by Maxey, Phil
He left the highway and was soon driving through neighborhoods. Schools, homes, an occasional plaza of shops passed by. He had no idea where he was, but that was okay. What did it matter at the end of the world, where you ended up? He slowed, scanning the larger of the homes, the ones that sat behind the gates and long drives. The ones that would have the expensive bed sheets and maybe even their own renewable energy sources. It had always been a plan of his that once he earned enough to get a place, he would try to live off the grid.
Dark panels glistened in the headlights aloft a roof hidden behind trees. Solar power no doubt. He would need…
He almost missed the dark shape, sat on top of the office building. A week earlier he would have dismissed the triangular object as a trick of the light or at best some kind of communications tower. But this awkward mass was morphing, extending then retracting.
In the moment it took for his mind to search for the word ‘wings’ the creature took to the air and instantly merged with the darkness above.
Despite the almost zero temperature in the car, he immediately became aware of sweat across his back. He hit the brakes, rapidly slowing to a stop while urgently scanning the nearby gloom. “They’re here…”
*****
10: 22 p.m. Newgrove
Flashlights bobbed and swept across a hundred yards of train. Further down the tracks the heavy diesel engine of the locomotive revved then settled to a constant hum. A just visible man leaned out from his cabin giving a wave with a lantern to those that had accumulated further back in the center of town.
Landon bent down to pick up a heavy backpack, his hand shouting at him in pain but before he fully grasped it Sam got there first and threw it over her shoulder as if it was nothing. He smiled, but noticed she was looking over his shoulder. He turned and frowned. He was hoping to avoid the doctor before they left.
“Mr. Keller,” said doc Barker, looking as equally prepared to leave with his own pack over one shoulder.
Landon glanced at his daughter. “I got this.” A bark came from Donnie inside the truck while others boarded the boxcars. “Get in the trailer, I’ll join you soon.” She looked as if she should wait, but then nodded and left. He turned back to the doctor. “I know—”
Barker was already kneeled, holding the former detective’s hand by its blackened wrist, examining it. “You didn’t know I was already looking at it. You can’t feel a thing, can you?” said the doctor, not looking up.
“We got to go!” shouted Jess from the open trailer door, twenty-feet away, beckoning at her husband.
Landon pulled his hand free, wincing with the effort.
Barker stood. “The infection is spreading. Soon it will be the entire arm that will have to be taken. That’s if it doesn’t get to your heart and kill you first.”
Landon smiled. “You’re full of good news aren’t you.”
“Did you get those pills I prescribed for you?” Before Landon could reply in the negative a small cardboard box was pushed into his good hand. “I’ve written on the outside how many and how often.” The doctor’s expression then darkened. “Those pills only help with the pain. If you are not operated on within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, you’ll be dead soon after.” He started to walk across the sidewalk towards the boxcars. “I hope for your sake we meet again soon, so I can do what needs to be done.”
Landon let out a sigh as a hand lightly touched his shoulder. He turned around to face Brad. The young medic threw his arms around him, being careful to stay away from his left side then pulled back. Three sets of much smaller arms then repeated the same with Syd and Donnie patiently sitting on the concrete. Landon looked down to Agatha, Toby and Helen. “Stay with Brad. Do what he tells you.”
Agatha rolled her eyes. “Yes, we know!”
Landon smiled then looked at the adult while Tracey walked past, her own pack over one shoulder and nodded then kept on going, following the doctor. “We should make Dallas by daylight,” said Landon to Brad. “Before you.”
Helen was crying. He kneeled, hiding his discomfort and tweaked her nose. “Hey, no need for that. We just have to go get Josh and—”
“But the monsters have him.”
“No, that’s not true. He’s just lost but we know where he is. We’ll find him. Meanwhile, you’ll be safe with Brad and the people on the train. It’s going to take you all the way to a safe city, where there will be others. No more monsters for you.” She nodded as he stood.
“Come on, kids, we got a train to catch,” said Brad and hurried them and the animals towards the last of the boxcars, helping them onboard.
Landon watched the train and four boxcars full of the remaining townspeople slowly start to move off. Owen appeared in the open doorway of the second to last, waving.
“See you in Dallas!” shouted the older man.
Landon waved in reply then walked to the truck’s trailer, trying not to look at the piles of rubble where buildings once stood, and climbed up, joining Jess, Sam and a few others. Outside, Vance closed and latched the rear door.
The forty-five by eight space was less restricted than before with more of the boxes missing. The contents were lit by a few oil lanterns which illuminated the seven people, the air being slightly smokey.
Jess sat on one of the remaining sealed boxes of supplies, Sam and Lachlan nearby. Landon did the same, the weight of his left limb feeling twice as heavy despite not actually being able to feel the lower half of it.
Scott stood, leaving a map on a wooden crate and a conversation with Luci and Miller and walked over just as the truck’s engine fired up and with a jolt they started moving. He looked across the Keller’s. “How is everyone?”
Mother and daughter nodded.
“We’re doing fine,” said Landon. “What was the conversation about?”
