The Decay of Humanity Series (Book 2): Descent of Humanity

by Dawn, M. K.

  “He’s weak and struggled with the walk from the parkin’ lot to here.”

  Chloe tapped a pen against the desk. “Look around, lady. All these people struggled to get in here. If the only thing wrong with your husband is a little bump on the head, I suggest you go home.”

  “But he’s also sick. It’s why he fell from the horse.” She couldn’t believe the hospital was turning them away.

  “Sick how?”

  “He’s—”

  “Brit,” John’s voice cut her off.

  She whirled around to find him edging toward the door. “What are you doin’?”

  “We should go,” he said over the soft whispers. “Let the doctors focus on the more serious patients.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “But I found you unconscious.”

  “He’s walking. Talking.” Chloe’s said with a flat, uncaring tone. “He needs rest which you won’t find here. I can give you a list of symptoms to look for that would indicate a more serious issue.”

  “Britney,” John urged. “Come on.”

  “Don’t bother.” She stormed through the crowd and burst out the door, leaving John behind.

  “Honey,” he called out, “wait up!”

  As angry as she felt at the moment, she stopped and let him catch up, but kept her back to him for good measure.

  “Thanks.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

  They walked side by side back to the truck, Britney no longer fuming but hurt he would go back on his word. “Why did you do that? After you said you’d see the doctor.”

  “I overheard the security guards talking. They’re about to quarantine the hospital and not allow anyone showing signs of the virus and those exposed to leave.”

  Britney peered back at the hospital. “Why would they do that?”

  “The virus is causing violent outbursts, and they don’t how it’s spreading.”

  “What about you?” Britney whispered. “You’re sick.”

  They stopped at the truck, and he spun her around so she faced him. “Yes, but it’s been a couple of days and I haven’t experienced any violent behavior.”

  “And if you do? What about the kids?”

  “I’ll go upstairs, lock myself in the bedroom until it passes. Deal?”

  She nodded. “I guess.”

  He leaned in and pressed his lips to her cheek—a sweet gesture at first until she felt the brush of his teeth against her skin.

  She jumped back out of his reach, wiping her cheek. “What are you doin’? We don’t know how this thing spreads.”

  “I doubt it’s by a quick peck on the cheek.” He climbed in the truck and slammed the door.

  A wave of goose bumps spread over her body as she lifted herself into the driver seat and started the truck. “Your teeth touched my skin.”

  John laughed. “You’re just being paranoid.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Britney watched as they locked the hospital entrance. Those inside banged on the doors, their faces begging to be freed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Axel left Sam’s diner and headed back to the hospital. Breakfast with Gus and the other riders who’d stayed had been interesting.

  In the couple of hours they were there, eating breakfast and drinking a couple pots of coffee, two people had collapsed. The 911 operator had said all ambulances were tied up by other, more serious calls. The woman had hit her head on the edge of the table, leaving a two-inch gash on her forehead. The man never regained consciousness. Instead of waiting on an ambulance, their friends had taken them to the hospital themselves.

  He suspected the tie-up in ambulances had to do with the mysterious virus going around. The violent outburst he’d witnessed in Queenie’s room scared the shit out of him, but he hadn’t heard how long the side effects lasted, or how long it took for the virus to leave the infected’s system.

  The craziness of this virus was the reason five of their riders had left that morning. After the hospital had denied them visitation, they’d all settled in the motel across the street and called to check on their families. Turned out the same madness going on there was happening all over the country.

  Gus hadn’t said if any of their families were infected, and Axel didn’t have the heart to ask.

  The news had called it an epidemic, and doctors were puzzled by how quickly it spread. The origin had yet to be discovered—or just wasn’t announced to the public. Death toll unknown.

  And that was it. The entire story summed up in a short two-minute segment. Not that it mattered. People were scared, and who could blame them?

  Right before their group left the diner, local officials had announced schools in the surrounding areas would be released after lunch and classes suspended until further notice.

  Yesterday, Axel would have thought the decision to be a bit of an overkill, but after what he’d seen that poor man go through in the hospital, it was probably for the best. Keeping people isolated could help get the virus under control.

  He crossed the street toward the hospital, where even more people had gathered. Gus and the others had gone back to the motel to pack and would meet Axel in an hour. After much debate, they’d decided the best thing to do was get Queenie out of this town and head back home, with the doctor's permission or not.

  Of course, they hadn’t seen her yet. Axel tried to argue that moving her would be dangerous, but each of them had families of their own. They’d stayed out of respect for their fallen rider but were eager to get home.

  Axel’s situation was different. The only family he had left wasn’t really family. More like a soon-to-be ex-wife.

  They’d separated a few months back and hadn’t spoken since then. He heard through mutual friends that she’d moved to New York, but not much else. He didn’t even know if she’d filed the divorce papers yet, like she said she would before he’d slammed the door and left.

  The memory brought with it a bout of guilt that turned his stomach. He hated himself for the way he’d left, but he couldn’t stay. The pain surrounding that life ate away at him to the point he couldn’t feel anything else.

