The Decaying World Saga Box Set [Prequel #1-#2 & Books #1-#2]

by Garza, Michael W.

  “They remind me of mine,” she admitted, “only in reverse.” Chris’s brow creased and she elaborated. “Sara was the oldest and Sam was my little man.” She was crying now and not trying to hide it.

  Chris knew he had to say something, but he struggled with the words. “Never had any,” he managed. “Not sure if that makes me lucky or unlucky.”

  Jenn wiped her eyes. “A little of both, I think.”

  Chris nodded and then tried to change the subject. “It’ll be dark soon.” He looked up at the clouds. “We’re going to have to make some hard choices before then.”

  Jenn nodded but didn’t say anything.

  “They’ll slam into the car,” he said. “As soon as the sun goes down, they’ll come out of wherever the hell they’re hiding and they’ll be all over us.”

  “We always hid at night,” Jenn said in a distant voice.

  “I’ve tried to plow through them before and it works for a while.” He shook his head. “But a vehicle can only take so much. It will eventually wear down.” Chris thought back to a particularly hairy moment when he’d been forced off the road. Had it not been a few minutes until sun up, the infected would have peeled open his car and had a feast. “I think we should find a place to sit and wait. If we come across a couple of vehicles, we could pull in real close. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some cars with zombies trapped inside.”

  Jenn looked back at the darkening tree line along the interstate with renewed interest. “You think they’re in there?”

  “Oh yeah,” Chris said. “Nowhere else for them to hide out here. Hell, I’ve heard stories…” Her head snapped around and he decided against continuing his train of thought. “They’re in there, trust me.”

  “How’s your leg?”

  He’d almost forgotten about the injury from his fearless roof jump. The throbbing was tolerable as long as he didn’t move it.

  “I can take a look at it if you want,” she said.

  “You making a pass at me?” He laughed. “Because that would be awesome.”

  She grinned. “I was an EMT.”

  “The story gets more interesting by the minute.” He smiled back. “I’ll live. I just need to stay off it.”

  They kept the conversation light, stopping once to switch drivers. The tension cleared and the weight of Jenn’s tear-streaked face subsided. It was nearly dark when the kids awoke in search of food. There were few choices but still enough to keep them from starving. Chris was sure supplies, and in particular food and water, would be their first problem.

  “How long do we have?”

  Chris heard Jake’s question but didn’t want to lose his count. “Not sure,” he said once he got the candy bars, chip bags, and crackers separated into two backpacks. He looked up with a frustrated scowl. “I’ve never had to ration for more than one.”

  “Haven’t you ever traveled with anyone?” Jenn asked from the driver’s seat. Chris was in the back with Jake, while Alicen was promoted to the front passenger seat.

  “A few times.” He zipped up the bags and stashed them behind the second row of seats. “It wasn’t anything like this lovable bunch we have here. It was always an everyman for himself type thing.”

  “Where are they now?” Jake asked.

  “Some didn’t make it.” Chris shrugged. “I decided it was best for me to go it alone.”

  “Until now,” Alicen shouted from the front. She spun around in the seat and grinned at him over the headrest.

  “Something like that,” he said and then flicked his hand at her. “Put your seatbelt on.” He saw Jenn flash a smile in the rearview mirror.

  The darkening sky brought with it increased concern on what they were going to do when the sun went down. The passing trees on both sides of the road had suddenly changed from a beautiful reminder of what used to be to a dim curtain from which sinister things would surely spring. The lifeless vehicle shells that dotted the highway had been sparse for the past hour. Chris was losing hope they would find a suitable place to hide. They were still driving at dusk and the fear in the van was as thick as the silence.

  “We may run out of options.” Chris said, his voice sounding louder as it broke the silence.

  “Do we just stop and turn everything off?” Jenn asked.

  Chris had thought about it, but he wasn’t convinced it was the safest idea. In about twenty minutes, they would be out of alternatives. In truth, he didn’t know what to expect when the sun went down. For all he knew, the infected could have long abandoned the interstate for more fertile hunting grounds.

  “I think we should…”

  He didn’t finish as his eyes locked on a sizable lot of cars and trucks in the road up ahead. He was glad for it, but as they neared, his joy faded. There were several vehicles on the road, some turned on their side, and others flipped over entirely. Jenn brought the van to a stop and quickly realized they wouldn’t be able to get around the pileup even if they wanted to. She put the van in park and Chris popped his door open.

  “What are you doing?” Alicen asked. The fear in the little girl’s voice was profound.

  Chris gave her a slight nod and held the calmest face he could muster. “Just stay here. I need to have a look around.”

  Alicen’s eyes slid between Jenn and her brother, and then she jumped in the back seat beside the latter. Jenn’s expression wasn’t much better. She was fishing around in her pocket for something. Chris got one foot down on the pavement before she leaned over and grabbed his arm.

  “Take this.” She held out her gun. “It’s got eight rounds left.”

  Chris started to refuse, then thought the better of it and took the pistol. He left his pipe on the seat and shut the door. The sound of the vehicle’s engine was loud against nature’s backdrop. The wind blew through the tall pines on either side of the road. The rustling limbs shook like scared children in the dark. There was a smell in the air that Chris couldn’t place and something about it clung to him.

