This Dying World (Book 2): Abandon All Hope Page 5

  The black-eyed creatures looked away from the living and turned toward each other. Their lips curled back, dark foam spewing from their mouths as deep guttural growls erupted from their throats. They circled around each other, arms stretched out to their sides and teeth clapping together with such force it could be heard over the thundering diesel engine.

  Five of the creatures suddenly lowered their arms, dropping their heads and moving away from the gathering in different directions. They did not attempt to rejoin the mass, instead they shambled off across the airstrip, disappearing in the fog. The remaining three started drawing towards each other, fiercely growling in each other’s faces before backing away to circle around again.

  “Um,” Murphy started, mouth agape. “This is bad! We need to go! Now!”

  One of the three feral creatures took a sudden clawed swipe at the other, raking deep gashes down its cheek and tearing into the sagging flesh across its neck. The third zombie stepped into the fray, grabbing the attacker by its throat and throwing its face into the asphalt. Bringing a booted foot up, it stomped the prone creature’s skull into the pavement. Over and over it slammed its foot down until the creature’s head had been reduced to sludge.

  The demon then turned its attention to the lone survivor, baring its teeth in the other’s face. It looked over to the mass of silent dead and back to the torn face of the other black-eye. The zombie lowered its head in what looked like a submissive gesture, arms falling to its side as its body visibly slumped.

  The dominant zombie sized up the pathetically submissive challenger. Its head suddenly snapped back, eyes affixed to the pale blue and purple hues of the early morning sky. Jaws opening wide, it appeared to fill its lungs with air the dead creature didn’t need, and roared.

  The horde surged forward, tearing into the loser’s body with a ferocity Jason had never witnessed from the undead. Rotten meat sheered away from bone, devoured by every creature lucky enough to peel a lump of flesh from the thing.

  A large white-eyed zombie tore the head from the dying creature’s body, slamming it to the ground until it was pulped before sinking its teeth into the pitch black eyes. All the while, the single black-eyed survivor simply stood and watched the carnage.

  Within seconds, the creature was reduced to scraps of flesh and jagged bones, yet the white-eyes continued to ravage the remains with an intense fervor. Slowly, the remaining black-eyed thing turned its head toward the still idling Hummer. The rest of the mob suddenly grew silent, their attention drawn from the few pieces of meat scattered across the asphalt.

  “We need to go!” Murphy gasped. “Right! Fucking! Now!”

  “Dunford, get us to the other side of the warehouses.” Jason’s voice trembled. “There’s a baseball diamond at the far end. Drive right through that field until you find an access road behind it. I don’t care how you do it, but you get us to Ammunition Road. Am I crystal clear?”

  “From your mouth to God’s ears,” Dunford replied, his unblinking eyes affixed to the growing threat in front of them.

  “Corporal, I don’t think God’s paying very much attention right now,” Jason replied.

  The monster looked on with malice, thick black strands of sticky foam staining its grimy shirt. Jason’s heart froze when it drew its lips back in a snarl, the gesture looking like a sinister smile. The inhuman scream that erupted from deep with the creature sent shockwaves of terror through the men. As if on command the deadly mass surged forward as a single unit.

  “Move!” Jason screamed.

  The engine growled as Dunford planted his foot on the accelerator, launching the heavy military transport off the road and toward the warehouses. He drove like a madman, swerving between buildings and around other cars with reckless abandon. Tires bit into the sand and dirt of the baseball diamond as the vehicle sped across the field and onto the rocky path on the other side.

  “You,” Jason snapped, jabbing his finger at Murphy. “You saw something there! You knew what they were doing, and I want to know it too! What the hell just happened back there?!”

  “I can’t believe it. I saw it, but I can’t believe it!” Murphy said, shaking his head. His clean shaven face had gone completely white, sweat beading across his forehead. “They can’t! Not them!”

  “Can’t believe what? They can’t what?” Jason demanded.

