by Olah, Jeff
“OK…” Eleanor said. “What has changed about him, how can you even tell?”
Tessa leaned in and pulled back Justin’s left eyelid and whispered. “Watch his eye as I speak.” She ratcheted up the volume in her voice to just below shouting. “Justin… we are here for you, your mother… your father and the rest of your family.” With each new word, Justin’s eyes tracked the sound and darted from side to side, finally resting with the sound of Tessa’s voice fading.
Her hand over her mouth, Eleanor waited for the movement in Justin’s eyes to cease before she returned her attention to Tessa. “Can he hear us, is that a good sign?”
Tessa waited as she released his eyelid and watched as it fluttered closed. She motioned in the direction of the door and they made their way into the hall. Opening the door, Tessa waited for Eleanor to pass, then closed and locked the only room in the building with an individual security keypad. “All I can tell so far is that he has become responsive to auditory stimulus. Earlier, this wasn’t the case and I have to imagine that this points to something positive, even if we don’t fully understand it. I just need more time with him.”
Moving her focus to the locked door and back to Tessa, Eleanor smiled. “Is it ok if I let April know what you’ve found here…when she wakes up? It will do wonders for her to hear a bit of good news for once. They’ve had the worst two weeks that you can possibly imagine.”
“Sure,” Tessa said. “I’ve locked the door and need to get some rest if I’m going to do this family any good. If something changes, please alert me, although I think it may be best if we all let Justin alone until I have more time with him.” Tessa leaned in, hugged Eleanor and walked off down the darkened hallway.
With the others attempting to rest, Eleanor made her way back to the Command Center and was startled to see Savannah at the main computer looking intently as it switched from one camera to the next. “I thought you’d be resting,” Eleanor said.
“I woke up and just sorta had a weird feeling,” Savannah said. “Now I can’t find Randy… Have you seen him?”
“I haven’t, although he couldn’t have gone too far.”
. . .
Her body completely exhausted, April slept soundly as pictures of the horror they’d experienced over the last fourteen days flashed through her mind, without completely focusing on any one event. Without reason, the images progressed beyond the day of the infection and stopped at Mason’s apartment building where he’d spent ninety days apart from her.
Sitting in the parking lot for over thirty minutes, April talked herself in and out of going in to see him multiple times. With the front windows down, she felt the cool fall breeze against her face as she watched a soccer ball slowly roll through the grass and come to a stop two cars away. An unseen bird sang in the distance, only disturbed by the rhythmic trance of the wind whipping through the courtyard and into the massive oak trees standing guard over the park a block away.
Finally building up the courage, April sealed both windows, pulled the key from the ignition and made the long walk up to the building, not making eye contact with anyone as she went into the building and up the elevator. As the door opened to his floor, April was startled at the disrepair of the building and began to tear up. Turning into the corridor, she noticed the sign advising her that Mason’s apartment would be to the right. Carefully making her way down the hall, she kept her eyes bolted to the floor and only turned to look when she heard what sounded like her husband’s voice coming from the apartment just before his.
Reaching his apartment, April peered in through the already open door and after calling out for him, realized he wasn’t there. She prayed that the apartment she heard his voice coming from didn’t belong to a woman. Aside from being devastated at the thought of him even sharing one moment with another woman, she didn’t want to be caught here, desperately searching for him. Tucking the card she’d brought for him back into her bag, she turned to head back to the elevator before the neighbor’s door opened and she froze.
To her surprise the man who exited the apartment, a rugged sort with a weeks’ worth of wear on his faded jeans and wrinkled t-shirt smiled, offering her his hand. “You must be April; Mason couldn’t have described you better.” He was closely followed by her husband, whose reaction wasn’t quite the same.
“April... What are you doing here?” Mason said.
Her face instantly turned red as she searched for the words, “I… I just stopped by to…”
Still smiling, although a tad confused, Mason’s new friend stepped back and motioned for her to follow. He pushed Mason back into the apartment and asked her in. “I apologize; my name is Randy. Please come in. Would you like something to drink?”
Mason stepped around Randy and asked her to follow him into the hall before pausing at the doorway. “Randy, give us a few minutes.”
“Sure.”
Unable to find the words for what she was feeling, April shook her head and simply said, “What… what were you guys doing?”
“Randy’s ex-military and he was just showing me his gun collection,” Mason said as he opened the door to his apartment. He moved aside and let April enter, before following her in and closing the door.
“Mason… this isn’t you. I don’t want you here anymore.”
“I understand how this looks, but it was really harmless. He was just…”
A tear formed in her eye and rolled down her face. “Mason, you’ve changed. You used to hate guns.”
“I still do, although he’s my only friend at this point and I was just doing what friends do. I haven’t changed. I’m still the same guy you couldn’t get along with before I moved here. I think you should probably just go back home.”
98
The clouds quickly ran in overhead and dulled every ounce of midday light afforded this side of the mountain. At this altitude, the rain couldn’t make up its mind and came in layers of partially deteriorated snowflakes that became liquid within seconds of touching earth. Decreased visibility and nature’s white noise muted the crackling of branches as a group of three Feeders exited the foliage and made their way toward Mason, who was crouched beside Anton in his final moments of life.
