Squeezing the hilt tightly in my hand, I moved towards the doors, hoping I wouldn't draw any attention to myself. The pew offered me some space to move around, and there was only one freak left standing at the end. Summoning my courage, I reached out to push it away.
It stumbled and moved without protest. The way before me was clear. Before I lost my nerve, I took short, cautious steps until I was behind the crowd. With only a quick look over my shoulder to make sure all the face-eaters were still focused on Joss, I rushed to the double doors.
Not even bothering to catch my breath, I pressed against the doors and my heart stopped when they didn't budge. I tried again, putting more force behind it but to no avail. The doors had been blocked from the other side. I swallowed down my groan of frustration and refused to give up so quickly. Bending low with my shoulder against the door and my feet planted as firmly against the carpet as I could manage, I pushed.
At first, nothing happened, but as my feet began to slide I was rewarded with a screeching from the other side of the door. As the blockade gave way, the door began to open. Light filtered in through the crack and I had to stop so I could reset my footing.
Movement from the freaks caught my attention. I hadn't gone unnoticed. I saw the red eyes starting to look my way and I quickly redoubled my efforts and shoved against the door. The screech was louder this time, the sound of wood scraping across tile floor, and light burst into the room as the gap widened. Just a little more and I could fit through the tight opening.
One last heave and the door gave way a few more inches. It was enough.
I climbed on top of the barricade, the door trying to push me back as I scrambled through to the other side. I slid over the top of the wooden blockade to land on the floor. The door closed behind me. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling like I hadn't been able to breathe the whole time I was in the chapel. The air was still stale but nothing like the cesspool I'd just escaped.
There was no time to relax. I quickly pulled myself to my feet to look around. A dim light was coming in through the windows and I was able to see the barricade that was blocking the main doors. I was relieved to discover there were no freaks on this side. I pushed the desk back against the chapel doors to make sure it stayed that way.
The next step was dismantling the pile of furniture against the main doors so I could get out easily. There were so many chairs and benches crammed against the door that it had successfully stopped us from coming in from the outside. I only had to remove a few of the chairs before it all fell apart.
As I pulled the big bench away from the door, Joss was already there, eagerly helping me clear the way.
"What the hell was that?" He snapped, stepping through into the room and looking me over.
"Watch your mouth." I frowned even though I was glad he was here.
"I could have sworn they were eating you."
"Shh." I motioned for him to lower his voice. Without having a chance to explore the rest of the building, I didn't want any surprises or unwanted attention. "It wasn't me."
"Then what?" He whispered this time, not letting the subject die. Had he really not seen the same thing I had?
I had started to look around but stopped to face him again. I needed this conversation to end and I ground my teeth together as I hissed the answer. "Each other."
He shuddered as the horror washed through him.
"Come on." My voice lightened and I felt guilty, but only a little. "Let's see what we can find. I hope all this was worth it."
There were only three directions to go, one being the dead-end back to the chapel, which I hoped I would never have to set foot inside of again. Another dead-end that was a door labeled Office Personal Only. We found a couple skeletons in there but not much else. That left the more promising area of the church, the hallway that led down to a few classrooms and the kitchen area.
The first and second classrooms were full of clothes, toys and what appeared to be memorabilia from past lives. When I opened the door to the third classroom, I froze. Before me, laid out across the tables and packed into old plastic storage bins, was the biggest collection of firearms I'd ever stumbled on. It looked like the doomed congregation had swept multiple pawn shops and sporting goods stores to rack up this assortment. Not a lot of good it did them, but at least now it wouldn't be going to waste.
Joss stood behind me, staring in at the jackpot. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he spoke. "Guess it was worth it."
~ ~ ~ ~
Finding the stash of guns wasn’t a solution for the problem. Instead, the Elders fell into more arguments as they stumbled over the plan details. The discussion stretched from one day to the next until finally a week had passed. Joss and I both tried to stay away from it all, scouting the area and making our own preparations, but our hands were tied until we got the cooperation from the Sundown elders.
Being at a standstill, Joss and I made the best of it. He took to driving for most of our supply runs, and I didn't mind letting him get the practice in. The town was able to stockpile a lot of what we brought back on our hauls, and the gun and ammo collection continued to grow.
Joss and I even made it over to the old half-burned storage shed, and we were able to salvage a few of the canned goods, but there wasn't enough left to go around. The town would be living off what we brought in until the next harvest. That would mean eating a lot of noodles and rice, but at least it was plentiful.
One morning, I decided to use the Murano and put our plan to the test. Joss and I had driven through a freak infested neighborhood a good fifteen miles away from the settlement. We had the windows down and the radio up and had no problem catching a trail of face-eaters as we drove through.
Even though it might have been a waste of ammo, we both got some target practice in. There were only a few stragglers left out in the open by the time we were done. I knew we would be dealing with greater numbers when we cleared out the nursing home and adjacent buildings, but I was confident the plan would work.
Finally, another cold snap hit that drove temperatures below freezing one night. Most of the settlement had been able to move into the strip mall, but those that remained in the tents had a few complaints. It was enough to bring the council to an agreement, and Clive finally gave me the go ahead I’d been waiting on.