  He pushed away the memories and picked up the pace, jogging past the crowds toward the door he’d left propped open. Trying to act as inconspicuous as possible, he slipped through the door and pulled it closed. The last thing the hospital needed was a bunch of people stampeding up the stairs. The staff had enough to deal with.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, Axel rushed up to the second floor. He cracked the door and surveyed the hall, checking for watchful eyes.

  If someone caught him using the stairs, it would ruin their entire plan. No way he’d be able to get back down and let a group of bikers inside, let alone sneak out a patient.

  When he was positive no one was looking, he crept into the hall and back into Queenie’s room

  The first patient, the young man, had been moved, and no one had replaced the older man he had helped the doctor sedate.

  He expected both spots to be full considering the insane amount of people who not only waited outside, insisting to see their loved ones, but the number of patients he’d seen as he came down the hall yesterday. And now with the ambulances swamped, he couldn’t imagine what the emergency room looked like today.

  If a small town like this could have so many sick, he couldn’t fathom what the big city hospitals was like.

  The little voice in the back of his head whispered, If you would call Lane, she could tell you. Ex or not, she’s still family.

  He fiddled with the phone in his pocket before deciding against calling her right then. Maybe later, after they hit the road—which was another challenge.

  Queenie wouldn’t be able to ride her motorcycle, and leaving it behind… well, they might as well her leave her too.

  Gus said he’d check with the motel manager to see if he could get the name of a local car rental place. A truck with an extra-long bed might work. If they rented out trailers, that would be even bette
r.

  Queenie groaned from the other side of the drawn curtain. Axel rushed to her side, cursing himself for not checking on her as soon as he got back into the room. “Queenie? You okay?”

  The poor woman’s condition had worsened in the few hours he’d been gone. Her skin especially. The gray tint now dominated her pigment, and black lines spread outward from her injuries.

  He’d never seen anything like it. A doctor once told him infections could cause red streaks as it advanced through the body, but he’d never heard of them turning black.

  Queenie groaned again; the sound more feral than pain stricken. He checked her IV bag and found it empty.

  How long had it been since a doctor or nurse came to check on her? He understood the place was overflowing with patients, probably many sicker than her, but failing to check her IV bag? Unacceptable. The lack of pain medication, not to mention the fluids and antibiotics—no wonder she looked so bad.

  “Hold on, Queenie. I’ll go grab a nurse and get your meds going again.” He brushed his hand over her head and clumps of hair fell onto her pillow.

  Queenie’s head snapped at the sound of his voice, ripping the unchanged bandage from her neck.

  The air whooshed from Axel’s lungs. The deep gashes along her throat had healed to the point that he couldn’t even pinpoint their exact locations.

  A scream echoed down the hall, and Queenie’s eyes flew open. Axel stumbled backward at the blackness staring back at him. No white just solid black.

  “Holy shit.” He struggled to regain his footing.

  A low growl passed her lips, revealing her now-serrated teeth.

  “Queenie?” He couldn’t think of anything else to say, the reality of the situation fighting against what he knew of the world. “It’s Axel. I’m going to grab a doctor and get you some help.”

  Her head jerked again. A quick twitch of her nose and she growled, lunging toward him.

  He fell to the ground, bringing the curtain down with him. Throwing it aside, he jumped to his feet, reaching for the gun he didn’t have.

  Queenie snapped her teeth, tugging at the wrist and ankle restraints hidden beneath her blankets. The metal attachments stretched as she struggled to break free.

  He rushed from the room toward the nurses' station in the middle of the hall.

  “I need a sedative!” he screamed as he skidded to a stop.

  The nurse’s head fell back as she attempted to look up at him. “What?”

  “Shit. You’re sick too?” Axel whirled around, trying to find someone to help. How had he not noticed it before? Collapsed doctors, nurses and orderlies lined the hall. Most were unconscious, but there were a few trying to get back to their feet.

  He fell to his knees beside the nurse who had shown him to Queenie’s room. “What can I do?”

  “Leave,” she croaked, handing him her badge, “before it’s too late.”

  “Too late for what?”

  Her eyes darted to the door to her left. “They’ve locked us in, but they’re so strong. It won’t be long.”

  “Who’s strong?”

  “Inside.” She tilted her head to the door.

  Axel rose to his feet and stared inside the room. “I don’t see any—shit! What the hell is that?” The person—though unrecognizable as such except for the shape of its body—scratched at the window and slammed its shoulders against the door, growling.

  “A woman admitted with the virus two days ago.”

  “What?” Axel kept his eyes on the room. “What did it do to her?”

  “Killed her.”

  “She’s not dead,” Axel whispered.

  The nurse coughed. “Not anymore. Go. Now. The National Guard has been called and will be here any minute. They’re going to make it look like an accident. They’ll do anything to contain this.”

  “Come with me.” He reached out to her. “And anyone else who’s still alive.”

  She lifted her hand, showing him a small bite mark. “I’m already dead. So is everyone else here.”

  “A bite mark?”

  “Go.” She bared her teeth.

  Axel took a step back. “I—”

  “Go. Now.” She snapped her jaw in his direction. “I can’t control it.”

