Wormwood Dawn (Episode X)

by Crae, Edward

  “There’s a man outside,” Toby said.

  “I know,” Dan replied. “He’s trying to get in.”

  “Cliff can help him,” Toby said. “But he told me to ask you before he tried.”

  “What’s he gonna do?” Dan asked.

  “The ladder goes up to a bedroom window up there,” Toby said. “It’s creaky, but he can probably make it. Cliff just needs to distract the creatures on this side of the house somehow.”

  Dan gritted his teeth. “Shit,” he said. “Any kind of distraction and they’ll know we’re here.”

  “Well,” Drew said. “We need to draw them toward the driveway maybe. If they think something’s over there, maybe they’ll forget about the house and just keep walking in that direction.”

  “Like the horde at the junkyard when the comet hit,” Jake said.

  “Exactly,” Dan said. “How can we do that?”

  “A flashbang, maybe?” Jake said.

  “Got one?”

  “I think so,” Jake replied, going for his pack on the larger couch. He rifled through it, tossing things out. He brought out the Apocalypse Compendium and set it aside, and kept searching. However, he came up empty handed and shrugged.

  “Chemicals, then,” Drew said. “There’s probably some shit here we can mix together.”

  “Lemme see,” Jake said. “I’ll check the kitchen.”

  “Wait,” Toby stopped him. “Can you make some kind of fizzy bomb with some gun powder?”

  Travis stood. “I’ve got plenty of shotgun shells,” he said. “We can use those.”

  “Toby,” Jake said. “Find a glass bottle. We’ll make a Molotov Cocktail kinda.”

  “Yes sir!” Toby said.

  “This’ll make one hellavu show,” Jake said.

  Nathan continued wandering around the house, trying to make his way inward. He was surrounded on all sides by the infected, but was passing through them as if they didn’t even notice him. He smelled like the dead, so his own scent was masked. Only an intelligent creature would be able to tell him from the others.

  He tried to avoid brushing up against any of them, lest he startle them and draw attention to himself. So, naturally, it took him a long time to see any holes to keep moving inward. He found himself on the back side of the house for the third time, endlessly looking for a way to get closer.

  He had a destination in mind. In a secluded corner of the house, right beside a small window, was an old wooden ladder that led up to the top floor. There was a window there, and Nathan guessed that it was a fire escape. There were people inside, even poking their heads out the window. He wondered if it was Dan, or any of his friends.

  He also wondered if they noticed them. When the man with the dark head poked out again, he thought briefly of waving or getting his attention somehow. That would be insane, though. He had to keep stumbling along to stay hidden. Even stopping and waiting would be a bad idea. But then, the man—who looked like a black guy—waved his hand.

  Nathan’s heart jumped. They had noticed him.

  He turned back to his path, walking in a strange confused gait. He didn’t want to go around the house again. The next time might be his last. He stopped and stumbled around to face the other direction, raising his arms in front of him to mimic the others. A corpse staggered past him, sniffing and craning its rotten neck in his direction. Nathan’s heart raced with terror. But the dead thing continued on, forgetting about him.

  Nathan sighed under his breath.

  Then, unexpectedly, there was a loud fizzing sound and a blinding light from the front of the house. The entire herd stopped and began making their way around to investigate. Nathan’s heart raced again; this time with relief. Something had distracted the herd, and they were now dispersing and heading toward their new interest.

  All except for the thing in front of him that crawled on four legs.

  Nathan stopped cold. The thing’s red eyes were fixed on him, and the fanged maw opened as a low growl issued from it. The tentacles on its back writhed back and forth slowly and menacingly. It took a single step forward, reaching out with its clawed hand like a stalking cat-thing.

  But then, its head exploded in a cloud of brown gore, and the creature fell over. Nathan looked up toward the window, seeing the black man there with a rifle.

  “Come on, dude!” the man said.

  Nathan sprinted toward the ladder, mounting it just as another small group of infected appeared behind him. He spotted them, quickening his pace. The ladder creaked and cracked on the way up, but he finally reached the top where the man held out his hand. Nathan took it, and was pulled inside.