  The morning air filled with the howls of the undead still chasing the men who were hopelessly beyond their reach. The vehicle rocked violently as Dunford pushed it further onto the uneven mountain roads.

  “Well?” Jason demanded again. Murphy turned to him, his face pale and covered in cold sweat.

  “They just chose an alpha.”

  Chapter 5

  I woke up shivering from the cold yet again. It doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it used to, though. Whenever I wake up a hair’s width away from hypothermia, my first thoughts turn to Abby. It wasn’t so much that she loved the cold, she hated it in fact. She just loved blankets. Her favorite thing to do on the coldest of winter nights was to wrap up in the thickest blanket possible and snuggle into bed.

  And leave that damn window open.

  I hadn’t slept much since Abby died. Not from lack of trying, but whenever I closed my eyes my mind would drift between Abby’s terrible screams and Adam’s face. Every morning I would sit up in bed knowing he was down in that slaughter room waiting for me. I couldn’t draw myself away from him until I was finished. Crucifying him for the world to see was…cathartic.

  That’s what Abby would have said anyway. She was better with words than I am. I would say something like nailing that ass wipe to the wall was more than the little prick deserved, but it made me feel a shit ton better.

  I’ve also been told I swear to much.

  I was sure Chris would be pissed over his new lawn ornament, but he’d get over it. Our stay at the farm was drawing to a close whether anyone wanted to admit it or not. With the steady flow of mindless corpses funneling in, there would eventually be more dead skulls than bullets to shatter them with. Soon we would be on the road again, and I was sure whatever it was that finally forced us from the land would leave Chris far too busy to worry about my modern art masterpiece.

  I finally lay down to sleep in the early morning hours finding Katie curled up under a heavy quilt. I tried to hold her when I lay next to her, but she simply pushed me away. I wasn’t very surprised to find her gone when I woke up, but it still hurt knowing she couldn’t stand to be around me.

  I sat up in bed, wiping the crust from my eyes. The vibrant colors of Katie’s last drawing met me as it had every time I walked into that room. She had drawn it with the other kids the day I came upstairs to tell my little girl her mommy was gone. No matter how happy the scene was, it always brought me immense sadness when I looked at it.

  My hand throbbed, the scar stinging as I opened and closed my hand. I’d rubbed it raw so often that I had taken to wrapping it with an Ace bandage to keep myself from losing any more skin. I didn’t mind the pain, I just didn’t want to get anything from those fungal freaks into an open wound when I smashed their brains in, which is something I planned to do a lot of in the coming months.

  “Dan,” Lexi said in a muted tone, lightly knocking on the bedroom door. Usually being torn from my thoughts so suddenly would have startled the hell out of me, but I wasn’t as jumpy anymore. One of the worst things that could happen to me already had. Besides depression, anger, and rage, I didn’t feel much else. Fear had taken a huge back seat.

  “What is it?” I replied.

  “Can I come in?”

  “I don’t know. Can you?”

  “You’re still a smart-ass,” she said as she opened the door and stepped into my room. “It’s good to know that hasn’t changed.”

  “Give it time,” I replied. I stood and walked over to the small dresser sitting in the corner of the room. Abby’s engagement and wedding rings were there sitting next to the spent casing of the bullet I fired off into t
he air in front of Adam.

  “We have a lot of time to spare,” she said, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

  “Do we? I don’t know about that anymore.”

  “I’m sorry, I meant–”

  “It’s okay, Lexi,” I interrupted. “I know what you meant.”

  I picked up my Glock from the dresser, running my fingers across the letters scrawled into the black finish.

  “My uncle had one of those,” she said. “He was a state trooper before he retired, and he carried one.”

  “A Glock 40?”

  “A what?” Lexi looked perplexed. “That’s a Glock 22.”

  “It says it’s a 40 right on the gun!”

  “That’s the caliber!” Lexi laughed. “Don’t you know anything about guns?!”

