Onslaught

by Drew Brown

  “No, Monsieur Ashby,” Juliette said quietly, shaking her head.

  “Sorry, honey, but Bogey’s got my vote.”

  Danek approached Andy with his hands held up and his palms open. “I want to check,” he said.

  Andy nodded and let the dark-haired man pass.

  “I’m going to count down from five,” Sanders said. “And then you’d better have stepped aside.”

  “Or?” Andy said.

  Sanders twisted the knife blade back and forth in his glove-encased hand.

  Behind Andy, Danek knelt beside the tattooed woman’s body and ran his fingers over her forehead. He looked to Juliette and then beckoned for her to come over to him.

  Budd was aware of Juliette leaving his side, but he kept his attention on Andy, who was still refusing to move out of the soldiers’ path.

  “Five,” Sanders said.

  Things were getting out of hand.

  But I was sure Bogey and Sanders had it covered…

  “Four.”

  “Hey, chief,” Budd said. “They mean what they say. Why don’t—”

  I spoke too soon…

  29

  Danek shoved Andy in his back, snatching the Glock from the maintenance man’s tool-belt. Andy crashed against Sanders, throwing off the soldier’s aim.

  Bogey was equally unsighted by the sudden move.

  Danek grabbed Juliette and rammed the Glock’s muzzle against her temple. He wrapped his other arm around her neck and hauled her from the damp grass.

  Sanders and Bogey levelled their MP-5s at Danek. Budd did the same with the shotgun, but all three were too late to intervene.

  The Pole backed away, dragging Juliette with him. She had to stand on her tiptoes to stop the taller man from choking her. Her eyes locked onto Budd’s eyes, gaping wide above a mouth that was jammed closed.

  Danek stepped on the tattooed woman’s body as he retreated. She groaned but remained unconscious.

  Andy scrambled away behind the soldiers.

  “Drop the gun,” Sanders shouted.

  I yelled something too. It probably didn’t make sense...

  “You, the pilot,” Danek said, nodding towards Budd. The Pole kept his body moving, bobbing from side-to-side, using Juliette as a shield. “You get in truck. We help others, then I let her go.”

  Budd shook his head. “No dice.”

  “Then she dies,” Danek said, jerking Juliette’s neck.

  “Put the gun down now. Maybe then, buddy, maybe I won’t shoot you.”

  Even the inbred progeny of yokels raised around a nuclear testing facility could’ve seen through my bravado—I had squat.

  And he knew it...

  “You won’t fire,” Danek said. “You help.”

  I couldn’t look away from Juliette. Her eyes were as wide and as scared as Katrina’s had been on the boat. In the dingy little galley, I’d pleaded for her life and got nowhere.

  Being macho wasn’t working.

  Running away wouldn’t help.

  I tried to think of something else…

  Budd lowered the shotgun. “Guys,” he said, looking from Sanders to Bogey. “Do me a favor. Stand at ease.”

  Bogey lowered his weapon. Sanders hesitated a while longer, but finally he did the same.

  “Now, Danek, you let Juliette go and we’ll talk ’bout this, yeah?”

  “No more talk,” Danek shouted.

  The tattooed woman’s left leg jerked sideways.

  Terrific...

  Sanders let his MP-5 dangle from its strap and scooped up his combat knife from the floor. He took small steps until he reached the tattooed woman’s body.

  He knelt beside her.

  “What are you doing?” Andy asked, but the strength had drained from his voice.

  The rest of the group simply watched as Sanders placed his glove-encased left hand over the tattooed woman’s eyes, holding her head still. He pushed the blade’s point to a spot behind the gory-stump of her missing ear. He paused for a second, mumbling something beneath his breath, then thrust the long knife inwards until the hilt reached her skull.

  The tattooed woman let out a gasp and her left hand shook, her fingers slapping back against her palm until Sanders withdrew the blade.

  After that, she was still.

  Sanders stood slowly to face Danek. He slid the knife inside its sheath on his belt and then placed his hand his MP-5’s grip, although he kept the weapon down at his side. “Soon,” Sanders said quietly, “we’ll all be dead, unless we get far away from here. We don’t have fucking time for this. So, on zero, I start shooting. And then whoever is left alive goes to the mansion and turns on the power so we can escape this fucking place. Am I making myself clear?”

  What can I say? The guy liked counting backwards. But it wasn’t going to help Juliette.

  I started to panic…

  Danek made no reply.

  “Five.”

  Budd took a deep breath. Sweat leaked from his palms and he felt weak at his knees.

  “Four.”

  Danek hauled Juliette away, edging towards the truck. The flatbed’s canvas cover was just visible through the swirling fog. Reacting to the escalating tension, Juliette made small jarring movements, trying to loosen Danek’s grip. She tugged at his wrist, trying to pry it away from her neck.

  He was too strong.

  Her eyes stayed locked onto mine—just like Katrina’s had…

  “Three,” Sanders said.

  Talking hadn’t worked on the boat…

  Bogey prepared to fire.