The cabin stood twenty feet behind them and the muffled grunts, followed by what appeared to be directions barked by Randy, antagonized the already stressful situation. Slapping Anton, Mason woke him from the stranglehold death was bringing. “Hey… there’s NO way you’re getting off that easy.” Leaning in, Mason continued, “You deserve to die, although I do want you awake, at least for the next few minutes.”
It took every ounce of strength for the behemoth to sit forward. His breath warm against Mason’s face and neck as he whispered, “You won’t be far behind, I promise you that. You’ll fight it, although in the end what is going to happen to you and your family will be much worse than death, if you even make it back to Blackmore in time.”
Turning to stand, Mason grabbed a three-foot branch from behind the tree and struck Anton one final time before using it against the brush to alert the growing horde of their presence. As the crowd headed toward them, Mason cocked an eyebrow and looked from the Feeders back to Anton. “Good luck…”
Heading back to the cabin, Mason watched as the line of Feeders made their way to Anton, who had slumped over and lost consciousness just before he was overrun. Pulling the door open, Mason tapped the barrel of his pistol against the wall of the wood cabin. “It’s time… we need to get going. This place is about to get a whole lot nastier.”
Travis, already standing, looked no worse than he did before Mason left the cabin. Either the three men had come to a mutual understanding or Randy picked places to injure the young man where they would be the least visible. Randy motioned for the door and followed as Travis made his way around Mason. “Let’s go Major Daniels,” Randy said. “We’ve got some ground to cover.”
As he picked up one of the two weapons left behind, Major Daniels cursed as he thumbed through the remaining ro
unds left in the clip. “This one’s only got five rounds and I’ve got one in the chamber. We better pray that the long walk back doesn’t get too interesting.”
“I’ve got less than ten,” Mason said. “Randy… you?”
“I should be good for about the same. I didn’t use any on the way here and only a few getting to you all.”
The four men stepped out the rear door and watched as the growing horde laid waste to the large man tied to the tree. Stopping for a moment, Mason noticed that although these creatures appeared physically to be the same as the Feeders they had been battling for the better part of the last fifteen days, they were not. As they the tore apart the flesh and devoured most of what they pulled free, they also appeared to challenge one another for dominance. Pushing shoulder to shoulder and at times even snarling and biting at one another. These Feeders appeared to be aware of one another. Mason turned to his father-in-law, “Is this something new?”
“Mason, when we get back to Blackmore, there are things you’ll see that are inconceivable,” Major Daniels said.
Out in front of the four men and being led by Randy, Travis stopped and turned to Mason and the others. “Yeah, if Goodwin doesn’t get there first.”
Unable to turn away from the creatures, Mason shook his head and watched as Anton’s life came to an abrupt end with the removal of his throat. “What’s he talking about? Do I even want to know?” Mason asked as the ravenous Feeders finished their destruction and curiously moved their attention to the woods beyond the cabin.
Randy turned to see Anton’s limp body slump forward, only held by the shredded ropes that were loosely bound to the base of the tree. “Not really, we have to…”
Struggling for the last several minutes to make peace with his role in this group of men, Major Daniels interrupted, “Mason… we don’t have time. The kid is correct; we need to get back to Blackmore as soon as possible. I realize you’ve had a tough time getting here, although…”
The trees beyond the cabin parted briefly revealing what had caught the attention of the group of Feeders. Three large gray wolves patted the ground in circles as they growled intently at the horde that started toward them. Their tricolored fur was speckled with strawberry red stains from face to tail. They appeared out of their element and almost scared. The smallest of the three appeared hurt and limped along on three legs behind the other two.
The group stood paralyzed as the first of three wolves moved forward looking past the group of Feeders. Mason peered at the ground as he took two steps backward. “I didn’t know wolves even existed in this part of the country… Richard?”
“Mason, you’ve seen humans eating one another for the last two weeks and this is what has piqued your curiosity? Trust me when I tell you that before the day is out you’re going to question a lot more than these wolves.”
Now within striking distance of the Feeders, the largest of the pack leaped forward and took the head of the first Feeder into its razor sharp teeth. Reeling backward into the group, the massive wolf pinned the flailing sub-human against the tree still partially occupied by Anton. With the first powerful snap of its jaw, the wolf ripped away a large portion of the Feeder’s skull. With the second, the Feeder slumped backward and the wolf continued to thrash about as the remaining Feeders closed in.
Silently stumbling backward, Mason turned to the group as Randy, pistol raised and finger on the trigger, tracked the wolf as it backed away from the horde. Before he was able to squeeze off a single round, Mason grabbed his wrist and with the other hand put a finger to his own lips requesting silence. Nodding in agreement, Randy lowered his weapon and watched as Mason pointed to the far tree line. The group of four slowly moved toward the thick row of trees at the base of the incline leading to the remainder of their trek to Blackmore.
The two larger, more aggressive wolves circled the horde. They traded growls and darted from one spot to the next, appearing to understand their fate if they continued to battle their relentless attackers.
