* * *
Price entered Meat’s quarters, hoping to find Windows and the girl. Instead, he found Meat lying in a near fetal position on the floor in a pool of blood, naked from the waist down, groaning and holding his groin. When Price walked over, he saw the blood-stained belt tossed to one side and the severed testicle sitting on the cement. He surmised what must have taken place. Price hovered over Meat.
“What happened?” he asked in a voice devoid of sympathy.
Meat rolled onto his back. Fear and relief filled his eyes on seeing Price standing above him. “The cunt attacked me. She took that bitch kid and left me here.”
“Where did they go?”
“Ya gotta help me, boss.”
“Where did they go?” Price asked, this time emphasizing each word.
Meat removed his hands and pointed to his groin. “I’m hurt bad,” he whined.
Price placed the toe of his boot against the wound and pressed. Meat screamed and tried to roll away. Price held him in place with his foot.
“I’m not going to ask again. Where did the bitch go?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.” Meat’s voice trailed off into a muffled sob.
Price removed his foot and wiped the sole on the man’s pants. Meat reached a hand up to him. “Ain’t ya going to help me?”
Price turned and made his way to the door.
“Boss! Please!”
Ignoring the pitiful calls for help, Price stepped into the compound. Meat had created his own hell, and now he could spend the rest of his life in it. Price didn’t have time to help those who wallowed in sin. He had to find Windows and that bitch kid, and he had a good idea where they went. Now he could kill two birds with one stone.
Price made his way to the far corner of the compound.
* * *
Windows hurried Cindy between the buildings. Every time the girl asked a question, Windows would hush her, partly to keep her quiet, and partly because she needed to concentrate on making certain no one noticed them. The commotion by the main gate made that easy because it kept the camp preoccupied, and she prayed it stayed that way. If Price ever caught them trying to escape… well, she didn’t even want to think about that.
They finally reached the kitchen. Windows took one last look around and, certain no one saw them, raised the sliding door halfway up. She ushered Cindy inside and reclosed it. It took her a few minutes of fumbling around in the dark to find the lantern and light it.
“Did I do something wrong?” Cindy asked. “Why don’t you want me to talk to you?”
“Honey, you did nothing wrong.” Windows hugged Cindy, wrapping her arms around the girl and cradling her head. “We just have to make sure no one sees us or knows what we’re doing.”
“What are we doing?”
“We’re getting out of here.”
Cindy broke the hug. Windows saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “You mean forever?”
“Yes.”
“And I won’t have to watch them hurt you anymore?”
Windows nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be quiet.”
“Good girl.” Windows rubbed Cindy’s cheek. “Stay here.”
Crossing over to the empty pallets that once held the compound’s food supplies, Windows removed the wire cutters she had hidden there and slipped them into her back pocket. She stepped over to the fifty-five gallon drum and tipped it onto its side, being careful not to drop it, and rolled it over to the sliding door.
“Okay, Cindy. We’re going to roll this over to the wall and use it to climb over the top. Are you up for that?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now stay quiet and do as I tell you, and we’ll be fine. Can you do that for me?”
Cindy nodded.
Windows extinguished the lantern and raised the door. The gun battle still raged near the main gate. She rolled the barrel out and steered it toward the end of the building.
* * *
Robson made his way down the row of storage units, checking each one and finding them empty except for scattered personal belongings. He marked each one with a chalked X by the door. When he lifted the sliding door to the sixth unit, a female voice asked from inside, “Kyle, is that you?”
“I’m not Kyle.” Robson scanned the room with the barrel-mounted flashlight until the beam fell on two women huddled in the rear corner. One had long red hair, the other close-cropped blonde hair. Their clothes were threadbare and, like the women themselves, filthy. Both looked emaciated and terrified, especially when they saw Robson’s face in the backwash from the flashlight and realized they didn’t know him. They wrapped their arms around each other. The redhead begged, “Don’t hurt us!”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Robson shifted the barrel of the AA-12 away from the women, but still kept them in the beam of light. “We’re getting you out of here.”
The blonde perked up. “Really?”
“Yes.” Robson moved forward, stopping ten feet away so as not to pose a threat. “What are your names?”
“I’m Michelle,” the blonde answered and pointed to the redhead. “This is Kay.”
“My name is Mike. Now I need you to do me a favor. Close this door behind me—”
“No!” Michelle broke away from the other woman and crawled toward him. “You can’t leave us! What if Kyle comes back?”
Robson held up his hand to calm down and reassure Michelle. “Do you hear that gunfire? We’re taking care of the gang members, so I promise, Kyle is not coming back. I need you to close this door because there are rotters on the compound. You’ll be safe here until someone comes and gets you.”
“You can’t leave us!” begged Kay.
“Are there others like you on the compound?”
Both women nodded.
“Then I have to check on them and make sure they’re safe. I’ll come back for you. Right now I need you to close the door and don’t open it for anyone except me. Understand?”
They both stared at him blankly.
“Ladies, do you understand?”
“Y-yes,” Michelle stammered.
