by Maxey, Phil
“And you are?”
The woman sat heavily on a sofa which existed within a mess of half opened crates of food and camping equipment.
“I’m Jess, this is my husband Landon, and a friend of ours, Lachlan. I’m sorry about your friend.”
“We were heading back,” said the woman. She pulled off her beanie. “Saw the lights. Thought we’d get rid of them, but… It came out of nowhere…” She let out a breath, shaking her head.
“What’s your names?” said Jess.
The man slid his hand over his stubbly chin. “You can call me Sanchez.” He nodded towards the woman. “Esther…” Jess had her hand on her temple. “You got a headache? Or something.”
Jess looked at Landon then back to the man. “There are more of the thing’s coming.”
Sanchez looked confused. “And you know that, how?”
“I saw them when I ran into the building. They’re coming this way.”
“We can stay and fight them with you, or we can leave,” said Landon. “You’re choice.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
3: 13 a.m. Hillbirch, Kansas.
Jess stood next to Landon on the roof of the superstore. He looked up at the monotone dark gray of the sky above. At the edge of the parking lot, a few hundred yards back, things were moving, shifting, flittering about.
“Why ain’t they attacking?” said Sanchez.
Landon looked back down to what the man next to him was seeing through binoculars. “Waiting for more to get here.”
Sanchez looked at him and scoffed, then looked back into the darkness. “They ain’t that smart.” He picked up a rifle. “I’m going to check the other side.”
Jess waited for him to be out of range. “We can’t stay here.”
“They got a weapons lockup downstairs. Should be what we need in there. He’s probably got the key.”
“I can take him.”
Landon looked at his wife. “There is another way.”
“Like what. We don’t have the time. Sam’s…” She swallowed her frustration. “Every minute—”
“I know! But if things go sideways, we might end up in a worse situation. Let me talk to him.”
“Why would he help us?”
“Just let me talk to him.”
She sighed.
Landon turned and walked across the ice encrusted roof to the wall on the opposite side. “What’s it like over here?”
“Same,” grumbled Sanchez.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
Sanchez glanced at the man by his side. “Go on…”
“We can’t stay.”
“You said—”
“I know what I said. And we will help you get out of this town, if you come with us. But we can’t stay.”
Sanchez let out a breath. “Why am I not surprised. Thanks, but no thanks. We got everything we need right below us.”
“Look out there. You think those things won’t try and get in here?”
Sanchez slowly turned to Landon. “Why you gotta leave?”
Landon let out a breath, briefly looking away. “Someones taken my daughter. We’re going to get her back.”
“Your daughter’s been kidnaped? In the middle of the end of the world, someone’s gone to the trouble to kidnap your kid?”
“Crazys are still crazy…”
Sanchez frowned, looking back to the distant roars accumulating at the edge of the field which bordered the northern side of the property.
“I need a favor…”
“Yup.”
“You got a gun store down—”
“Ha, yeah wondered when that would come up. Don’t tell me, you want some guns and ammo.”
“That would be a big help.”
“Well, Mr…”
“Keller.”
“Keller, you are shit outta luck. That store was looted by time we got here. The pistol you see on my belt, Ether’s Glock and Herb’s shotgun which is now somewhere on the intersection, all came with us.”
Landon fell back against the wall. “That was the only reason we came into this town…”
“So what you’re saying is Herb died for nothing.”
Anger flashed through Landon. “Good luck with holding onto this place when the things decide they want in.” He started to walk away.
“But…” Landon stopped and turned around. “I know where there are guns and ammo. It’s just the three of us couldn’t get in there.”
“Close by?”
“Northwest of here. A warehouse near the highway. Got all you could need and more. A regular bonanza.”
Landon stiffened his back. “And if we help you get in to it, we can take what we want, agreed?”
Sanchez turned to him with a smile. “Agreed.”
*****
3: 47 a.m. Hillbirch, Kansas.
“Say hello to Bertha.”
Landon shone a flashlight across the front grill of a red semi-truck, which was adorned with rusting pieces of spiked metal. They also continued along the side. The cab and the trailer were sat on a slope. An offloading area in front of a closed, huge metal shutter. The gateway to the outside.
“I was hoping to do more work on her before we took her out. But time waits for no man.” He walked around the side with his own light. “She’s fully fueled and has enough supplies in the back for months.”
“I thought you wanted to stay here?”
“Bertha was our backup plan if things went south…” He briefly frowned. “It looks like that’s what’s happened.”
The metal door rattled, drawing the attention of both men.
“There’s nothing out there,” said Jess walking from the nearby corridor. “The things are further away still. Heard you both talking.” She looked up at the truck. “This thing ready to go?”
“It is, and I want to be clear on who it belongs—”
Jess, to his and Landon’s surprise, jumped up on the side and pulled the door open. “Yeah yeah, it’s your toy we get it.” She looked back down. “And there are guns and ammo at this other place?”
“There are.”
“What did you do? Before everything went to shit?” said Landon.
“Import, exports. You?”
“Arrested people who did import, exports.”
Both men smiled.
Jess jumped down. “We’re going to be counting on you smashing a way through when we get outside.”
