by Crae, Edward
“At least two or three miles away. Someone’s on our tail.”
Dan swallowed hard, staring off into the woods. “If that’s the case, maybe we should leave everything behind and get the hell out of here.”
“We may have more time than we think,” Eric said. “The road to this house is pretty twisty and secluded. You and Drew were lucky to find it. Besides, it’s overgrown out there by the state road. I doubt they’ll even see it.”
“But if they do, we’re fucked. That road is a driveway. It’s the only way in or out.”
Eric looked around, his face scrunching up as he realized Dan was right. Once anyone found the long and twisting driveway, there was only one way to go; straight toward them. There were no other paths away from the house, other than the foot trails that went straight through the woods. They would have nowhere to run. They would be cornered.
“Damn,” Eric said. “Can we disguise the driveway somehow?”
Dan pursed his lips. “Maybe,” he said. “But we’ll have to hurry.”
They hopped into the pickup truck and headed down toward the end of the long driveway. Dan noted the numerous fallen trees on each side, and the thickness of the woods themselves. Even someone on the driveway would be hard-pressed to see all the way to the house. The problem was concealing the entryway to the driveway itself. Though he and Drew had barely noticed it, anyone with a large number of people with them would surely see it.
As they reached the end, they hopped out and began dragging fallen clumps of branches to the edge of the street. Dan kicked the loose gravel off of the road to hide the opening as well. They both broke branches off the nearby trees and dragged them over, arranging them appropriately. Ten minutes later, the driveway was nearly concealed. There was nothing of note anymore; simply another six feet of tangled brush and brambles.
“Nice,” Dan said. “There’s one problem, though.”
“What’s that?” Eric asked.
“We parked the truck on the road.”
Eric looked behind him, realizing the pickup was on the wrong side of the blockade they had just assembled. He sighed, shaking his head.
“Shit,” he said.
“That’s alright,” Dan said. “It was my fault, too. I didn’t even think about it.”
“We’ll just have to ditch it nearby or something,” Eric said. “As far into the woods as we can go.”
They got back in the truck, and Eric started it up. He turned toward the tree line, and after bumpy few feet, they were heading down into a gully. Eric took it slow, rolling over the smaller logs and bouncing over the larger ones. When they were about fifty yards from the road, he stopped.
“You think that’s far enough?” he asked.
Dan looked around. All he could see were trees and brush. “Looks like it,” he said. “When everything blows over, we’ll come back for it.”
They got out and locked the doors. Eric’s face scrunched up almost immediately and he began sniffing. There was a strange smell in the air. Dan sniffed around, trying to locate the source. It was a pungent odor, like rotten fish and garbage.
“What the fuck is that?” Dan said.
“I don’t… know…” Eric stammered. “But it’s terrible. Something’s gotta be dead around here.”
They began walking, turning toward the wind. The smell was coming from an area toward the house, where the drive curved at nearly ninety degrees and ran parallel to the state road. Ahead, there was a deeper gully, and Dan could see outcroppings of rock poking through the brush.
“What is that?” Eric asked.
“I don’t know, man,” Dan said. “But whatever that smell is, it’s coming from that direction.”
They continued forward, amazed at the amount of large rocks that lined the slope. They had never looked at the roadside from this direction and hadn’t noticed it before. But it was plainly obvious that this particular section of the driveway was laid atop the bedrock. The flat ground ahead dropped off, but was overgrown with weeds. Somewhere down there could be a cave. At least a small one.
When they reached the edge, Dan looked at the slope that went down from the edge of the driveway into the gully. It was solid bedrock, cracked and split in various places. The gully’s bottom was covered by all the growth, and there was no way of telling what was down there. Only the strange and unpleasant smell told them that there was something hidden in the brush.
Dan crouched down further, trying to peek in between the weeds. But he could see nothing; only green, and small patches of rock. He scooted closer, moving a bush aside so he could see behind it. When he realized it was still concealed, he took another step.