“I’ll return in a few minutes.” Robson made his way to the door and looked out, checking the compound for signs of gang members or rotters. When he turned, neither woman had moved. “Close this behind me.”
Michelle jumped up and ran over. Robson stepped out and waited until she slid the door shut. She stopped halfway, her eyes pleading. “Please come back for us.”
“I will.”
After Michelle closed the door, Robson used the chalk to mark the cement with an X and the number “2” beside it. He moved on to the next storage unit.
* * *
Earl moved so fast Tracey could not keep up, so he practically dragged her through the compound. She had complained once or twice, and each time Earl clutched her hair tighter and jerked her head to one side to shut her up. Now she kept quiet and endured the lesser of the two pains. Jake followed ten feet behind them, walking backwards and facing the battle zone to make sure no one pursued them. The trio made their way to the opposite wall of the compound, turned left, and after a minute arrived at the parking area.
Earl walked down the line of vehicles, checking the steering columns of each one until he found an SUV with the keys in the ignition. Even better luck, this one held enough food and ammunition to keep them supplied for a while. Stepping toward the rear fender, he opened the back door and shoved Tracey toward the vehicle.
“Get in, bitch.”
“Please,” Tracey pleaded, “leave me here.”
“Get in the fucking car.”
When she hesitated, Earl grabbed her by the throat, pushed her into the backseat, and slammed the door. Tracey’s leg was not all the way in and the door closed on her shin. Earl opened it, grabbed her leg, and shoved it inside. She lay on the back seat, wailing. He slammed the door shut again and spun around to face Jake.
“Go move the school bus so we can get out of here.”
Jake shook his head. “No fucking way, man. That thing is full of deaders.”
“Move it or I leave you behind.”
It took a moment for Jake to realize Earl was serious. Rushing across the parking lot, he climbed up into the bus, checking the back to make sure no deaders remained inside, and slid into the driver’s seat. The engine was still running, so he shifted into reverse.
As Jake cleared the entranceway, Earl crawled into the driver’s seat of the SUV, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking space.
* * *
Dravko and Tibor had released close to twenty prisoners and made their way down the western side of the Line when Tibor heard the school bus shift into gear and its engine rev. He stood up, the chains of another prisoner clutched in his hands.
The human stared at him. “What’s wr—?”
“Shh!” Tibor silenced him and called over to Dravko. “Do you hear that?”
“Yeah.”
“Something’s not right. Moving the bus is not part of the plan.”
“Let’s check it out.”
Tibor rushed away, and everyone on that segment of the Line who had not been freed shouted for them not to go. When Dravko stood, the middle-aged man who he was attempting to release grabbed his arm and clutched it tight. “Don’t leave me here. I can’t take it any longer.”
Dravko patted the man’s hand. “We’ll be back in a minute.”
The man held Dravko’s arm for another few seconds before letting go. Dravko set off after Tibor and caught up with him at the corner of the wall. Someone had moved the bus fifty feet from the main gate and backed it between the compound wall and the perimeter fence. “What’s going on?”
“Someone moved the bus, but it’s not one of our people.”
“Why would they do that?”
“I think they’re trying to escape.” Tibor pointed to the gate. An SUV exited the compound and stopped. A person in a Harley Davidson leather vest ran off the school bus and over to the passenger side of the SUV. Tibor glanced over at Dravko. “Should we stop them?”
“Yes.”
“And feed?”
Dravko hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”
The two vampires rushed the SUV and caught up with it as it passed through the outer gate and turned onto Parade Road. They morphed into their vampiric forms and jumped onto the vehicle’s roof, with Tibor landing on the passenger’s side and Dravko above the driver.
* * *
“We made it.” Earl high-fived Jake as they sped away from the compound, only to have the elation drain away when something heavy dropped onto the roof.
“What the fuck is that?” Jake asked.
Three-inch-long talons penetrated the metal above his head. Jake froze, watching in horror as the vampire tore back the front section of roof and hovered over the opening, glaring down at them. It had elongated ears, a furrowed forehead, and a flared nose. Tracey screamed and tried to push herself into the corner of the backseat, ignoring the throbbing in her leg. The vampire snarled at Jake, exposing a mouth full of fangs. Reaching in, it yanked Jake to his feet, plunged its fangs into his neck, and began to drink. Jake whimpered and his body shuddered. After a few seconds, the vampire lifted Jake out of the compartment and tossed him aside, the body disappearing into the dark along the side of the road. The vampire snarled at Earl.
Earl whipped the steering wheel to the right and back again. The vampire lost its balance and tumbled off the roof on the passenger side. It reached out at the last second and grasped the SUV’s roof rack, trying to regain its footing. Earl swerved right, aiming for the trees along the side of the road, hoping to rip the son of a bitch off the roof.
A taloned hand smashed through the driver’s side window. Earl waited for the vampire to claw at him. Instead, it grabbed the steering wheel and pulled. The SUV made a sharp left turn toward the woods. Earl stiffened his arms against the steering wheel as they crashed into a tree head on. He experienced an incredible bolt of pain as his arms snapped and his chest smashed into the steering column, and then everything went black.
