasn’t had a chance to just be a boy with all this going on. At least Mike and Sarah are keeping him company. He misses his dad.” Back there in our house, you tried to kill your own son. Monster! They are all monsters now!

  “Nice fire truck there, lad. You gonna be a fireman when you grow up?”

  “No. I’m gonna carry a gun.” The boy ran off down the hallway towards the other room.

  Lauren came out and sat down. She wiped her forehead and pinched between her eyes, shaking her head.

  “How is Gail?” said Sue.

  “She’s okay, but not much change. She was speaking a bit earlier, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying.” Sam brought her a coffee. “Thanks, Sam. I wish I knew how Jason and Trevor were doing. I hate the fact that they are out there.”

  “Aye,” said Ian.

  “I don’t know one minute to the next which one of us will be next. How is a person supposed to live now? I guess it makes you thankful for what we do have.” She put out her hand and touched Ian’s forearm. “At least we are among friends. Thank you for being here, Ian.”

  “Aye, lass. Any man would do the same. You’re a strong woman, I sense that from you. Trevor is lucky to have you.”

  Lauren sipped her coffee. “Sometimes I don’t know if I’m strong enough. It’s a living nightmare out there, Ian. I don’t know if strength is going to be enough. It’s our sanity I worry about more than strength.”

  Sue gestured to the bedroom. “I worry about them. What future do they have? How do we rebuild a world for them? What will they inherit from us?”

  “No one can answer that, lass. I wish I had answer for ya. Our world is changed.”

  “Yeah,” said Lauren. “It’s changed.”

  Sue saw Sarah come down the hallway. The twelve year old had been hiding in a closet in one of the homes. Galen had found her after h
e was forced to kill her father who had turned into one of them. The little girl was shaking and sobbing. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  “They are coming.”

  Lauren stood up. “Who’s coming?”

  “The people in the yard.”

  Sue stood up. “What?”

  Ian bolted to the window. “Damn.”

  “What is it?” asked Sam.

  “The dead.”

  ***

  Sue went to Sarah. “I need you to stay in the room with Mike and Tommy okay? Don’t open the door unless we call for you. Hide under the bed. Do you understand?” Sue ran back in the kitchen and grabbed the butcher knife from Galen’s knife block.

  “What do ya think you’re doing?” said Ian.

  “Dammit, I’m gonna help you. There comes a time when you have to make a stand. I’m sure as hell not gonna let those things get the kids. I’ll die here if I have to. I’m going to protect them.”

  Lauren overturned the table. “Sam, help me get this against the door.” The two women brought the table over to cover the main door. They heard the commotion outside and the groans as the horde reached the door. They pounded hard on it, as well as the main window in the kitchen.

  Sam looked outside and saw them. “They’re everywhere. I count about twenty, I’m not sure.”

  “Shit,” said Lauren.

  Galen’s cabin featured three main bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Through the kitchen was the main living room. It was where he sat during the long winter months with a good drink and a good book. It also featured a nice sliding glass door and a small wooden deck with stairs going down. Galen would often sit out there with neighbors in the summer and have a nice barbecue. Some of the group had been sleeping in the living room, and it was full of sleeping bags and personal belongings. The sliding glass doors were going to serve another purpose now. They doors would provide easy access for the dead into the cabin.

  Ian drew in a deep breath. “Sweet Jesus, the bloody patio doors!”

  There was nowhere they could go to now. The dead had lost most their primary functions, but they still had a sense of smell, and they could smell living fresh. They were drawn to it like a plague of fast-moving locusts. They came around to the back of the house, shuffling their feet. They began to beat on the glass.

  Ian and the rest of them went into the living room. They couldn’t go out the front door, and now the patio door was blocked. They had to clear their way out of the cabin, but it wasn’t clear just how many of them were out there waiting.

  “Lass,” said Ian to Samantha. “Now would be a good time to put that pistol training Trevor taught ya, into good use. They are going to come through that glass. We need to clear a path and try to make it into the yard.”

  “I’m ready,” said Sam. She pulled out the pistol and checked the magazine. “I got four magazines.”

  “Lauren, you and Sue stay behind me, don’t get too close to them,” said Ian. Ian watched as the glass cracked even more under the weight of their blows. The male in front with the torn dress shirt and bloody mouth slammed his fists onto the glass and it shattered inwards. Glass shards pierced his hands, but he shook it off. He staggered forward. His mouth opening and closing. Ian stepped up to him, and with one stroke of his axe, severed the man’s head from his body. The blade sent blood and gore across the living room. “Now, Sam, open fire!”

  Samantha stood there behind Ian and didn’t move. She raised the pistol and took aim. A woman with mud-caked jeans tried to stagger over the grisly remains of the man. Samantha let go a round from the pistol which slammed into her shoulder. She pitched back a bit and tilted her head towards Sam hissing at her. Sam adjusted her aim. Just like Trevor taught you. The head, aim for the head. The second crack from the pistol found its mark and the woman pitched over as the top of her head exploded in a red spray drenching the remaining glass in a slick red. Another one climbed over the corpses and reached out for Ian. Sue stepped up to the thing and drove her butcher knife through the eye socket and pushed hard. The ghoul twitched for a moment before falling backwards into the growing pile of corpses by the smashed patio door. Ian swung his axe sideways and severed another one in half, as the thing toppled over he brought his axe down and took the head off of it. Lauren kicked at one of them and drove her hatchet into its head. The ghoul slumped to the ground. Another one crawled on the ground and reached out for Sam. She fired her pistol into its head, silencing the threat. She dropped the empty magazine and loaded a fresh one.