And slipped.
He tumbled sideways, rolling over rocks and weeds as he went down roughly. He grunted and groaned as he bounced off the rocks, feeling sharp pains in his ribs and hips. But the fall was over as soon as it began. He landed face up, wet with dew, and covered with dirt and grime.
“Are you alright?” he heard Eric ask from above.
“I think so,” Dan said, sitting up.
Here, there was only bare rock. He got up into a kneeling position, studying the stone surface. There was a large crack that came down from the top, widening into a crevice as it met the rocky floor. There, in the darkness, was an opening; some sort of cave. The smell was coming from there.
“Come down here,” Dan said. “Be careful though. It’s one hell of a fall.”
“What do you see?”
“Some kind of cave or something.”
“A cave?”
“Yeah,” Dan said. “And I think it might be mama’s lair.”
Chapter Nine
Royce and his three companions returned to the column of marching men. Enoch hung in the back, watching them as they approached. He was expressionless, but Royce knew he was fuming about something. He just had that look in his eyes. It made Royce nervous as always, and his heart began to race as the three of them stepped in line.
“Anything?” Enoch asked.
“Just a couple old men,” Royce lied. “We took care of it. They didn’t have much though.”
Enoch nodded slowly, turning his head and staring off into the distance ahead. Royce began to shake. He kept his eyes on the man, fearing that any second he would explode. There was no lying to Enoch, Royce realized. He knew.
“No women with them?” Enoch asked, never taking his eyes off the road ahead.
“Naw, man,” Royce said. He looked at Dave, whose face was frozen like his own. “Just old geezers. Farmer types.”
Enoch lips tightened, which made Royce even more nervous. He took a slow, deep breath, letting it out just as slowly. Then, Enoch reached into his jacket as he turned and began walking backwards, smiling strangely. He pulled out a silenced handgun, aimed at Dave, and put three rounds in him. Royce’s eyes shot open, and his heart jumped. He was next, he knew.
But Enoch turned the gun on Leonard and shot him down, too. Only Royce and James were left. Enoch stopped, holding up his hand to halt the group. He then slowly walked over to Royce, his eyes never blinking, never turning away. Royce’s heart was pounding, and he felt a growing sense of doom in the pit of his stomach. Enoch raised the handgun, aiming it right at Royce’s face.
Royce closed his eyes, panicking on the inside. He heard the quiet poof of the handgun going off, and then the sound of James’ body hitting the pavement. He opened his eyes, breathless and terrified. Enoch stood there expressionless with the gun pointed directly at Royce’s forehead.
“Lie to me again,” Enoch said, slowly and menacingly, “and I’ll kill you slowly. Understand?”
Royce gulped, nodding. “Yes boss.”
“When we get done killing Dan and his group, we goin’ back to that farm house, and you’re killin’ everyone there personally.”
“Yes boss.”
Enoch remained in that position for a few more moments, before lowering the gun and turning to take his place back in the line. Royce breathed a sigh of relief, looking at
the three bodies out of the corner of his eye. He noticed the other men’s expressions, too. They glared at him angrily.
Suddenly, Royce felt like an outsider.
Dan held the lighter out in front of him as he and Eric studied the dark entrance to the cave. They couldn’t quite see anything yet, except for a few signs of graffiti and an old beer can. It was just too dark to venture into, since neither of them had a flashlight on them.
“Is there a light in the pickup?” Dan asked.
“I don’t remember,” Eric replied. “I’ve never opened the tool box in the bed. It was a brand new truck so I bet there’s a flashlight in there.”
“Okay,” Dan said. “Let’s go get it.”
“I’ll get it,” Eric said. “Wait here.”
Dan grinned. “Okay, but I’m backing out into the daylight. I’m not sitting my ass here in the dark.”
Eric climbed back up the slope as Dan waited. He felt a gust of hot wind coming from the cave. It was barely noticeable but it was there. The catacombs at the church had that same hot wind, and he had felt it the umpteen million times he and Eric had to visit the fucking place.