  “Who the fuck are you?” a man with a flashlight said.

  Nathan swallowed, looking to the black man, who now stood next to his friend, keeping Nathan covered.

  “I…” Nathan stammered. “My name is Nathan.”

  “Nathan, huh?” the other man said. “Where did you come from?”

  Nathan shielded his eyes from the bright light. It obscured the speaker, but Nathan could still see the black guy.

  “I’ve been wandering around since my group was attacked,” Nathan said. “I lost them about three months ago.”

  “What group?”

  “Uh, we didn’t have a name or anything,” Nathan explained. “But the guy who was our leader was named Horatio. Spanish guy, from Spain. You know.”

  “Yeah,” the voice said. “I know what Spain is. What are you doing here? Why were you hanging out with the freaks?”

  “I was just looking for shelter after almost getting caught by some other guys.”

  “What other guys?”

  “Some big black guy,” Nathan said, looking to the black guy. “He had a giant axe that looked like it was built by Satan himself.”

  “Enoch?” the black man said.

  “I think so,” Nathan stammered. “He was looking for a guy named Dan. Are you Dan?”

  Dan and Jake watched the fountain of sparks erupt in the driveway, and the horde that suddenly began heading toward it. They grinned when a few of them wandered too close and were ignited. The flaming dummies thrashed around waving their arms almost comically.

  “That’s hilarious,” Jake said. “It’s like watching a cartoon.”

  Dan chuckled. “Dumbfucks,” he said.

  He heard noise on the stairs, and turned to see Drew, Cliff, and some other guy coming down. Toby immediately pointed his rifle at the stranger. Dan stopped him with a wave.

  “Take it easy, Toby,” he said, waiting for the others to reach the bottom.

  “This is Nathan,” Drew said. “He’s looking for you.”

  Why?” Dan asked.

  “He saw Enoch in the woods close by,” Cliff said. “He said Enoch was looking for you, killing everyone he ran across.”

  Dan looked at the stranger. He was wearing a hunting coat, jeans, hiking boots, and had a giant rucksack on his back. His hair was parted on the side, neatly cut, and his face was somewhat rugged but elegant at the same time. Dan’s first impression was that this new guy was gay. His gear was just too perfectly matched and coordinated for a straight guy.

  “Hey, Nathan,” Dan said, sticking out his hand. “Good to meet you.”

  Nathan took his hand and smiled. “I’m glad I finally found you guys,” he said. “It’s only pure luck I was in this area.”

  Travis and the others wandered up, and Dan introduced everyone. Nathan greeted them all in a friendly matter, but seemed to greet Eric with a little more enthusiasm—probably too much.

  “So Enoch is looking for me?” Dan said.

  “You and Drew,” he said, looking at Drew. “What did you guys do?”

  “We killed a bunch of them,” Eric said. “Drew killed his brother.”

  Nathan shook his head, putting his hands on his hips. “Man,” he said. “He’s not happy. He’s not happy at all.”

  “Fuck that nigga,” Toni said. “I’ll blow his balls off.”

  Nathan grinned
, giving Toni a crooked expression. “I think you probably could.”

  “Okay Nathan,” Toby said. “You can stay. You’re one of us now. But we won’t be staying here long.”

  Dan grinned at Toby, then looked at Nathan. “You heard the man. Make yourself at home for the moment. As soon as this horde disperses, we roll.”

  Chapter Seven

  “I can’t tell what it is,” Royce said as he looked through his binoculars. “But it’s far away.”

  Enoch took the binos, peering through at the large heat signature in the distance. There were no discernable features, but whatever it was put out a lot of heat in a very short time. There were other heat signatures around it, presumably humans or mutants, and some other dark figures seemed to be flaming.

  “It’s like a damn fire fountain,” he said.

  “What should we do?” Royce asked.

  Enoch lowered the binos, still looking in the same direction. “If that’s our man,” he said. “Then we need to find a way to get there by road. There’s no fuckin’ way we’re marchin’ through them woods.”