Sanchez laid a finger on a particularly sharp spike. “Been looking forward to the day when I can let Bertha be free.”
Jess walked past him, towards the corridor. “Right.”
Thirty yards away, Lachlan was stuffing candy, soda and beer into a backpack he had found.
“Ain’t you a little young for that shit?” said Esther.
“It’s the end of the world. What do you care?”
She walked over, pulling out the glass bottles and walked back to her own backpack, placing them inside.
He continued placing more things in his own pack. “I’m sorry about that guy… Herb.”
She pulled down and tightened the flap of her pack. “Me too.”
Jess, Landon and Sanchez appeared from the gloom.
“You ready?” Sanchez said to Esther.
“Yup.” She looked around the towering shelves, then walked back the way the others had just come from.
Landon looked at Sanchez. “When you’re outside, hit that horn and we’ll be right behind.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
4: 00 a.m.
Jess nodded to Landon, with Lachlan behind him then pushed open the side door. She was sure the screeches and roars increased the moment she emerged into the night air, but the buzzing in her head was too loud for her to know. They ran to the pickup, jumping in, closing doors and she fired up the engine, immediately pulling away, down the side of the block-like building. She glanced out into the darkness, then checked the view in the mirrors. “Are they coming?”
“Yes!�
�� shouted Lachlan from the back.
A horn boomed out as they made a sharp turn at the corner of the building, the trailer’s lights piercing the darkness ahead of them. Jess accelerated. They were soon just a few yards behind the truck as it took a sudden left turn, bumping up a snow-covered incline then smashed through a wooden fence, the pickup following.
The truck bumped up and down then landed on a wide four-lane road, immediately swerving around another abandoned truck, Jess doing the same behind.
“They’re almost on us!” shouted Landon, looking across his wife, through her window to a sea of movement.
The truck’s horn echoed amongst the streets once again and then took a right, back into the town.
“Where’s he going?” said Jess, following, but then saw the reason that Bertha slowed then stopped. Esther jumped out, grabbing the shotgun on the ground in the middle of the intersection, then climbed back up.
“Come on!” shouted Jess, her fingers tapping the steering wheel.
“Oh shit… oh shit,” said Lachlan, looking out of the rear window.
Jess flicked her eyes to the side mirror and saw the bounding mass of dark gray about to slam into the rear of the pickup. She hit the gas, accelerating then steered around the slower moving truck. She had a vague recollection of where Sanchez said they needed to go. She looked in the rear mirror, the street, a hundred yards back was a frenzy of movement, dismantling everything it touched. Cars crumpled, lighting poles toppled as the horde… Rackham’s horde, fought to put an end to her. The truck was just behind and she caught his indicator lights flash. She swung a left at an intersection, the truck doing the same and continued at speed along the buildings bordering the road, now single-story homes.
“I think we’re pulling away from the things,” said Lachlan.
The slightly quieter ringing in Jess’s mind confirmed it, but they were out there, still trying to get to her.
The truck’s horn rang out again together with its lights flashing. She took a left and noticed the vehicle behind slowing. “I think we’re here,” she said. The truck stopped, she doing the same with the pickup and they all looked out of the right window to the warehouses just visible in the light from the vehicles.
A figure with a flashlight appeared to her left. She pushed open her door. “This is the place.” Sanchez handed her the shotgun. “If we come at it from different sides, he won’t be able to shoot us!” He ran off towards the building.
“Wait, what?” said Jess after him but he was already being absorbed by the darkness. She whipped around to her husband. “Someone’s in that building?”
Landon’s mouth fell open in anger.
“Should we just go?”
He shook his head, letting out a breath. “We need those—”
A popping sound echoed around the street, then another.
“Shit,” said Landon, pushing his door open. “Stay here!” he said to the teen in the back then jumped out, immediately crouching, Jess doing the same, running around the front and joining him. They both ran forward, past the open metal gate and down the snow-covered path.
“How long we got until they catch up with us,” said Landon.
“Minutes at most,” said Jess. “Here, I don’t need it.” She handed him the gun.
They crouched behind the shell of an old pickup, seeing Sanchez behind a more complete vehicle ten or so yards away. He pointed around the side of the warehouse, then stood and ran in that direction, disappearing around the corner.
Landon awkwardly checked the shotgun was fully loaded then looked back to the light seeping from beneath a metal shutter. He shook his head. He needed what was on the other side, but he wasn’t about to kill an innocent man for it. He stood then walked towards the building.
“What are you doing!” whispered Jess.
Landon ignored her and kept going, his boots crunching the newly laid snow. He placed his gun down on the soft, cold surface and held his hand up. “We’re not here to cause you any trouble. I was told there are—” The shutter rattled making him flinch. “Told there are guns and ammo here. I need some. Somebody has taken my…” Out of the corner of his eye there was moment in the shadows, a blur which merged with the void beyond what he could see. He thought about picking the gun back up. If it was a creature he would be dead soon enough without a weapon, maybe even with, but if he did pick up the gun then whoever was behind the shutter would probably—
A boom shook the frozen air followed by a groan. Landon ducked instinctively then grabbed the gun from the ground. The metal door started to slowly rise, light streaming out. Jess ducked underneath, waving him forward. “Come on. He’s got everything we need.”