  He crept toward the barricade of cars and trucks, painfully aware of his surroundings. His mind played havoc on his nerves drawing him to movement in every shadow. His boots came to a complete stop several feet from the first truck in the road. Rolled over on its side, the facing bed revealed a lengthy toolbox, but not much else. The main portion of the road was closed off by a school bus lying upside down beyond the other vehicles.

  Chris shook his head as he looked over the site, his mind sure of one thing. “Wasn’t the infected that did this,” he said to himself. He eyed the woods with renewed interest as he started back toward the van. He was in the passenger seat a moment later, still unsure of what it all meant.

  “Well?” Jake asked impatiently.

  The last bit of sunlight disappeared as Chris leaned over and switched the engine off. “Doesn’t matter now.” He made sure the doors were locked before turning to face the others. “We stay quiet and the moment sunlight hits the hood of this van, we look for another way around.”

  There were questions in everyone’s eyes, but whatever it was they saw on Chris’s face, it was enough to convince them the decision wasn’t open for debate.

  ♦

  It was dark. The sun disappeared quickly and the surrounding trees blocked out all of the pale moonlight. There was something very unnatural about complete darkness, something Chris had never gotten used to. He sat quietly in the driver’s seat looking back and forth between Jenn and the kids, all of whom were as silent as a grave. He never explained himself or his final comments. He wasn’t sure what scared him so much, but his instincts told him something was wrong. He’d half expected figures to leap out from between the trees the moment the light disappeared.

  “What’s the matter?” Jenn asked in a whisper.

  It took Chris a moment to realize she was going back to what he said when he got into the van. “I think that blockade was put there for a reason.”

  Her eyes grew wide. She looked out the front windshield with a renewed sense of dread.
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  Jake stuck his head between the two front seats. “By the infected?” He looked concerned but not enough to show he fully understood what Chris was implying.

  “Why?”

  Chris heard Jenn’s question, but he didn’t have a good answer. They sat in silence for over an hour and then set up a watch rotation after a quick meal. The rotation left Alicen out and she promptly protested and reminded everyone that she’d played an intricate role in her and Jake’s survival. Chris wouldn’t be swayed, and the argument ended with the little girl balled up on the back seat refusing to look at anyone.

  It was nearing midnight when the first sign of trouble snapped Chris’s eyes open. As best as he could tell, he’d fallen asleep moments before a tight grip on his arm roused him. He found Jake staring out the passenger side window. Jenn had managed to crawl back between the seats and taken the boy’s place next to Alicen. Both were presently snoring.

  “What is it?” Chris asked.

  Jake hadn’t elaborated nor had his grip loosened. “I hear something,” he whispered.

  Chris waited for a better explanation, which never came.

  “Details please.”

  “It’s…just…” Jake stopped and his grip tightened to the point where it hurt.

  Chris went to grab the boy’s wrist when he heard an odd clanging of metal. Jake’s head snapped around and his saucer-sized eyes gawked at him as if to say, you heard that right? Chris started to dismiss it, but when the sound returned, it was in the form of three distinct hits in rhythm. He pushed the boy’s hand away, then reached back and shoved Jen. She awoke and looked from Jake to him to which the boy made a formal announcement.

  “We’ve got trouble.”

  She picked up the pistol from her lap and leaned toward Chris. “What do we do?’

  Chris shrugged. “We have to go back. I don’t want to draw attention to us, but there’s more to worry about than just the dead or the infected.”

  “You’re not going to get any complaints from us,” she said.

  Jake agreed with a nod. Chris struggled through his choices and decided on the lesser of two evils.

  “Wake her and put your seatbelts on.” Everyone started strapping in, but the true extent of their troubles came to a head when Chris turned the key and nothing happened. “What the hell?” He turned it off, pumped the gas, and tried it again without as much as a click. The growing terror on Jake’s face was highlighted by Alicen’s voice from the backseat.

  “What’s the matter? Why aren’t we moving?’

  Chris frantically tried to get the van to start several times and then laid his head against the steering wheel. In a defeated tone, he stated the obvious. “I’m going to have to take a look.” The silence from the group spoke volumes. Chris took a deep breath, popped open the door, and stepped out. He had his pipe, leaving Jenn with the gun. He closed the door and motioned for them to lock it. Jake promptly leapt across the seats and complied.

  The air was much colder than it was during his first outing. A shocking chill ran up his spine as a gust of wind rushed across the interstate to greet him. Chris let his eyes and ears adjust to his surroundings. His senses told him a number of things by the second. There were sounds under the wind he hadn’t heard inside the van. There were footsteps for sure and his hands shook as reality set in.

  He turned toward the blockade of vehicles and took a step before a shuffling of feet pulled him around. He caught sight of movement first, then a dark figure rushing toward him from the rear of the van. Chris swung his pipe with one hand as he tried to open the driver’s side door with the other, neither having success. The pipe missed its mark and slammed into the side of the van. He stumbled back and swung again. The second attempt made solid impact, and the result was unexpected.

  “Damn it.”