The remaining wolf, pacing behind the others, spotted Mason and Randy exiting the area. It started toward them only to be reminded of its injured right leg. Its yelp triggered the attention of the horde as it cowered behind a water pump at the rear of the cabin.
Nauseous at the sight of the defenseless animal being torn apart and its pitiful cries for help going unanswered, Travis quickly turned and headed for the opening in the trees. Randy, Major Daniels and Mason all followed closely and upon reaching the clearing, turned to find they hadn’t been followed by either predator.
“Those wolves will be back. They’ll outrun those things and then come for us,” Mason said. “They’ve got the taste of blood and we won’t be able to stop them. We haven’t got near enough firepower.”
Travis spoke before Randy had a chance to silence him. “That’s the least of our worries.”
99
Surprised to see the two women huddled around the monitors with the backlight illuminating the room, Parker sensed their concern even from the windowed hall. The room was dead silent upon entering save for the buzz from the server closet near the exit. The fluorescent overhead lights flickered to life as Savannah and Eleanor held their hands above their brows attempting to block the glare and focus on the person entering the room. “Ladies, why aren’t you resting?” Parker asked. “Savannah, you especially need to get some sleep.”
“I can’t find Randy, I’ve looked everywhere,” Savannah said. “Where could he have gone?”
Moving in behind one of the main workstations, Parker took control of the video feed and began to run it backward. “Keep watching. We’ll find him. When was the last time either of you saw him?”
Looking away for a moment, Eleanor said, “April and I passed him in the hall just a few hours ago. He looked…”
“Wait,” Savannah said. “There he is.”
“Where?”
“Back up the video from the rear door,” Savannah said. “I think that was him.”
Parker switched between feeds and focused on the video from the door Mason exited only hours ago following Frank. Running it back slowly, the three women gasped as they watched in reverse as Randy came in and out of the frame dressed in the standard issue fatigues. Upon running the footage back in real time they noticed he was checking the weapons he had before racing off into the woods and out of sight.
“He’s probably going to help Mason… but why?” Parker said. “The terrain in this area is not very forgiving and in his condition he’ll need all the…” Turning her attention to Savannah, she realized her tactlessness. “I’m sorry, I’m sure he’s fine.”
Hands straddling both sides of the computer, Savannah shook her head. Looking up at Parker she said, “When he gets back here, he’s gonna have to deal with me and I’m going to be much worse than anything out there, mark my words.”
Parker simply smiled at Savannah and turned her attention back to the video feed, knowing all too well that the dangers outside of this building were something Savannah could never fully comprehend.
. . .
The air vent pointed directly at the bed she slept on invaded her sleep much too early. The vivid images locked away in her mind were the only thing she had left. Even the time they spent apart was more appealing than waking to the hell that her world had become. April pulled the thick fleece blanket up over her body and tried to venture back into the land of her dreams, only to be met by the memories of the life she now lived. Even with her eyes involuntarily closing every few minutes, the thought of her semi-conscious son lying motionless only a few rooms away destroyed any chance she might have to return to sleep.
Alone in the dark, April raised her exhausted body from the bed, sat with her back to the door and prayed for the first time in years. Initially, for the miracle her son needed and then for the safe return of her husband and father. She cried in silence and her sorrow turned to heavy sobs that she was no longer able to control. April didn’t understand why, although the feel
ing that both prayers would go unanswered grew heavy inside her with each second that passed.
Staring into the dark corners of the cold sterile room, she used her shirtsleeve to dry her face. Placing her feet on the floor, the tile below felt cool through the thin cotton socks she pulled over her exhausted calf muscles. I don’t want to live here; these walls are only delaying what is ultimately going to happen to all of us. I don’t want to live… anywhere.
Pacing just inside the door, not wanting to face what may lie just a few feet down the hall, April snatched a sweater from the rack and gently slid it over her head. Not a soul occupied the women’s lounge, as was also the case in the kitchen. Turning the corner meant facing the reality of her son’s current condition and she wished she had her mother at her side for support. Without notice, the door behind her opened and Savannah emerged.
“He is going to get himself killed! The idiot was shot in the arm less than a day ago and now… this.”
“Savannah, have you seen my mother?”
“Yes… she’s in there with Parker. I’m sorry. Randy took off after Mason and didn’t tell anyone. He’s in no condition to be running off through the woods and I had to find out by seeing it on video.”
“He’s the most capable of any of us. Randy will be fine, I promise. Where are you headed?” April asked. This small talk released her mind, if only temporarily from the relentless thoughts of their situation, even though she was barely able to stay present in the conversation.
“I guess I’ll give sleep another try, now that I know that my cousin decided to have another one of his save the entire world moments.” Savannah turned from April and walked down the hall continuing to murmur as she entered the makeshift bedroom.
Pausing for a long minute before pulling open the door, April gathered her thoughts and composed herself, not wanting to worry Eleanor with things she had no control over. Her mother was just as devastated. “Mom, I’m going to check on Justin. Would you like to come along?”