Sleeping the night before our excursion was hard. The cold didn't bother me but the anxiety ate at my mind. I lay awake in the shed that Joss and I had been camping out in. The hours ticked slowly by.
I went over every step of the plan, again and again, hoping I had everything calculated correctly. I'd been watching the freaks for a long time and thought I understood their behavior, but there could be so many factors that I hadn't taken into consideration.
Time moved at a crawl until I finally drifted into an uneasy sleep sometime in the early morning.
I awoke to Joss slapping me in the face with a towel.
"Really?" I groaned as I snatched it away. I sat up to wipe the sleep out of my eyes.
"You snore." He chuckled as he started pulling on an extra layer of clothes.
"I do not!" Frowning, I subconsciously rubbed my nose. I jerked my hand away as soon as I caught myself. When I looked back to Joss, his mood had sobered somewhat, but I could tell he was excited to get started with the day's events. He obviously wasn't thinking about what could go wrong. I tried to focus on the positive as well and quickly got ready.
I had left the Murano parked outside the tents that night, so we had a short walk in the cool, crisp morning air. It helped to wake me up. The little sleep I did get seemed to be enough. By the time we made it to the camp, I felt refreshed and wide awake.
Carlos and Vanessa were already loading the Murano for the trip, and I could hear Clive arguing with Denise in his little trailer.
"They've been at it all morning." Vanessa's gravelly voice answered my curious look. "She's just scared they're going to overrun the camp."
It was a possibility, I knew,
but Clive and I both had worked on preparations to defend the strip mall if it came down to that. It was unlikely though. The nursing home was at least a mile north of the camp and I would be leading the freaks even further north, but I completely understood her fears.
Carlos, Vanessa, and Wade were ready within the hour. We were accompanied by two other volunteers from the camp, Rose and Mickey, who had jumped at the chance. They were younger, my age, but they promised me they knew how to shoot. We had plenty of guns and ammo to get the job done, and the town would still be well stocked afterwards. It was time to get started.
It was a tight fit in the Murano for everyone. It was only designed to seat five people, but we made due. Rose sat in Mickey's lap while Carlos rode in the cargo hold with the guns. Joss and I had already made sure the roads were clear during the previous week, so the drive was fast and smooth. Being able to get the Murano up to forty miles an hour was a luxury.
We made it to the shopping center without any freaks following. The settlement had done a good job of clearing out all the face-eaters in this area, but there would always be the threat of traveling freaks wandering up unexpectedly. We were all on high alert as we worked out everyone's position and retreat route.
I knew that if everyone stayed quiet and if the wind continued to blow from the south, the freaks wouldn't frenzy. Killing a group of docile freaks would be an easy task.
Fifteen minutes later, all the preparations were set. I walked to the Murano and turned to look up to the roof. Vanessa and Carlos sat to the eastern side and gave me the thumbs up. Rose and Mickey sat on the west side and also gave me the okay. Last, I looked to Wade who was still on the ground in the old garage. In the former days, the garage was a convenience for customers to have their tires rotated and oil changed while they shopped. Now it was my safe point.
Wade had volunteered to be the one to drop the gate after we got the Murano safely inside. His nod indicated he was ready. It was time to go.
"There's no reason why this shouldn't work." Joss said as we started the drive. I realized my frown had prompted his statement. He continued. "You've gone over it a thousand times already. It's simple."
"I know. It's just that..." I trailed off. It was hard to pinpoint why it was bothering me so much. So many different reasons fluttered through my head.
Joss gazed out the window, agitated by my silence. His fingers took up a rhythmic tapping on the door handle. It seems my anxiety was starting to seep into him as well.
I began to ramble. "It just feels like so much is riding on this. What if we miss something, a freak hiding in a closet or someplace and it kills one of the kids... That's going to be on us."
"I won't let that happen." The hardness in Joss's voice surprised me and I looked over at him. His teeth were clenched as he stared straight ahead and his tapping intensified. Then I realized what I had said.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Feeling guilty for digging up memories of Becky, I apologized.
"No." He interrupted me. "You were always careful before. You always protected Seth and me. You told him not to follow you."
There it was. Joss laid bare the real reason that I didn't want this responsibility. The true source of my anxiousness and trepidation. It felt like the wind was knocked out of me. These people knew to trust me here because they knew what I was. If Seth had just trusted me...
I concentrated on my breathing, forcing it slow and even, using it as a distraction so I didn't break down into tears. Both of my hands gripped the steering will so tightly the muscles stood out in my arms. When Joss looked over at me, the rhythmic tapping stopped.
"Hey." He said. His voice was softer now, consoling. "You're not alone in this anymore. We're both going to make sure that settlement is safe."
I nodded my response, unable to find my voice. I couldn't look at him though. I didn't want him to see the tears in my eyes. The boy that had playfully stirred me awake this morning was gone, replaced by the young man that he was growing to be. He may have been trying to comfort me, but he was aiming in the wrong direction. That was fine. I needed the distraction of Seth out of my mind, so I let the conversation end there.