  “Bloody too many of them,” screamed Ian. He pushed the couch into the group of ghouls that kept coming. “Back up, into the kitchen!”

  “What the hell are we gonna do?” yelled Lauren.

  “Keep backing up,” said Ian. “Towards the kid’s room. Need to get them out of here!”

  They backed up, and Ian kept swinging his axe as Sam fired again into the group of dead now in the cabin. They reached out arms and tried to claw at the survivors in the cabin. Sue screamed as one just missed her. She drove the butcher knife down and slashed the thing’s wrist wide open. It groaned and staggered back a bit. She pushed the butcher knife out and drove it into the forehead.

  “Down the hallway,” Ian said. As the dead followed them, Ian did what he had to do. He opened Gail’s room door. Several dead followed them, but quite a few went into Gail’s room. Lauren closed her eyes for a moment as the woman shrieked. Ian was doing what was necessary to save them, they needed a distraction. Sorry, lass. God forgive me. The room was at the far back of the cabin, so it was away from the main group of dead, they might have just enough time to escape the cabin. They rushed down the hallway with the dead close behind them, hissing and moaning. Ian put his axe sideways and gave them a quick shove backwards. A woman fell over and the dead spent a few seconds climbing over her. Ian pushed Sam into the room, and Lauren was behind Sam. Lauren felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, the dead clawed at her from behind. She turned and drove her hatchet into the ghoul. Ian grabbed her and pushed her into the room before he slammed the door behind her. The dead pounded on it.

  “We need to get the kids out. Sue, check the window. Is it clear out there?”

  “Yes, I don’t see any. Must all be by the patio doors or coming inside.”

  Sue put her arms around the sobbing children. “Be quiet now. We’re going to get you out of here.”

  Chapter 36

  Billy fired his rifle again towards the men hiding by the main group of Hope residents who were scattering all directions. They had already managed to bring down two of the bikers, but incoming four were keeping their heads down.

  “Keep up the fire,” said Galen. “Need to give Trevor and the others time to get to the hotel. They’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Right.” Billy put his head down as a round went off near him. “Shit.”

  “Not all of them are poor shots,” said Galen. “Probably have some police rifles.”

  “Lucky for us. One running for cover, to your left.”

  “I see him,” said Galen. He took aim with his rifle through the scope. Just before the figure got into his crosshairs he fired.

  Billy whooped. “Yeah, that got him!” He put his head down as automatic gunfire came back his way.

  “They must like you. Just hang on, keep up the fire. They don’t know how many of us there are.”

  Billy put a fresh magazine into his rifle as another round impacted behind him “Yeah, let’s hope they don’t find out.”

  ***

  The biker woke up in the hotel in a fog. Like most of his buddies, he had spent the night drinking and womanizing. There were plenty of girls in the town, and Jake had picked out the best ones for them. He shook his head from the hangover of far too many beers. The fuck? Gunfire? More dead out there, must be. Get the guys together, and teach ‘em a lesson. He sat up and pulled on his boots and threw his vest over his stained shirt. He grabbed the pistol on his nightstand and checked the magazine. He staggered over to the doo
r and opened it. As he stepped out of the second floor room, he thought he saw someone moving by the bushes. What the fuck? Before he took another step, he screamed as a firebomb hit the top floor of the hotel right near the biker. The Molotov cocktail erupted into flames, and they tore into the biker. He staggered around screaming for a few moments as the flames consumed him. As rifle fire tore into his body, he pitched forward and went over the railing. His fat, burning body caving in the roof of a small sedan.

  “Let ‘em have it!” screamed Trevor.

  Jason fired his rifle towards the hotel, then hurled a Molotov which exploded near the main entrance.

  Another biker came out of another top floor room brandishing a shotgun. He got off several rounds towards Trevor. A man near him went down in a heap as a shotgun round destroyed his stomach in a spray.

  Erica lined up her rifle and took aim, hitting the biker in the shoulder and middle of the chest. She went over to the man that had fallen and checked his pulse. She then took her knife and drove it into the man’s head to keep him from reanimating.

  Two more bikers ran over form the diner brandishing automatic rifles. They took up positions near a dumpster and opened fire. Bullets landed near Jason, and he dropped back behind the car with Phillip who dove for cover. Another one in their group took a bullet in the leg and went down.

  “Hit ‘em over by that dumpster!” screamed Trevor.

  Steven took off across the street, back from the main group. He worked his way up to another car. He had good line of sight now on one of the bikers, they hadn’t seen him move position He returned fire towards the two bikers by the dumpster. His first shot hit the dumpster, but the second one tore into the leg and side of the first biker who was exposed to him. The man screamed and went down. As the second biker saw his buddy get hit, he panicked and got up and began to run. Trevor moved out and lined him up. The shots took him full in the back, and the biker went down hard. Erica hurled another firebomb towards the hotel. Several bikes exploded as well as the car that was there which send debris in all directions. Two other bikers came out of the diner with their hands over their heads. One of Trevor’s men motioned them to lie down. “Deal with them,” said Trevor to the man. “The rest of you, towards the park!”