“There were these soldiers in big metal suits just like that one.” Orson pointed off to where they had taken out the undead soldier. “They came and took everyone away. One of them said something about how they were rebuilding the east. He said he was taking them to Woodlawn.”
“Woodlawn?” Sydney asked. “You’re sure he said Woodlawn.”
He pulled away from her. “Yeah, Ma. I’m sure.”
She wanted to correct his sassiness, to let him know it was not appreciated. But her motherly instinct told her to let this go. At the very least, she owed the boy some time to process everything. Orson had been hurt deeply, and he would never heal if she kept picking away the scabs, opening up fresh wounds before they could heal.
Sydney eyed the others, but only Isaac and Allen looked interested in this conversation. “Woodlawn?”
“The mall, maybe?” Craig asked.
“The mall?” Sydney hummed. “Was it Woodlawn Mall, Orson?”
“I’m not sure.” If nothing else, she was thankful he answered her questions. “Maybe. None of it felt right. I don’t think anyone wanted to go with them.”
Orson looked disappointed in himself, perhaps for having nothing more to add. What more could a boy do in his situation? She thought he had done well, all things considered.
“It has to be,” Allen said. “I don’t have any recollection of anyplace else named Woodlawn.”
Orson cringed at the sound of Allen’s voice. It sorrowed Sydney to see Orson react that way. More so, she saw the way Allen weakened after noticing Orson’s reaction himself, as if mortally wounded by the boy. Allen would think he deserved it all, and she regretted not going along with Allen’s original wishes of anonymity.
Sydney walked to the others. “Let’s stay here for the night. We can try the mall come morning.”
“So, that’s the plan?” Chris asked.
Sydney regarded him, seeing how enamored he was with Allison now. She was grateful, but she didn’t like the way he no longer paid any mind to Orson. For that alone, she felt like teaching Chris a lesson about manners. Now, when the boy needed a friend more than ever, all Chris could do was drool over some piece of ass.
“Well,” Sydney said, “I say we try to find the others. If we can learn about their predicament, we might have a better sense on how to proceed.” She stared out the office window. “If we can help, we will. We owe them that much.”
“What about the soldiers?” Allison asked.
Allen looked at her, as if he was going to address her question. But he remained silent, perhaps not wanting to draw attention to himself for Orson’s sake.
“I have no idea,” Sydney said, relieving Allen of the need. “Listen folks, the pure fact of the matter is, if the eastern half of our country is safe, then that’s where we need to be. We can’t keep outrunning these packs. Over the years, I think we’ve all seen where running has gotten us, haven’t we?”
“She’s right.” Isaac stepped forward. “We have to get out of the danger zone. Whatever we have to handle, we deal with it there.”
“How do we know Orson heard right?” Gavin asked.
“We don’t. Okay?” Sydney wiped a dribble of spit from her lips. “Now, how is our new friend?”
Craig cleared his throat. “He isn’t well, if you know what I mean. I’m not sure he ever will be.”
“I see. I was afraid of that. We’ll have to keep an eye on him and possibly even—” Sydney made sure the Jester wasn’t within earshot. “Restrain him. We need to gather whatever supplies we can.”
“Are we taking the dragon?” Isaac asked.
“That depends on whether you can drum up some fuel for the thing. Maybe Craig can give you a hand? Or Dale, even?” Sydney offered a smile to Allen. “For now, I’ve had a very full day. I need some rest.”
She hoped Allen would take the hint.
CHAPTER 53
There hadn’t been much fuel left at the school, but they uncovered a large tank at a local farm, which Allen helped them use to top off the dragon. With the dragon fully fueled and stocked with supplies, the entire group left for Woodlawn Mall. Allen wasn’t sure what to expect. What he did know was, one way or another this was likely the beginning of the end. Because of that notion, he felt a need to be on his game at all times, trying to gather as much information as possible, so he wasn’t going into any of this blind.