  The sudden outburst froze Chris in place. A flurry of action followed as several figures rushed the van from both sides of the road. Chris took a step back to prepare to fight and as he did, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. He struggled against the clutch until the approaching figure punched him square in the jaw. The first shot dazed him and he dropped the pipe. The second shot took him down.

  Chris was on his stomach when Jenn fired the gun. A series of smashing glass followed as a gathering grew around the van. The size of the group swelled in seconds until they were surrounded. Chris heard Alicen yell for Jake, and then she called out his name. He tried to get up to his hands and knees when something solid smacked him on the back of the head. The world spun out of control as he hit the pavement face first. A second later, and he was swallowed by the surrounding darkness.

  8

  Chris felt throbbing in his temples, followed by waves of pain across his forehead. His head felt as if it was going to explode at any moment. He could tell his hands and legs were bound. There was no give to his bindings, and he already knew before he opened his eyes that he wasn’t going to like what he saw.

  A strong pulse of light forced his eyes to slam together the moment he cracked them open. Chris tried again but only managed to open them a sliver of the way. The light came from a lone bulb dangling from the ceiling of a cramped space. Jenn was tied to a chair not far from him. Her eyes were open, but a firmly wrapped rag kept her from speaking. There was no sign of the kids. The only other occupant in the room was sitting directly across from him. His thick plaid button up and florescent vest tabbed him as a hunter of sorts. He balanced a shotgun across his lap, but his full attention was on a wrinkled Playboy in his hands.

  Chris slid his eyes from the hunter back to Jenn and found her stare on him. The terror on her face spoke volumes. She’d seen something else and whatever it was, it still had a firm grip on her. Chris shifted his sight back on their watcher and discovered him looking up at both of them. He didn’t say a word as he put the magazine down and took hold of his gun. He made his way to the only door in the room and left, closing the door behind him.

  “Are you okay?” Chris asked. She shook her head as the fear in her eyes intensified. “Are we okay?” he clarified. She shook her head intensely. Chris chose to ignore the ominous reply. There wasn’t much he could do about it anyway. “Are Jake and Alicen close?” She shrugged.

  He had numerous other questions, but the back and forth came to a sudden halt when the door swung open. The watcher from before entered first, his eyes focused on Jenn as he retook his seat. Three additional men followed him, all in similar garb. Two of the new arrivals stood by the back wall while the third took center stage.

  The man came to a stop directly under the lone light. Dressed in comparable hunter’s attire, he couldn’t have fitted in with the others if he tried. The mountain man towered over Chris, looking down at him with menacing eyes. Most of his face was shrouded behind an unkempt beard that hung down to the middle of his chest. He paid little attention to Jenn, dismissing her with a glance and wave of his hand.

  The two men standing snapped to attention and rushed her from the corner of the room. They sprang into action, grabbing hold of the chair she was tied to and lifting it from the floor. Jenn kicked and screamed as they calmly carried her out and slammed the door shut, leaving the small room in deafening silence. When the mountain man finally spoke, he did so in a deep booming voice Chris fully expected.

  “My name is Eddie Walker, but the people here call me Mr. Walker. I’m here to inform you that you and your group have violated the boundaries of the sovereign state of West Denver.”

  Chris blurted out the first thing that popped into his mind. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Mr. Walker fell silent and a quiet reserve washed across his face. The lone remaining guard stood up and stepped around him. Then without warning, he punched Chris in the mouth.

  “Only speak when asked a question.”

  Chris’s vision blurred as he fought to keep from blacking out. He felt a fire erupt across the side of his face. He spit a wad of blood on the floor as he tried to breathe. The
guard returned to his seat, and Mr. Walker continued.

  “For your violation, your women are forfeit and you will assimilate or we will find another use for you.”

  Chris had another question but managed to stop himself before he asked it. Mr. Walker finished with a lasting declaration.

  “Time will tell if you live or die.” He started to leave and reached the door before turning back. “Do you have any questions?”

  Chris wasn’t sure if he was being set up for another hit, but he thought this might be his only chance to ask. There was one thing that troubled him most about Mr. Walker’s sermon.

  “What do you mean the women are forfeit?”

  Mr. Walker opened the door as he spoke. “They will be paired and married to two of our faithful citizens.”

  “But the little girl’s only eight!” Chris cringed, unsure if the follow up would cost him a punch.

  Mr. Walker left without an answer. The door was open and Chris considered a way to get free and make a run for it. His hopes were dashed several minutes later when a pair of mountain men pushed into the room. Each carried a sidearm holstered low on their thighs. They cut the ties holding Chris’s legs to the chair and then forced him to stand. They walked him through the room beyond his holding cell and then out the front door.

  Chris found himself on a small porch in front of a house. A road ran to his right and left lined with similar sized shops and homes. Tall street lamps revealed groups of people moving alongside the road on both sides. The light flickered in and out at random intervals hinting at a generator of some kind keeping the system going.

  The men shoved Chris and forced him out into the street. They were near the center of the road when small arms fire erupted from the south. Chris was pulled to the ground as the men drew their weapons and turned to aim. Floodlights sprang to life in the distance, revealing a tall chain link fence separating one section of the town from everything else.