“Hurry up,” Dan whispered to himself.
He was startled as Eric landed right next to him.
“Jesus man,” he said. “Fucking heart attack, dude.”
“Sorry,” Eric said with a grin. “I slipped and tried to play it off.”
Eric held out the flashlight. It was a Black and Decker spotlight with a trigger. Dan took it and shined it into the tunnel. It curved up ahead at almost a ninety degree angle.
“I’m having flashbacks of the church,” Dan said.
“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “After you.”
Dan shook his head and crept back inside. There was a musty smell, with the underlying scent of decay and rotten eggs. He looked at Eric with a “man that’s nasty” face. Eric mirrored the expression.
“That fucking stinks,” Dan said.
They continued forward as slowly and quietly as they could, all while stepping over small pools of stagnant water, large cracks, and strange-looking rocks. The graffiti ended after about ten feet, and Dan guessed the people who had painted it were too scared to venture any further. Come to think of it, Dan was scared, too. Why the hell was he doing this?
“The lady,” he said, referring to Toby’s “friend”. “What do you make of it?”
“I don’t know,” Eric said. “I’m more concerned with what the guy on the radio said. The eggs, you know.”
“If we find any, we better destroy them somehow.”
“We don’t have any weapons,” Eric reminded him.
Shit, Dan thought. Why the hell had they come out here without their guns?
“We’ll use rocks,” Dan suggested. “Unless we see something big, then we’ll haul ass outta here.”
They continued on, turning a corner. The tunnel began sloping slightly downward as they went, and Dan could hear the gentle rustling of water. It was a faint sound; not far away, but indicating a tiny rivulet or something similar. He shined the flashlight around, seeing small amounts of water trickling from the walls. Probably condensation or something, he figured.
Ahead, there was a dark opening beyond a large outcrop that stuck upward from the floor. They climbed over it carefully, and stopped for a moment to examine the tunnel behind it. It was rough and twisty, but continued on for quite a long way. Strangely, the smell and hot wind were becoming more prevalent as they went on.
Then, there was a strange slurping sound followed by a slight shuffling. Dan and Eric stopped, frozen in their tracks as the sound faded away. Dan looked at Eric, who was staring straight ahead with his brow crinkled.
“What was that?” Eric asked.
“It was definitely not human,” Dan said. “Unless it was a human rolling around in slime.”
“Eggs are slimy,” Eric said.
Dan gulped hard, picturing a giant, slimy egg cracking open and an equally slimy little creature crawling out. He then realized he had watched too many Alien movies. This wasn’t aliens, though. This was possibly the lair of a demon creature, complete with a momma and dozens of eggs.
The Lady.
“I think maybe we should turn back,” Eric said.
“Toby said she was friendly.”
“To him,” Eric said. “He’s a little boy. We’re grown men.”
“Well, whatever it is, I wanna see it. If it’s like the Robert creature, then it should be able to speak. Maybe we can reason with it.”
“For what purpose?” Eric said. “Making friends? Borrowing an egg for supper?”
“Maybe it will help us keep this place secure.”
“We have to kill it, and all of its eggs. Otherwise the world will get overrun by mutants.”
Dan was silent, but he realized Eric was right. If this female creature was here, and it had eggs, then it and its offspring had to die. They had to kill it—all of them. There was no room on Earth for another sentient species, especially one entirely composed of sociopathic personalities. It would be like coexisting with superhuman psychos.
Fuck that.
“You’re right,” Dan said, finally. “We gotta kill them all. Let’s go back and get our guns.”
Enoch stopped the march with a hand in the air. The column slowed down to a standstill, everyone looking at the boss for the next command. Enoch simply stood still at the side of the road, examining the gravel at the road side, and the strangely clumped up brush that was seemingly piled there.
“What is it, boss?” Doctor Shake asked.
Enoch shook his head slowly. Royce quietly walked up behind him, sidling his position and examining the road.