“Well, we better hope the monster army takes a break on their way south otherwise they’re going to beat us there. But the good news is somewhere around Dallas we might be able to reach any forward operating station on the coast with the radios, and warn them on what’s coming their way.”
“Otherwise…”
“Otherwise we hope whatever military is down there can withstand what’s coming at them.”
Landon glanced at his wife, but she was looking down, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. He looked back to Scott. “We got a plan on how to get my son back?”
Luci stood from a box, overhearing and joined them. “The kids obviously important to them.” She looked at Jess. “You got any idea why that is? It might be important in helping get him back.”
Jess’s eyes shifted to her daughter, who looked away then at the soldier. “Maybe something to do with me working for Biochron. I don’t know…”
“Right…”
“Anyway,” said Scott. “Whatever the reason. It’s good news.”
“Tell them about the weird guy!” shouted Miller from the other end of the trailer, who was starting to lay out some cards on the box in front of him.
The Keller’s looked at the soldiers.
“Weird guy?” said Jess.
“When we first caught up with the car and the creatures. Outskirts of southern Denver. There was someone watching over them from the highway, about a mile out,” said Luci. “Made no sense.”
A possibility tweaked in Landon’s mind. “What car did he have?”
“Something small.”
“Hmm…”
“Why?”
“A friend of ours, Arlo. We didn’t find him at the school. Thought that maybe he got away. Although why he… was…” He looked at Jess. “Could Arlo be following the creatures? Maybe he saw Josh get taken?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
10: 48 p.m. Amarillo.
“Dumb…. Dumb….”
Arlo bent over, his chest burning, trying to force air into his lungs. After a few gulps he ascended again. A stenciled ‘Floor ten’ came and went as he swore, hoping he was already at the top of the bank office buildin
g but instead another set of stairs appeared within his flashlight’s beam. After he had spotted the creature a few miles further out he eased his way through the streets, looking for somewhere to park up. The towering rectangular block was hard to miss being the tallest structure he had seen, so he stopped in a parking lot and eventually found a staff entrance that wasn’t locked and started climbing.
He halted his progress on a landing, leaning on the handrail and did his best to control his breathing then swept his light across the wall in front. A sign mentioned the roof entrance above. Pushing himself on, he walked up the next set of stairs until reaching a paint chipped metal door where he waited for his heart to quieten, then listened to what may lay just a few feet away on the other side. On only hearing the wind he lifted the latch and slowly pushed the creaking door open, making sure to keep a hand on the handle in case he needed to close it quickly.
His light extended out into the darkness, across the concrete, and slid across a few hand rails and large metal boxes with vents, which he took to be the air conditioning system. Stepping out he looked up into the immense sky and the lighter clouds which were silently drifting past but there was no sign of anything else up there and that was enough for him to walk forward, climbing up a small set of stairs, giving him an even loftier position to look out over the city.
He spotted the twinkling lights first but that wasn’t what made him duck, for the parking lots of the shopping malls and retail parks around the bank were a mass of continuous movement, as if a sea of black oil had flooded the center of the city. But even the sight of so much potential death being so close wasn’t what spooked him. It was the silence. The breeze buffeting his face being the only source of sound on the roof. No screeches, grunts or roars. No indiction that an army of malformed things were literally within throwing distance. If he had driven another block over he would have slid right into the middle of them and no doubt would not have lived to tell the tale.
He gulped his fear away and with a quick glance back up at the sky to make sure none of the things were circling overhead, raised up again to look over the wall. Ignoring the swirling, agitated entities filling every available space for a few miles, he focused on the lights. It had to be the same vehicle he spotted outside Denver. Whoever these people were, they saw the creatures as no threat. It had to be connected with why Joan kidnapped Jess’s daughter.
Perhaps the few hundred subdued beasts below were there because of the Keller’s, he thought. So who was in the car? Joan? Someone else like Joan?
He needed to get closer.
He lifted himself higher and peered over the roof, directly to the street below which oddly was clear. Beyond the sidewalk was a long flat roof, which covered a series of connected stores. All part of one side of a plaza.
If he could get into the rear entrance of one of them, he could make his way towards the car. The far corner of the building sat only tens of yard from where the headlights were. Despite then being surrounded by hundreds of killing machines, he should be relatively safe.
He turned and quickly made his way back inside, the descent being a lot easier than the ascent and was soon on the ground floor, where he emerged back into the night of eerie silence. He made his way past the backs of parked cars to the road he had seen from above. There was still no sign of the creatures, which he knew to be on the other side of the retail park in front of him but he stopped for a moment, crouched behind a tree scanning the shadows then on not seeing any movement, jogged forward across the road, halting again near a large trash container which sat in the wide alley behind the stores.
A stench flowed across him with the breeze, which he knew was not coming from the trash nearby. He couldn’t hear the things but he could now smell them. He flicked his flashlight on, making sure to keep it aimed at the concrete then rushed forward to the first obvious door, squeezing the handle but failing to open it. He moved to the next and the next moving towards his destination regardless of not having the protection of being inside, until finally one of the handles turned and he moved into the darkness, closing it quietly behind.