  “I’ll see if anyone has a map.”

  Enoch nodded. “Good. Do that.”

  Royce went back to the others, leaving Enoch to stare at the dying light. He knew Dan and Drew were there somewhere. It was a matter of reaching them before they left. He had already been to their camp at the junkyard. They left no tracks at all when they fled; only a pile a weird-looking bodies and a monster that looked like an ogre on steroids.

  Enoch’s anger grew as he pictured this Drew guy putting a bullet in his brother’s head. He imagined torturing Drew until he finally put him out of his misery by splitting his head in two with his axe. Then, when he was done, he would torture and kill the others, all while making Dan watch. He would save Dan for last. Last but not least.

  “Mother fucka,” he whispered. “I’m comin’ fo’ yo’ ass.”

  He turned and began walking back to the convoy of vehicles. His crew was parked all along an older highway, gathered together to examine some maps. His twenty men were as eager as he was to find Dan’s crew, as they had all lost friends and family in the raid. But none of them was as eager as Enoch to get their hands on this group.

  “Boss,” Royce said. “It looks like State Route 46 is the only road that goes near that light. We can look for any gravel roads along the way.”

  “Why aren’t the smaller roads on these maps?” Enoch asked.

  Royce shrugged. “They’re all driveways, mostly. Long driveways that never get marked on the map. We’ll just have to find one and hope it leads to wherever they are.”

  Enoch nodded. “That’ll have to do,” he said. “Let’s get rollin’. Royce, I’ll drive. You navigate.”

  Dan stared out the front window, watching as the infected gradually lost interest in the house. The burst of sparks had only lasted for a few seconds, but it was good enough to draw them away long enough for them to forget what they were doing. The only stragglers were a few shamblers and another stalker that all roamed around sniffing.

  The stalker struck out at the shamblers as it passed them, but left them alone for the most part. It was an odd development, as previously the infected had always attacked each other. Shamblers attacked shuffler, stalkers attacked shambler, and the skinners had even attacked stalkers, from what he remembered.

  Still, he wondered where this other “demon” was. Toby had said it was a woman. He called her “the lady”. Who was she? What kind of woman would have the mind of a psychopath but still be somewhat friendly? Maybe Toby was imagining things, but then how did he get on top of the shack?

  The stalker outside fell limp, its head exploding in a cloud of brains and blood. Two shamblers followed in turn. Cliff was obviously taking them out from upstairs. As Dan continued to watch the other fall one by one, Nathan joined him at the window.

  “He’s a pretty good shot,” Nathan said, peering through the boards.

  “He’s former military,” Dan explained. “Not a sniper, but I’m guessing he got an expert badge.”

  “I wish I could shoot that well.”

  “Are you carrying?” Dan asked.

  “All I have is a revolver and a machete.”

  “That’ll do, I guess,” Dan said. “We have plenty of others if you want something bigger.”

  “Maybe. Never been much for rifles or shotguns.”

  “So tell me,” Dan said. “What did this guy look like? This guy that was looking for me.”

  “Well,” Nathan said, leaning against the window sill. “He was black, about six four maybe, heavy set. He wore a field jacket, a do-rag, had a scruffy beard. His voice was really deep, like John Coffey; like the drink only not ‘spelt the same’.”

  Dan grinned. “Drew killed his brother, I guess.”

  Nathan nodded. “That’s what he said before he bashed the guy’s brains out.”

  Dan looked back out of the gap, picturing Enoch in his head. Even Dan’s imaginary vision of him was frightening. “The weapon…”

  “Yeah. It was big. It looked like a big axe handle with a broken gear or cog or something bolted to it. Something cast iron like you’d see in an old tower clock or something. It was rusty and caked with what I assume were brains and blood. Had to weigh a shit load. Cast iron’s not light.”

  “What about his group?”

  Nathan sighed. “Not that big from what I saw. Maybe a dozen or so. Only a few of them had guns that I saw.”