  “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

  That shut her up.

  I turned my attention back to the dresser as a small black and white picture in a simple black frame caught my eye. Abby and I sat in the back of the limo, wearing our wedding garb and each holding champagne flutes. We smiled at each other as sunlight streamed in through the opened window. We were so young.

  “Katie wanted it,” Lexi said as if reading my mind. “Rosa took it off the wall for her and Anna found a small frame for it so that she could carry it with her.”

  “I remember this,” I said softly as I picked up the frame. “It was really hot that day. It was early April, but it felt like July. It took forever to get this picture, and between shots I had to wipe sweat off my face.”

  “I thought it was a candid shot,” she replied.

  “That’s not how weddings work,” I said, cracking a tiny smile. “We tried seven times and had to choose from five different prints before settling on this one. Weddings are nothing but work for the bride and groom. I think honeymoons were invented as a way for the couple to escape the wedding circus.”

  “Where did you guys go?”

  “On a Caribbean cruise. Abby always wanted to vacation on a cruise ship and sail through the tropics,” I said as my happiest memories flooded through my mind.

  “Sounds wonderful!”

  “Oh it was. She was in Heaven,” I said, a smile creeping up on me. “There was this guy in Jamaica–” I turned to face Lexi when Katie’s drawing came back into view. My smile died as happy memories faded into blackness.

  “He’s probably dead too,” I mumbled. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  Lexi’s bright cheery face darkened as she cast her eyes downward. “It’s okay, I understand,” she said softly.

  “Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?”

  “I knew you finally got some sleep. I just wanted to see how you were.”

  “I appreciate that. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how I am. One second I feel normal, the next I feel like my sanity is slipping away. Either way, it’s something I have to work out. I think it’s safe to say the Dan you met and got to know is gone.”

  “I don’t believe that,” she said. The bedsprings creaked as she stood, her boots clomping on the hardwood floor as she went back toward the door. “I think I’ll see Batman again one day.”

  “Maybe.” I set the frame back down on the dresser. “But don’t hold your breath. Do you know where Katie’s at?”

  “She’s in the living room with Jane and Faith. Do you want me to bring her up?”

  “No, I’m going down. Thank you though.”

  Lexi nodded, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her. She amazed me with how much she had matured in the short time I’d known her. She had her moments that reminded us she was still a teenager, but they were becoming fewer and further between. I guess when you fear for your life every second of the day, you grow up fast.

  I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on my boots and lacing them tight. The once light tan leather had been stained to a dark rust from the gore I had slogged through the day Abby died. I spent hours obsessively trying to clean the stains away with no luck. I decided I would replace them once we were on the road. I didn’t need the constant reminder of my failure that day.

  I stood and walked out of the room, almost knocking Anna over as I marched out the door. A laundry basket overflowing with kids clothing jostled around in her hands as she tried to avoid our near collision.

  “Sorry about that,” I said as I pressed myself against the wall to allow her passage.

  “Don’t worry about it.” She stared at me as if she was looking for the right words. “Are you okay?”

  “If people keep asking me that, I’m going to start making up answers.”

  “Will any of them be true?” She shifted the heavy basket in her hands.

  “Nope,” I said simply.

  “Well then, why don’t you go sit by the fireplace and warm up. There’s coffee down there too. It’s instant, but it’s the best we can do.” Anna again shifted her bundle in her arms.

  “You want some help with that?”

  “No, I’m fine. We’re loading the bus with warm clothes and food. Just in case. They’re sending that toy up this morning. You going to be there?”

  “That thing is so idiot proof even Chris can fly it. And when he screws up, it’ll come back while the GPS satellites are still in orbit. As long as it’s back on the ground in under 10 minutes, they’ll be fine.”

  “What happens after 10 minutes?” she asked.

  “We’ll need to find another toy. The battery will only last so long.”