Bland walls of a hallway which ran along the backs of retail spaces reflected back in his light, with doors spaced every ten or so yards. Not wasting any time he jogged down the corridor, his flashlight’s beam bouncing with his steps until he reached the end. A final door with a hastily written ‘staff’ looked back at him, and he slowly tried turning the handle…
It moved a small amount then no further. It was locked. He swore under his breath then moved back to the previous door, trying that one, which was equally unmoving. How long did he have before the things outside would know what was just tens of yards away? A tasty meal. A small fish swimming amongst sharks.
He walked back to the final door again and this time took one step back and barged his shoulder into it. The door creaked then gave way in his hand and he pushed it all the way open. It was another corridor, this one much narrower than the previous, with other doors, the far one clearly led to the front of the store. He moved past a staff room and listened against the final barrier, then opened it.
Rows of sweatshirts and pants looked back at him, all hanging from racks. Beyond, roughly twenty feet away were large glass windows and through them were glimpses of skin and teeth. Things moved through the darkness just feet away outside, only revealing themselves when they came close enough for the smattering of light from the night sky to illuminate their mutated features.
Arlo pulled back into the tight space of the corridor, leaning up against the wall, trying to find the will to move forward. Again, doubts raced through his mind. Why was he even here? What did it matter? How could he really help? His friends were dead! Nothing he discovered could change that!
He let out a long breath and steadied his breathing then turned back to the store again and crouched, walking forward between the aisles. The plastic covering of some of the clothes rustled as he moved past, the static electricity making them stick to his own sweat stained shirt but the rows of garments provided good cover and despite what was still moving past outside he managed to get to within ten feet of the entrance and…
The car was sitting a truck length away, pointing away from the building he was in. The headlights burned bright, but the vehicle itself was empty. He shook his head in disappointment. All this risk for… A person, a small person sat upright in the backseat, just a silhouette against the glow from the lights at the front.
A kid?
He crouch walked forward, emerging from a group of clothes. Something was sliding across the concrete beyond the large panel of glass, the only barrier between him and death but he needed to get a better look at the occupant in the back seat of the sedan. It was completely dark inside the store, he hoped rendering himself invisible to what was crawling ten or so feet away. He looked again.
Yup, definitely a…
His legs almost gave out from under him. He knew the skinny kid in the backseat of the car. The car which was almost completely surrounded by the things.
Josh?
He almost spoke the words aloud as his heart thundered in his ears, blocking out any other noises coming from the things staggering around in the dark of the parking lot.
How? How?
He searched for an answer, then the slaughter back at the school pushed itself into his mind and instantly he knew what must have happened. Whoever else was in the car must have taken the boy. Just like what they did to his sister. They wanted both the children.
He shook his head almost involuntarily.
No… you’re not taking him.
But how was any rescue possible? Maybe he could get the boy’s attention and Josh could run to the store Arlo was hiding in? It was something, but also risked drawing the attention of other things, the monsters that would smash through the glass partition as if it wasn’t there. But he knew he had to try. For those who died. For his friends.
He moved closer to the large pane of glass and pulled the flashlight from
his pocket, aiming it squarely at the vehicle then scanned best he could the darkness to his right, to the parking lot and what slithered, crawled and staggered. He could see them out there.
Swearing, he flicked his head back to the car and switched the light on and off, then waited for death to tear through the window. On seeing no reaction from the boy or the creatures, he tried again this time pushing the flashlight up against the glass.
The back of the car lit up, including the interior. Josh had to have seen it. Had to.
The figure in the backseat remained stationary. Were his eyes closed? Was he sleeping?
Damnit.
The exit to the store was just feet away. Arlo looked at it then to the few yards of concrete outside. It was clear as was the route all the way to the car. He stood, took a deep breath, then crept to the door and slid the latch across at the top and bottom, then pulled the glass door towards him immediately bringing with it a stench so strong it almost made him heave. Hesitating to push his foot beyond the threshold, he scoured the darkness for the movement which was continuous, trying to see any hint that something was moving his way. It wasn’t.
Without a second thought, he burst through the gap, covering the fifteen-feet to the car and pulled the back door open.
“Ah!” shouted Josh, his eyes large in the gloom. “No, you can’t be here! They’re—” Arlo had hold of his sneaker and pulled it and the boy across the seat as Josh shook his head. “No, run, leave me!”
“We have to make a run…”
A door clattered somewhere in the darkness at the back of the nearby restaurant. Then came laughter. Josh was fighting him now, struggling to get back in the car, but Arlo pulled him across the concrete towards the entrance to the store and salvation. He didn’t see the blur. Nor would he have if it were noon and the sun was bright above for the soldier moved quicker than he could turn. A vice like hand gripped his arm, and with the slightest of movement Arlo was airborne until he wasn’t. Something cracked as he smashed through the store’s large glass window, hitting the first row of clothes he had just been hiding in. He fell to the floor, every part of him burning, tangled within slippery plastic and metal rails.