  “Yeah we pretty much wiped out their armory,” Dan said. “At least the one we found in Columbus.”

  “How did this thing start with him?”

  “Enoch’s brother Seth captured Drew, Jake and Eric in Columbus. I killed one of their guys at Bill’s farm. Another guy I had met before was with them, and I killed him later on. That was after Seth killed Gena. Me and her and Toni went to rescue the guys at an outpost in Columbus, and that’s when we blew up the whole building. Seth escaped in a truck and we chased him down. He wrecked, and then Drew shot him in the head.”

  “Wow,” Nathan said. “That’s one hell of a story.”

  “What about you?” Dan asked. “What’s your story?”

  “Well. I was a teacher. I was having a rough time concentrating when my partner Michael was shot and was ready to give up, quit my job, and just wander around aimlessly. Then this all happened and I got my wish.”

  “You’ve been by yourself this whole time?”

  “No, not really,” Nathan said. “I was with a few groups here and there, but nothing permanent. Nobody really knew what they were doing, and the ones who did weren’t very friendly once they found out I was gay.”

  Dan chuckled. “Sorry, man. Don’t worry about that with us. We’re all a little… different.”

  Nathan smiled. “That’s good. You seem like you all know what you’re doing.”

  “Not really. We’re just kinda winging it. Jake’s been a big help with his tinkering knowledge.”

  “What’s with the other guy?” Nathan asked. “The one with the cargo shorts and the glasses?”

  “Max keeps to himself mostly,” Dan said. “Not because he’s shy or anything. He’s just always thinking of stuff. He built our solar grid at the other place. He was probably an IT guy. He and Travis figured out how to use the HAM radio.”

  “Cool. Maybe we can swap stories about the technology impaired.”

  “That would be me,” Dan said, smiling.

  “Looks like that’s the last one,” Cliff said. “Nice shooting, baby.”

  Grace smiled. “Thanks. That was fun.”

  They turned around and sat against the wall underneath the window. Cliff put his arm around Grace and she laid her head on him.

  “I think you’re about ready for something a little more deadly.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “Hmm,” Cliff thought. “Maybe a .223 of some kind. I bet we could find a Mini 14 somewhere.”

  “What’s that?”

&
nbsp; “A .223 semi-auto,” Cliff said. “Or maybe just an AR or something. Whatever we can find with similar sights.”

  “Something not so loud, though.”

  Cliff grinned. “Yeah. They don’t get much quieter than a .22, though. But an AR has about the same amount of kick. There’s a big spring inside the stock that absorbs a lot of it.”

  “That sounds good. We can talk about it tomorrow maybe. I’m exhausted.”

  “Me too.”

  They fell quiet and sat in the darkness, listening to the sounds of crickets outside. There was very little noise downstairs, and Cliff guessed that everyone was probably asleep. Or maybe they too were staring off into space. Either way, Cliff felt content. Grace felt nice against him. He really felt something for her. There was something inside him that said she was the girl for him. He would do anything to protect her, and to teach her to protect herself.

  Go figure, he thought. I meet the girl of my dreams during the apocalypse.

  Dan and Nathan escorted Max and Travis back to the radio shack so they could try and reach Martin Patterson again. Max was curious about the recent impact, and the possible “slip” that they had heard regarding the derelict something or other. Max swore up and down the voice had said, “Derelict Spacecraft” before Mr. Patterson took over. Dan wasn’t so sure, but it was worth investigating.

  “I doubt Patterson is even still awake,” he said.

  Max fumbled with the latch on the door, quietly opening it as Travis turned the small knob on the oil lamp to light their way.

  “Somebody’s out there,” Max said. “Somebody’s always out there. We’ll find them.”

  Dan and Nathan squatted just inside the door to keep watch on the outside. Dan had given Nathan a suppressed 9mm handgun since he was used to smaller weapons. They watched the darkness, hoping the noises they were making wouldn’t attract the infected back to their location.

  “This is Max,” Max said over the microphone. “Is anyone listening?”