  The steps creaked as the sound of rapid footsteps carried up from the first floor. Rosa appeared moments later, her normally straight black hair knotted up in masses around her head. A sheen of sweat glistened off her forehead as sweat trickled down her flush cheeks. Her heavy winter coat hung open, the yellow button up blouse held together with only three buttons, all of which were in the wrong holes.

  “And, um, where were you?” Anna asked, shooting Rosa a mischievous smile.

  “I was in the back of the bus,” Rosa answered slyly, a guilty smile spreading across her lips.

  “I was just down there, I didn’t hear you,” Anna said.

  “I know, we were quiet,” Rosa teased.

  “And, what were you two doing back there?” Anna asked, barely containing herself. Even I was starting to crack a smile at the girl who suddenly found herself caught in the middle of her walk of shame.

  “Well,” Rosa started, turning toward the bathroom. She looked over her shoulder at us with a coy look on her face. “Joe wanted to show me what he had done in the back of the bus. So he showed me…a few times.”

  “I thought you wanted him to take it easy while he heals,” Anna laughed.

  “He needs to exercise too,” Rosa slid into the bathroom. “Don’t worry, I was gentle,” she added with a wink as she closed the door.

  “I hope you two didn’t make too big of a mess,” I said.

  “If you’re worried, you’ll probably want to clean the driver’s seat,” Rosa called out through the door. “And the third row behind the driver. Oh, you need to reconnect some wires by the batteries too.”

  “Ugh,” I sighed. “Great. Now every time I get in the driver’s seat all I’ll be able to think about is where Joe’s–” I shuddered before I could finish.

  I heard Rosa laugh from inside the bathroom, which of course brought Anna to her own giggle fit. She hefted her laundry basket and made her way into her bedroom. I decided it was time for me to distance myself before Rosa came back out of the bathroom and the two women started sharing details that I did not want any part of.

  Besides, I had an appointment to keep. Something I promised myself I would do once I had Adam sorted out. Since Adam wasn’t going anywhere for a long time, I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer.

  The warmth of the fireplace touched my frozen face as soon as I hit the first floor. The campfire smell of burning hardwood worked to slightly calm my nerves. The sweet odor of the crackling fire reminded me of my youth,
back when my family would travel to the mountains of Kentucky to visit family. Roasting hotdogs and staring up at the blanket of stars every night was a staple of my childhood. It was a happy memory of a time long since passed, one I never had the chance to share with Abby.

  I stepped into the living room to find Katie, Jane, and Faith sitting in a semi-circle near the fireplace. They busied themselves with a pile of Legos, building what looked like small houses and animals nature had never intended. Each girl had a Barbie next to them, the dolls wearing various styles of vibrant colored dresses.

  “Hi Uncle Dan!” Faith shouted. She leapt from the children’s circle and ran to me, her golden curls bouncing in front of her face. She laughed when she hit me in a full force embrace, looking up to me with an ear to ear grin that only a child can pull off and not look psychotic.

  “Hey short stuff,” I said. “What are you guys up to?”

  “Santa came!” She beamed, clapping her little hands together and jumping up and down. “He was late, but he came! We all got Legos and Barbies! He left a letter and said we had to share, but that’s okay. We’re all sisters now, and sisters share!”

  “That’s right, they sure do!” I said, smiling at her as she returned to the little group. I tried my best to hide my aching heart from the children who had finally found a moment of happiness in this dreary life.

  Abby loved Christmas. Every year since Katie was born, she made a special day for the two of them to go to Downtown Chicago. They would spend the entire day enjoying the decorations on State Street and feasting on chocolate covered…everything. It was the one time a year she tossed away all of life’s daily stresses to simply enjoy her family.

  Abby died on Christmas.

  “Katie, what are you building?”

  “A house,” Katie replied without looking at me. She sat cross legged on the floor, her green boot poking out from under her legs. Her light brown hair had been cut just above her shoulders sometime that morning. She wore her bright pink winter coat that once belonged to Faith.