* * *
Dravko pulled the mangled body from the driver’s seat and threw it onto the grass. Blood poured from the twin compound fractures in the arms, draining away precious life fluid. Desperate for a meal, he dug his talons into the human’s chest and ripped open the ribcage, revealing its heart. He had not tasted human blood in weeks, ever since he had turned Dr. Compton. Bending over, he plunged his fangs into the meat and drank, savoring the taste. Terror sweetened human blood, the adrenaline adding a special flavor. Because this human had already lost so much due to the accident, he faded quickly. Dravko sucked as the heart slowed and finally stopped beating. Rising to his knees, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and licked the last few drops from his fingers. This one body barely satisfied his hunger. How he missed preying on humans.
Dravko heard a noise from the rear of the SUV. Tibor crouched in the back on top of a young woman. He had her pinned to the seat, his knees resting on her pelvis and his hands holding her arms by her side. She didn’t struggle, probably from being stunned from the accident, although she did quietly plead for Tibor to leave her alone. He ignored the woman and drained her blood from her carotid artery. Dravko had to stop him. After all, this woman did not belong to the gang. The vampires had to rise above their instincts if they wanted to live among humans. He moved around to the other side of the SUV and opened the rear passenger door. He reached in, and for the first time he noticed the woman’s injuries. The right front of her face was a bloody pulp from where she had smashed it against the window during the accident, and her collar bone protruded from her shoulder. She would die soon, so why let good blood go to waste?
Leaning in, Dravko sank his teeth into the other side of the woman’s neck and fed.
* * *
DeWitt and Roberta also heard the commotion by the main gate. Someone backed the school bus into the perimeter zone and then jumped into an SUV that raced off down Parade Road, with the vampires in pursuit.
DeWitt stood up and headed toward the gate.
“Where are we going?” Roberta asked.
“To make sure no one else escapes.”
* * *
The battle between the rotters and gang members intensified, and it slowly became apparent the humans were not going to win.
They maintained a steady barrage against the living dead, taking several down, but their numbers were too great. They also had to contend with Simmons in the hill above them, who had thinned out their own ranks by seven. Several attempted to retreat to the opposite end of the compound. Simmons took down each one who tried. He allowed Karen to escape when she broke away and ran for safety. One of the gang members went after her, making it only ten feet before Simmons put a bullet through the side of his head. A few tried to cut between the two buildings and escape to the rear wall of the compound. By then, Robson had reached the end of the first row of storage units and positioned himself at the corner, shooting anyone who tried to get by him. With the only avenues of escape closed off and the rotters closing in, the gang members fell back to the rape room. Even here they could not find safety because Simmons shot anyone who tried to close the door.
Simmons ceased sniping when the first deader wandered inside, though he continued to watch through his scope. The gang members blew it apart as it sauntered through the open door. The gunfire attracted more of the horde. In less than a minute, fifteen deaders had swarmed the room. The intensity of the gunfire increased, followed by screams of terror and pain as the rotters overwhelmed them. Simmons could not see inside because of the angle, although he could imagine what was going on by the silence, and wished he could watch those assholes suffer.
A score of deaders ignored the rape room entirely. Some passed it and shambled among the perimeter wall, while most turned left between the two buildings and wandered into the compound.
Simmons switched his mission from neutralizing ga
ng members to protecting his people. Moving his scope away from the rape room, he scanned the area for Robson and the others.
* * *
Making his way along the middle left row of storage units, Caslow fought back the panic threatening to overwhelm him. He didn’t know what scared him more—the sound of the gun battle raging on the other side of the building, or the fact the firing had become less intense, which meant that either the gang members or the rotters had been wiped out, and whichever side had won would soon be roaming the compound. Instead, he tried to focus on finding Debra and Cindy. At each unit, he paused for several seconds to summon up his courage before raising the sliding door. It had taken him five minutes to check out only three of them. At this rate, he would never find his family. He could not move any faster, being paralyzed by fear.
Caslow raised the door to the fourth unit and swung his flashlight from one wall to the other. This time he almost pissed himself when he saw movement in the corner. He raised his Heckler and Koch 223 to confront the threat, and in the process dropped the flashlight. It rolled one hundred eighty degrees, directing the beam behind him. He held the weapon in the direction of where he had noticed the movement, his aim unsteady.
“W-who the fuck is there?” he asked.
“Don’t shoot,” said a female voice. It did not belong to Debra or Cindy. She sounded more scared then him, if that was possible. He relaxed a little. Keeping the semi-automatic trained in the direction of the voice, he bent down, picked up the flashlight, and shined it in the corner. A filthy, sickly woman sat with her back to the wall, clutching a soiled blanket against her chest. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what she had gone through.
“I’m not one of them,” she said. “My name is Patty.”
“I won’t hurt you.” Caslow stepped a few feet closer. “I’m looking for Debra.”
“You mean the woman with the little girl?”
Rotter World (Book 2): Rotter Nation Page 27