The rest of the way was driven in silence. All too soon, I was backing the Murano up to the front doors of the nursing home. I pulled an old music CD out of the console, one with a track that had a lot of base. I had chosen it specifically for this task as I didn't think it was worth anything else. I rolled down all the windows as Joss went to open the back hatch. The doors were left open so the sound would carry.
Glancing around, there wasn't a freak in sight. Perhaps this task wouldn't be as difficult as I feared.
"Are we ready for this?" I looked to Joss who was staring at the houses across the street. He was bouncing up and down lightly on the balls of his feet, the excitement thrumming through him.
"I'm going to open up some doors over there too. Might as well clear out everything we can." With that, Joss was off, jogging across the street to the small neighborhood. I leaned into the car and pushed the CD into the stereo, cranking up the volume and the bass as far as it could go.
The deafening sound that exploded from the speakers a split second later made me wince as it reverberated through me. It was loud, much louder than our test run. I wondered if the settlement could hear the rhythmic thumping a mile away. I set the stereo to repeat the obnoxious song before I retreated to the nursing home.
As I reached the doors, I noticed how badly I was already shaking. The adrenaline and anxiety was partly to blame for it, but the offensive music that rattled my teeth played no small part either.
I could see the freaks through the windows before I opened the door, already coming to investigate the noise. Our plan was working. I ran through the nursing home as quickly as I could, opening up every door I could find to draw the freaks out. Every one of them was starting to move towards the exit, drawn by the sound of the bass that was so loud it vibrated the pictures that still hung on the walls. They filed towards the front doors, filtering through the rooms and hallways, and then out into the sunlight. Step one complete.
It was nerve-wracking as I walked among them, but I had no other way out. They were ignoring me completely, compelled by their curiosity of the music. I bumped into several as I made my way for the door, pushing and shoving to give myself room, but it seemed like an impossible task. As soon as I was outside, I rushed free of the crowd, only to be assaulted by the booming speakers again. It was so much louder outside, but I didn't dare turn it down since the plan was working.
In fact, I couldn't turn it down if I wanted to. There were already a good number of freaks surrounding the Murano, and some had even crawled into the cargo hold. They stared with their vacant, red eyes, not able to comprehend this new beast in front of them. It was an odd site as most of them were still wearing their hospital gowns or bath robes. I was beginning to think that leaving the doors open had been a bad idea.
Then something I never would have expected happened. One of the freaks standing next to the driver's side door hissed loudly and slapped the speaker. I gasped as a chill crawled up my spine, unable to process what I was watching. A second freak began to claw at the door while a third started slapping the hood. They were angry.
Aside from the freak that had charged me in that old blue house back in Dallas, this was the first show of hostility I had ever seen from a freak that wasn't directed at someone uninfected. My heart began thundering in my chest and the visions of a plan gone wrong begin to assail my thoughts.
"Joss!" I screamed, but there was no way he could hear me. I scanned the line of houses for him, seeing several of the front doors standing open and freaks emerging from the neighborhood to come join the party, but there was no sign of Joss. From behind me, another freak launched an attack on the Murano.
"Joss!" I began running towards the houses when he finally appeared from a doorway. By the look on his face, he hadn't noticed the ensuing riot until he saw me coming at him. His eyes w
ent wide when he saw the small horde of freaks assaulting the Murano. He didn't hesitate. He broke into a sprint towards me.
By this time, some freaks had noticed me, but I didn't hold their interest for long. The beats of the song demanded their attention. I turned back to the brewing chaos. The freaks were growing in number, and the Murano was rocking back and forth as more piled on. There was even one gnawing on my side mirror, causing the base to buckle under the pressure.
I swallowed down the panic, my thoughts racing through the steps on what I needed to do to salvage the situation. I decided burying a few bodies wouldn't be that bad and pulled my knife.
I was closer to the passenger side door as I ran the few paces back to the pissed off crowd. Committing myself to my course, I grabbed the first freak I came to without hesitation. Driving my blade into the back of its neck, I did my best to immobilize it as quickly as possible. Throwing it to the side, it stumbled to the ground and was slow to rise again. It seemed confused, but I couldn't afford to let my attention linger long enough to see if it would stay down or not.
I moved on to the next, attacking in the same way. This one's knees buckled beneath it, and it went to the ground hard before I could toss it away. As I moved to the third, Joss came up beside me, weaponless, but he didn't let that slow him. He began grabbing freaks and throwing them to the side with enough force to momentarily disorient them. In mere seconds, we had cleared a path. Joss scrambled into the cab, hitting the power on the stereo.
In an instant, everything stopped. As the annoying, thunderous beat died, all the freaks simultaneously halted their attack. They seemed confused. The one that had been gnawing on my mirror pulled away, leaving a line of drool in its wake.
"Get in." Joss hissed as he climbed to the driver's side. I quickly pushed the freaks out of my way as I dove in, able to shut the door behind me. Joss was fighting his own battle on the other side and had to work to get the driver's side door closed.
"Switch seats." I said, wiping my bloody blade off on my jeans before I sheathed it. Joss turned a grin to me and shifted the Murano into drive. He then hit the power on the radio and punched the gas.
The Phoenix Curse (Book 2): After Page 5