  Budd felt delirious, like his head was spinning.

  I didn’t know if Sanders or Bogey could make the shot.

  Sure, Danek was ’bout to have more holes than fancy cheese, but what concerned me was whether they’d miss Juliette.

  Or if they’d even bother to try...

  “Two.”

  Sometimes you can hear stupid decisions coming down the track. Other times, they come right out of the blue…

  “One.”

  With more time, I might’ve come up with a better plan…

  Budd raised his shotgun and spun to his left. He peered along the barrel, his eyes locked on Sanders.

  The dark-haired soldier flashed him a fearsome look, but kept his own weapon covering Danek. “What the fuck are you doing, Ashby?”

  “Sorry, skipper. But you both need to lower your weapons. I’ll take him to the village.”

  “There isn’t time!”

  “Probably not,” Budd said. “But it’s the only option I see where my favorite French lady doesn’t become significantly less wind resistant.”

  Sanders lowered his MP-5. “You’re putting all our lives in danger.”

  I’m sure he meant to say in more danger…

  Budd flicked his head in the truck’s direction, although he never took his eyes from Sanders. “Don’t just stand there,” he said to Danek. “Move your ass.”

  “I’ll help, dudes,” Sam said. He jangled the truck’s keys. “And I’ve got these.”

  “I’m coming too,” Andy said, rushing after the Californian.

  Budd listened to their retreating footsteps. He kept his shotgun aimed at Sanders.

  “Reconsider this, Ashby,” Sanders said.

  “Listen,” Budd replied, lowering his voice so that only the soldiers would hear. “The village is five minutes down the road; I used to drink there all the time. So, whatever we find, we’ll be no more than fifteen minutes, and then we can knuckle down to gettin’ my backside somewhere safe and, well, not exactly warm. But you get the idea.”

  “You think it’ll be that easy? We have no idea what’s out there. The truck will attract trouble.”

  Budd laughed. “Probably. But, heck, I’m due some good luck.”

  “I thought you were all about you?”

  “This is about me,” Budd said with a smile. “If the world’s over, and we ride our luck all the way to Hope Island, I don’t wanna be a stud-muffin at
a sausage-fest.”

  Bogey chuckled and slung his MP-5 over his shoulder. “I’ll give you a hand.”

  Sanders sighed. “Fuck it,” he said. “I’ll guard the hangars. Don’t be long, Ashby. We’re counting on you.”

  “You’ll see me soon,” Budd said.

  Hopefully not as I shamble back over the hill...

  Budd jogged to the truck with Bogey at his side. Andy waved to them from inside the canvas-covered flat-bed. “In you get,” Budd said to the soldier. “I doubt you’re welcome up front.”

  “You’re probably right. You know the way?”

  “To the nearest pub? What do you think?”

  Budd ran on to the cab. He opened the passenger door and stepped up. Juliette was on the nearest of the three seats. Her face brightened with a smile when she saw him.

  Danek was sitting in the middle seat. He had the Glock pushed below Juliette’s ribs.

  Sam was behind the wheel.

  “Room for one more, baby doll?” Budd said. “I know a short cut.”

  Straight to Hell...

  30

  Sam accelerated away before Budd managed to pull the door shut. He wedged himself into the sliver of seat, stowing the shotgun upright between his legs.

  The truck’s black dashboard complimented the brown-fabric seat coverings; there was no radio, no electric windows or mirror controls, and only rudimentary gauges behind a clear plastic screen in front of the driver.

  Deacon’s ramblings about TimeTech being prepared for things like electro-magnetic pulses made a brief return to the front of my mind. Of course, maybe the transport manager simply had a tight budget...

  As soon as Budd had stopped fidgeting, Juliette grabbed his hand and wove her fingers around his.

  “Like, which way?”

  “Spin one-eighty and follow the road as far as it goes. Then it’ll get bumpy.”

  “Okay,” Sam said, and he turned the truck around, bouncing it down onto the grass and then back onto the road. Once he had straightened the vehicle, he stepped down on the accelerator and they began to gain speed.

  Budd watched as the speedometer needle jerked over the thirty-miles-an-hour mark. “You know, unless you have X-ray vision to go with your poker-playing superpowers, you might wanna think ’bout slowing down.”

  I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt...

  Sam nodded and the truck’s momentum started to decrease. The Californian swept his hand through his long, greasy hair. “Sorry, dude. I wasn’t thinking. It’s just so messed up, I totally can’t believe we’re living through the zompocalypse.”

  I couldn’t believe there was a word for it…

  “Enough talk,” Danek said tersely. “My Minka is in flat above pub. Pilot, do you know where it is? I came through woods, not by road. I am lost.”

  “That depends, buddy.”

  “‘Depends?’”

  Budd looked Danek in the eye. “On whether you’re gonna stop pointin’ your gun at the one person who was actually willing to help you?”

  Danek nodded. He sucked his lips against his teeth and lowered the Glock. “Yes, I am sorry. I needed your help. I must save my Minka.”