  “I’m sorry.” Axel took off running down the hall toward the stairwell. He paused at Queenie’s door and peered inside the empty room. “Shit.”

  A door slammed and Axel jumped, whirling around. He couldn’t be sure, but he swore he heard footsteps coming down the hall.

  He threw open the stairwell doors and sprinted down, the sound of his boots echoing off the walls. He didn’t stop, didn’t dare look back, afraid what might be behind him. The exit sign came into view a second later, the light blinking an ominous red. He shoved the panic bar on the door and nearly knocked himself to the ground.

  “Son of a bitch.” In a rush, he’d forgotten he needed the keycard to get out.

  He reached in his back left pocket and then the right; both were empty. He knew he’d put the keycard in one of them.

  He turned to go back up the stairs and search for the damn thing when the door above him creaked open and then slammed closed.

  Axel froze. Part of him wanted to call out, hope someone responded and eased his fears. The other part screamed to get the hell out of there.

  He scanned the area in search of the fallen keycard; chances were it fell out of his pocket when he ran down the stairs. Seconds felt like hours as footsteps scraped against metal. He couldn’t tell if whoever—whatever—had moved from the second floor, and he didn’t want to find out.

  A hint of light reflecting off metal drew his attention upward to the corner landing of the stairwell. The key card lay there teasing him, his freedom only a few steps away.

  He didn’t hesitate, bolting up the stairs and snatching the key card from the ground.

  A terrifying growl echoed off the walls. Axel snapped his head upward, his heart thrashing in his chest. For a second he stood there motionless as the monster sniffed the air.

  On its left arm was the outline of a familiar tattoo—angel wings surrounding the name Lea, the love of Queenie’s life.

  “Queenie?” Axel called out, more instinctively than anything else.

  The monster jerked its head, not in recognition but like a predator recognizing the sounds of its prey. Then it bolted down the stairs, bouncing off the walls as if it couldn’t see.

  Axel didn’t miss a beat, flying down the stairs and slapping the keycard against the reader. It beeped and he slammed on the handle, but the door didn’t budge.

  He swiped the card repeatedly, each time hitting the panic bar harder, to no avail.

  Behind him the scrape of nails against metal grew closer. He hadn’t dared look to see how close Queenie—the monster—had gotten.

  He had seconds left before it attacked.

  Why the nurse’s badge didn’t work when she thought it would, he didn’t know and didn’t have time to analyze. Getting out of there was the only thing that mattered.

  He took a step back and kicked the door with as much strength as he could muster.

  The monster growled again, this time so close the hairs on his neck stood up. Axel turned and ducked as the creature lunged, knocking its head into the steel door.

  The impact did nothing to slow its hunt. It was up on its feet faster than he’d ever seen anything move before.

  Axel scurried backward, keeping as far away from the mouth of the creature as he could. The nurse had said she’d been bitten. He’d be damned if he let that happen to him.

  The creature lunged at him again, its aim horrible, but there wasn’t much space in the tiny area. Axel didn’t dodge this time, instead landing his foot in its sternum.

  That seemed to do some damage, or at least stunned the monster enough that he could try the door again.

  A quick swipe of the keycard and he pushed the door open, stumbling to the ground. He kicked the door for good measure, evoking anot
her ear-piercing howl.

  Fear coursed through him as claws ground against metal.

  He needed to warn someone, anyone, of the monsters lurking behind these walls.

  The nurse had said the National Guard was on their way. If he could just get to them in time, before the monsters escaped….

  He managed a few feet before being thrown to the ground, a massive explosion rocking the small town to its core.

  ***

  Axel’s ears rang, muffling the sounds of sirens. Every breath he took hurt; every muscle he moved ached.

  “Axel!” a voice screamed over the commotion. He lifted his head for a heartbeat and then laid it back on the ground as Gus came into view. “What the fuck, man? Were you in there?”

  “Almost,” Axel groaned as Gus helped him to his feet.

  “Do you know what happened?”

  Axel scanned the area, but smoke and debris offered limited visibility. “Where’s the National Guard?”

  “National Guard?” Gus helped guide Axel across the street. “The explosion just happened, man. No way they could get here that quickly.”

  “The nurse.” Axel wanted to explain but found it hard to articulate the words. “She said they were coming, told me to get out.”

  “Jesus.” Angie hurried up to them. “Should I get someone to look at him?”

  Axel glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not sure there’s anyone left.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath. “You think the explosion killed everyone?”

  “I can’t imagine how anyone could have survived.” Axel’s legs wobbled. “I think I need to sit down.”

  “Come on.” Angie jogged toward the motel. “You can rest in my room, but no sleeping.”

  “My head feels fine.” Axel lumbered behind her with Gus by his side. “It’s everything else that hurts like a bitch.”

  “The others went to get lunch.” Angie opened the unlocked door. “They should be back soon. Can I get you something, Axel? Ice pack? Painkillers? A stiff drink?”

  Axel fell to the bed. “Yes.”

  Angie paused. “Yes to what?”