“This gravel is disturbed,” Enoch said. “And this brush has been piled up here. Shit like that don’t grow outta gravel.”
“You think it’s a road?” Royce asked.
Enoch glared at him strangely, as if he had just asked a stupid or insulting question. Royce gulped.
“Sorry, boss,” he said.
“Get this shit outta the way,” Enoch said. “Come on boys, we goin’ in.”
“Boss, look,” Doctor Shake said, pointing farther down the road.
There was a large group of infected stumbling along. They were walking in random directions, but the bulk of them were heading away from the forest they now stood near. It was as if they had wandered away from something inside the woods and eventually lost interest.
“Keep it down,” Enoch said. “They’re far enough away. They won’t notice us if we quiet. If they do, we use them.”
“For what?” Shake asked.
“Cannon fodder,” Enoch said, smiling. “We lead them back into the woods to flush out whoever’s in there. They’ll think it’s just a horde attacking and give away their position. They’ll waste their ammo on the mutants.”
“Alright,” Shake said, smiling.
He went to the front of the line to talk to the rest of the men. They quietly got out of their vehicles, coming to aid Royce and the others in clearing the brush. Royce avoided eye contact with the others as they each gathered and tossed branches and tangled weeds. He knew that some of the men were staring at him; glaring even, but wasn’t about to let on that he knew.
When he did make eye contact with JJ, a younger thug, he realized that they all thought of him as a traitor. He had disobeyed Enoch, and lied to him. The farmer and his family likely had things they needed, including the farmer’s own daughter. She was just the type that Enoch liked; blonde, young, and with big blue eyes. The thought of him ravaging her was sickening, though. He wouldn’t wish that on any female, much less that innocent young girl. She would be passed around and raped until she was dead—and maybe even after.
“Enoch shoulda killed yo’ ass,” Darin, the younger man, said.
“Man, shut up,” another said. “Keep clearing this shit out and shut yo’ mouth, nigga.”
Royce looked at the man, Tyler. His expression was hard, but somewhat neutra
l toward Royce. It seemed like he didn’t even care, or maybe he sort of agreed with what Royce had done. Maybe he wasn’t alone after all. Not everyone in the group was a stone cold killer, he guessed. Some of them might have some humanity left.
“Move yo’ asses,” Enoch said. “You mother fuckers start searching the area. Follow these tire tracks here. Royce, lead the way.”
Royce dropped the handful of branches he was holding and hesitantly approached Enoch. The man stood near the roadside where there were faint tire tracks going into the woods. He pointed there, directing Royce to go first.
“Find whatever made these tracks,” Enoch said. “Kill anybody you see, nigga.”
Royce nodded quietly and stepped onto the trail. Before he could start walking, however, he felt Enoch’s rough hand on his shoulder.
“You fuck with me again, I’ll have all these niggas rape yo’ ass. You dig? Comprende?”
Royce nodded, feeling hatred build up inside him. He realized then that he hated Enoch. He could deal with Seth; Seth was a lot easier to get along with. But Enoch was a prick, and a hateful, violent prick at that. He hated to think how Enoch acted in the real world. He probably took everything he ever had.
“Mother fucker,” he whispered under his breath.
Dan led the way back, turning off the flashlight when they reached the exit. They would have to walk back to the house in order to get their guns, and then all the way back to enter the cave again. It was their only choice, though. There was no way they could let a breeding mutant live, and no way they were going to confront it without any weapons.
“I wonder if Jake has any grenades left,” Dan said.
“I think so,” Eric said. “No flashbangs though, obviously.”
“Hell, I’m glad he didn’t use a real grenade to distract the horde,” Dan said. “It would have been a waste.”
“Drew does have that thumper,” Eric reminded him.
“Yeah, but I don’t think he has anything to launch with it.”
“Quiet,” Eric said suddenly, crouching down and crawling toward the slope. He climbed halfway up, looked for a second, and then slid back down.