He stumbled forward. “What… what did you do?”
The answer though became obvious. He sighed in relief on seeing an elderly man still alive, but holding the side of his head. He was sitting on the floor in front of row after row of metal shelving, a prepper’s dream.
Jess stood over him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to attack you. But I had no choice… Where’s the guns?”
The old man frowned. “At the back.”
She looked at Landon. “They’re just streets away.” She turned and ran down the aisle.
Sanchez appeared around the side of the building with an open mouth, which became a smile.
“You!” said the old man.
“Told you we’d be back,” said Sanchez.
Landon ran forward, following his wife. “Argue about this later, the things are about to be here!”
The old man struggled to his feet. “You brought them here? To my place?” he shouted at the others.
Landon was already scouring the shelves of weapons, Sanchez doing the same. “This stuff isn’t exactly standard issue,” he said, picking up a heavy assault rifle.
“Fred, back there is a gunrunner. We asked him for help, but we always got shot at for our—”
A screech rang out which sounded as if it was just outside.
Jess appeared around the corner, pushing an old shopping cart full of ammo boxes and weapons, balanced on top were flak jackets and radios. Without pause she ran past them, skidding around the corner and kept on going. “We have to go!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Landon and Sanchez, both with weapons slung over their shoulders and in their arms followed as Jess shoved the cart through the open door, down the slope and along the path.
Ester was waving them forward, while anxiously looking to the sky. “Quickly!”
Jess tossed a radio to her while in one movement lifted the cart and toppling its content into the bed at the back of the pickup, then ran around the side and jumped in the driver’s seat. The two men split up, going to their prospective vehicles. Sanchez climbing up into the driver’s seat, Landon the passenger’s.
“Go!” he shouted.
Jess floored it, the pickup lurching forward, wheels spinning as she spotted movement in the rear mirror. A screech accompanied a blur which flew across the windshield. “Come on!” she shouted at the pickup, rocking in her seat. The truck thundered past while she pumped the gas and finally the pickup surged forward quickly catching up.
“We made it!” shouted Lachlan, looking out the back window.
Static then a voice came from Jess’s radio. “Where we heading? Over,” said Sanchez.
She and Landon looked at each other, surprised. She handed the radio to him.
“We’re heading west, probably to Denver… Over.”
“Good. Always wanted to visit.”
Continued in book five.
BOOK FIVE
CHAPTER ONE
4: 11 a.m, December 19th. Eastern Kansas. Highway 70.
Day 5.
“Seven.”
Sam resisted looking at the woman driving. Her body and mind were exhausted but she knew sleep would mean death so instead she looked through the watery blurs to the darkness beyond. Her parents would be following and sooner or later they would catch up. They might not
know what Joan was, so she needed to be ready.
“Seven!” Joan repeated. “That’s how many there were at the start… er… Start… yes, two… three… months… anyway, they were good people. Harrison, Stone, Fletcher, Reynolds… Finn…” she let out a breath. “Finn killed a family of five up in Maine before we took him down…” She glanced at Sam. “You see, it… it turns your emotions up to eleven or something… makes you rage and when you combine that with the strength… well, anyway, they were all good marines… but…” She glanced at Sam again. “But it wasn’t ready… the compound… although they said it would make us stronger and better… We… we were the first… the seven… now… only one…”
This time Sam dared to look at Joan and saw the older woman’s eyes looking far beyond the highway. Lost in fantasies or painful memories? She didn’t care.
Joan shook her head then turned and smiled at her passenger. “Better not to talk about the past. Bad things lurk there. The future… yes, better for all of us. You wait. He will make it better for all of us.”
“Is… he like you?”
Joan scoffed. “Lucas? Oh, hell no. He’s…” She looked at Sam. “You mean can he change like me or is he in the military? Well, he’s neither. You can also add to that, a bad son… Like really bad. He hated papa dearest. Anyway, the Pentagon came to Biochron. Wanted them to pickup where your grandfather—”
A stabbing pain shot through Sam’s head. She didn’t want to listen to the crazy old lady. Joan’s words were actually beginning to hurt Sam’s brain. But why was she bringing up her grandfather?
“— Left off in the late 80s or something. I dont know the history, but point is old man Winters told them to take a long walk off a short plank if you know what I mean. ‘Biochron was created for the medical good of humanity! Not for war,’ I think he said to the general. But junior got wind of what the higher-ups wanted and brought in someone who used to work with your grandfather, a crazy but brilliant old coot called Charles Rackham. Together they convinced Winters senior to get onboard, something about curing diseases and all that. Which—” She looked at Sam again. “It does do you know? Now you’re like me, you won’t get ill… but… anyway. No one really knew how crazy Rackham was. Denver was just meant to be a field trial, a test on the local population. Really low dose. Shouldn’t have had any affect whatsoever other than cured anyone who had a bit of a cold, but… well… turns out Rackham changed things up. Changed the compound and released it everywhere… and I mean… everywhere, even overseas. Still not sure how he managed that. Lucas said he used Biochron’s other offices around the—”