He kneeled before the jester. The uneasy man sat restrained by a mish-mosh of old rags and towels. He did not struggle against his bindings, which were secured to a seat they had chosen toward the back of the vehicle. The jester was both out of sight of the others and out of danger. They felt this was for the best given the man’s irrational nature, how he could potentially create a threatening situation for their group. Allen had other motives for the jester’s placement.
It surprised Allen that Dale had given up his post to allow Allen the time to question the jester. It was almost as if Dale had gained some insight into what Allen had planned. Something inside of Allen wished he could glean what knowledge the brother had, as he genuinely wanted to know what made the man tick now that he had lost what was left of his family.
The jester regarded Allen as though he were under the effects of some drug, yet there weren’t any such mind-altering agents affecting the man. Allen doubted he would need drugs of that nature to get the jester talking anyway.
If Allen were to put a name on this man’s illness, he would use his own past to make the deduction. It was, after all, Allen’s fault this man had ever needed to kill in the first place. Because of that, women and children alike had suffered at his hands. Like the jester, Allen’s own family had been hurt in the process. He supposed they had this much in common.
“Are you with me, brave knight?” The words sounded funny on Allen’s lips, but he tried to stay in role.
The jester’s eyes lit up. Allen saw a fire in those pools that wanted to brave the darkest night. “Yes, dear sir. Yes, I am with you!”
Allen held a finger to his lips and hushed the jester. The crazed man received the gesture with a knowing nod. The man seemed to be drooling, hanging on to Allen’s every word. Did the jester feed off these fantasies? Allen wasn’t sure and didn’t care so long as they served the right purpose.
A noise alerted Allen. Dale came up behind him and looked down upon the Jester with a cautious eye. “You’d better wrap this up, right quick. This gig won’t hold up long.”
“Yes, thanks.”
Allen waited for Dale to leave, but the brother hung out nearby, checking the contents of a small compartment. From this vantage point, not only could Dale hear everything Allen and the jester said, but he could keep a lookout for the others in case anyone got curious. Allen preferred Dale not hear any of this, but it seemed he had little choice.
“So,” Allen said, “tell me about our king?”
The jester’s eyes went wide, and he appeared to slip farther into madness. Whatever images were shooting through his head right then, they must have been sad ones. The color drained out of his face, and a frown formed on the jester’s lips. The man’s tired eyes closed, as if trying to shelter himself from painful memories.
“Jester? Are you there?”
The man shook from his daze. His hazy gaze centered on Allen. Whatever was going on with this man, was it therapeutic to relive whatever horrors he had experienced in his thoughts? Or would that only serve to drive him deeper into insanity. Either way, Allen had to keep the jester focused on his questions. He wanted answers fast.
“Now, tell me, brave sir. Tell me of the king. What is he like? Where is his castle?”
Allen thought he could almost see the horrific memories passing through the man’s pupils. Surely, they were visions of whatever crimes the man had committed before all of this. Allen empathized with the man’s sadness.
CHAPTER 54
Fire filled Eddie’s vision. People ran as hungry flames licked at their bodies. Their skin rippled and blistered to a color
he remembered from his childhood, having seen it in a crayon box. That burnt sienna tone came as a result of him scorching these people, and seeing it never got any easier.
A ruckus below drew his attention. Eddie heard a long, drawn out scream followed by the horrid sounds of Joe and Fred being eaten alive. Surely, they were now monsters themselves. With that thought firmly in place, Eddie went to lock the trap door. The safest place for him now was manning up the fire cannon. Before he could get the door shut, he saw something awful.
The creature had Fred in its arms, as if they were dancing, the creature at the lead. It reminded Eddie of one of those old black-and-white movies. The creature dipped Fred back with grace, then sank its teeth into Fred’s cheek. The pain was met by Fred’s horrified expression.
“Agghhhhhhhhhh!” Fred screamed as the creature tore away the flesh in a long strip. The sound that came with it— what it might sound like to rip wet leather—forced Eddie to look away.
Fred reached out his hand to Eddie, perhaps hoping he would be pulled to safety. Eddie was too stunned to do anything. Besides, even if he could, that wouldn’t keep Fred from turning.
Joe burst out of the cockpit, and the vehicle rolled to a complete stop. Before Joe could help Fred, one of the creatures crashed against Joe’s chest, knocking him face first through a nearby window and to the ground outside. Like a school of piranha, the pack had swarmed Joe in less than a second. His screams froze Eddie.
Another creature made its way onboard and pushed past the others. Its hand found Fred’s ribcage and pried its way through clothes and flesh.
Fred’s desperate eyes pleaded with Eddie. “Please…”
It was far too late. Eddie watched as the creatures burrowed a huge hole through Fred’s midsection. Fred’s bowels were stripped from his body. All the while, a very much still alive Fred continued to plead for help and scream.
Reluctantly, Eddie closed the trap door and locked it. He sat back in the cannon’s chair and covered his ears. Still he heard their screams. He tried to think about better days, back when horrors like this didn’t exist. He thought of a childhood sandcastle and a cowboy hat his mother bought him. Those were days when all he wanted to do was tell jokes. As being a pleasant boy came naturally to him, he began laughing, and to his surprise, that helped block out some of the awful things he was hearing now. It was a way to push those feelings aside, to escape all the horrible choices he had made. It felt as though this was Eddie’s only way out.
“Jester? Are you there?”
He stared at the man, trying to place his face. The man didn’t look familiar. Then he saw the curve of his jawline, the angle of his nose. Was this…Joe? Or was it Fred?
I can’t remember, he thought and felt like laughing.
“Now, tell me brave sir. Tell me of the king. What is he like? Where is his castle?”
Eddie thought back to that day, how he had hidden on top of the vehicle. All those old feelings of worry rushed back to him. It felt like his nerves were unraveling. A cool sweat formed on his brow.
He saw himself at the helm of the cannon, looking down upon a horde of beings, unable to tell who was infected and who wasn’t. Feeling overwhelmed with his paranoia and worrying he wouldn’t survive, he scorched them all with a violent fire. Men, women, even the children, everyone burned. They ran for their lives and his flames followed, all of them screaming, some clawing at the ground nearing death.
Eddie remembered the question. “President Hughes sent us out years ago to begin the Reclamation Project. Ours was but the first of these waves, and, as with any first wave, mistakes were made…”
His voice sounded distant, and he struggled to stay in this reality.
“Hughes, you say? Landon Hughes?”
Hearing the name stung Eddie. “Yes, that’s him.”
“You know him, Allen?” Another man asked the first.
Allen? Who is this man? This wasn’t Joe or even Fred; his name was Allen.
Eddie wasn’t sure who the other man was and couldn’t place the face.
Allen’s voice quieted “Yes.”
“Hughes controls the entire east coast,” Eddie said. “By now they have to be in phase two of Reclamation.”
“Phase two?” Allen asked.
“Yes, Allen.” The man appeared surprised by Eddie calling him by name. Eddie didn’t know how to take that, so he ignored it, still trying to figure out who these men were. “Phase two is to take the southeast. Phase three will focus on the other eastern most states. Phase four will be the Midwest.”
Allen sighed.
“What?” Eddie asked.
“I think we might be on phase four already, Jester. Or maybe a mix of phases.”
“Jester?” Eddie scrunched his nose. “Why’d you call me that?”
Allen studied Eddie for a moment, then continued. “What comes after phase four?”
“Phase five is to secure everything east of the Mississippi River. From there, the west becomes the great unknown, like it once was. That is, until the president is ready to start reclaiming—”
“President?” the other man asked. “Who elected him to be president?”
Eddie turned to this other man, seeing how red his cheeks had become. “He was elected by his peers shortly after his discovery of a means of making the water safe again.”
“Wait?” the unknown man said. “What’d you say?”
“Dale, hold up.” Allen patted the air.
“No way, Allen. Didn’t you hear what he said?”
Dale took three bold steps toward Eddie, and concern overwhelmed him that the man might strike. Being tied up, there was nothing Eddie could do to defend himself.
“Dale, it makes sense.” Allen paced away. “Damn it all to hell.” He turned back to them. “Hughes planned this all along.”
Dale stayed put. “Planned it? How could he—”
Allen threw his hands up in the air. “I give up. I fucking give up. Goddamned politics!”
Realization showed on Dale’s face. “Are you sayin’ that piece of shit infected all those people on purpose, just so he could overthrow the government?”
Allen’s eyes thinned on Dale. “Yes.” That appeared all Allen could manage, visibly shaken by his own words. “Quick. Someone’s coming.”
A woman joined them, saying nothing. Eddie knew why, too. She looked plenty normal at first, but now he saw her for what she really was, one of the infected. Reality was torn away from him like the flesh had been from Fred’s body. Eddie seized hold on the only existence he could trust. He saw that castle, the funny little jester his mom bought him, and he felt happy again.
CHAPTER 55
Orson stood beside Isaac, admiring the man. Something about Isaac made Orson recall the superheroes from the old television shows. Orson could barely remember those shows now. Or maybe the remembrance came from something else he’d seen, like a comic book. He couldn’t be sure, but Isaac must be the strongest man he had ever met.
“What up, little man?” Isaac asked.
Orson started trembling. “No… Nothing.”
That wasn’t true. He had come to ask Isaac if it would be okay for him to be with his mom. Orson didn’t like his real dad, wasn’t sure if he could even trust the man, but he trusted Isaac. While Isaac looked like a superhero, Allen didn’t look like much of a man at all. He certainly wasn’t anything like the image of the father Orson had created in his mind.
“Well, you best get back there with your mom and dad.” Isaac smiled at Orson.
“Can’t I just stay with you?”
As if struck with surprise, Isaac nodded playfully. “Okay. Well, I guess that’s all right.” His smile widened. “But if your ma gets her panties all in a wad over this, you’re gonna be the one to take the heat for this. Got it?”
“Uh huh.” Orson caught a glimpse of something in Isaac’s tooth. “Hey, what’s that in your tooth?”
Isaac’s smile waned. “It’s a diamond—a reminder of the old w
ays.” He looked Orson in the eyes. “We don’t gotta talk about that, right?”
Orson grinned. “Nah. Was just wondering.”
Isaac thumbed to the back of the bus. “If you don’t mind me asking, little man, what’s your beef with the old man?”
For a moment, Orson stared off in the direction Isaac pointed. He thought about Allen, how he had introduced himself and then how his mom corrected him. All those years without a father, all the pain and loneliness and emptiness, it all made him sad and angry.
Orson found the words he had been looking for. “We don’t need to talk about any of that, do we?”
Isaac burst in laughter and rubbed Orson’s hair. “I suppose we don’t, little man. Ain’t that some shit?”
There was something here Orson hadn’t felt with Chris. Respect maybe. He could hear it in the way Isaac talked to him, the way he treated Orson and the look in the man’s eyes. Isaac treated Orson like more than a means to an end.
CHAPTER 56
Sydney made her way to the back of the bus to see what Allen was up to. When she got to the door, she considered turning back, but decided to check on him anyway.
“Allen?” she said quietly. “What’s going on?”
Dale saw her and went to check on the jester, who wore a maniacal grin as he watched her intently. To her, he looked like he was about to leap at her, and he might have done just that if he wasn’t bound.
“Don’t let her get you,” the jester said. “She’s infected!”
“Hush now.” Dale twisted the jester’s face to him. “Come on back to the real world. She ain’t infected or nothing. You’re safe here.”
The jester only stared into Dale’s eyes, looking mad as ever. It was obvious he was having difficulty accepting reality. Sydney thought the jester wanted to trust them, but something inside the poor man was broken and wouldn’t allow him to be anything but disturbed. Regardless, the jester quieted, and she turned her attention to her husband.
Pack Animals [An Undead Post-Apocalypse Thriller] Page 16