  The Pole started to cry.

  It was kinda reassuring to know I wasn’t alone in walking a tightrope of mental instability. I’d been on the verge of tears ever since I’d stood on the balcony in Juliette’s hotel room...

  “Then, yeah,” Budd said, nodding. “I know the way to The Rose and Crown. Back in the day—well, the other day—I had a lady friend who worked there.”

  “A lady friend, Monsieur Ashby?”

  Budd met Juliette’s question with a smile. He brushed some dirt from her collar. “Yeah, you know, a lady who’s a friend.”

  Under the scrutiny of her impossibly large eyes, I think I blushed. And that takes a lot...

  “Dude, didn’t I hear you say you had, like, nine wives?”

  “Just five,” Budd said, chuckling. “And not all at once. But I had even more lady friends.”

  “Monsieur Ashby,” Juliette said. “You sound like a schoolboy.”

  I’ve been called worse...

  “Like, there’s the end of the road,” Sam said.

  Budd raised his eyes to the windshield and saw where the dark strip of asphalt blended into a rutted dirt track. “Keep going; it winds through the wood for a few hundred yards and then we make a left onto the main road. Two more minutes and we’re there.”

  “No problem,” Sam said with a determined nod.

  The truck slipped into the wooded area and the fog thickened; visibility retracted around them, enveloping them in the grim darkness. The tall trees rose like black lines from the ground until the foliage inflated above them, like giant umbrellas that obscured the faint daylight. Even after Sam switched on the headlights, there was little change to the view ahead.

  Inside the cab, the four of them bounced around, buffeted by the uneven track and Sam’s erratic driving. He missed a gear and the engine revved up; he swore beneath his breath as he forced the stick home.

  Budd felt his palms moisten. “So, Danek, what’s the plan? Where do we meet the others?”

  “We sheltered in rooms above pub. We thought it would be safe. Minka was very tired and other woman had broken leg. The man said he would keep them safe while we found help.”

  It couldn’t be…

  “What man? Dark suit, lots of rings?”

  “Yes,” Danek nodded.

  Damn. I’d really hoped Chris had been eaten already...

  “We tried to sneak away,” Danek continued, “but one of those things chased us. I killed it with a rock from stream, but it was too late to save girl. I carried her.”

  Sam glanced over at us as he drove. “Were there other fast-movers around the village, dude?”

  “I did not see them. It is okay; my Minka will be quiet. She will be waiting. We will park outside pub and she will come to us.”

  “Hold up a second, champ,” Budd interjected. “We’re not taking the truck into the village; we might as well just smear ourselves with ketchup. We’ll pull over before we get there and you can sneak back in and bring the others out.”

  “No,” Danek said, shaking his head. “They are injured. We take truck to them. Me and you, pilot, we stay together.”

  “Not likely, sunshine.”

  Danek’s face flashed with anger. He jammed the tip of the Glock back into Juliette’s side.

  She gasped with pain.

  “Come on, buddy. Shake off the attitude.”

  “We drive there,” Danek shouted, spittle erupting from his mouth in a torrent. “We drive there and my Minka will come out. My Minka is safe. Then you fly us to Europe. We can go home.”

  Danek’s eyes were glazed, his emotions teeter-tottered like fat kids on a seesaw, he was unstable and, quite frankly, he looked ready to explode into violence. It gave me flashbacks to my third wife hittin’ the whiskey on a Saturday night…

  “Hey,” Budd said as calmly as he could muster, “put the gun down, I just think we should do some scouting. The truck might attract those things and put us all in danger. Think ’bout Minka, would you?”

  “Budd’s right, dude,” Sam said, flicking his eyes from the windshield. He navigated the end of the dirt track and pulled onto the main road, where the sunken reflectors in the center of the asphalt reflected the truck’s headlights, shining like fallen stars along the route. “We shouldn’t get too close.”

  “Keep fucking driving,” Danek shouted.

  “Please, you are hurting me,” Juliette said, squeezing closer to Budd, moving away from the handgun.

  Danek maintained the pressure, not letting her escape.

  “Just hold on, honey,” Budd said. He looked across at Sam. “We’re not far now. It’s time to pull over, slick.”

  “No, no, no!” Danek screamed. He thumped his free hand against the dashboard, smashing a piece of the cheap, brittle plastic. He was crying again, the tears streaming down his face.
“Keep driving or she dies.”

  “What should I do?” Sam asked, looking to Budd for an answer. Strands of the Californian’s long hair draped across his forehead, suspended in the sweat beads that leaked from his brow. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.

  Driving into the village was a bad idea.

  In fact, it was the kind of idea that teenage kids have in slasher movies—and I’m in no shape to wear tank tops.

  Or hot pants.

  But I didn’t see much of a choice. Danek was calling the shots. Being a natural optimist, I was quietly confident that everything would be fine…

  “Keep goin’. The pub’s on our left, not far now,” Budd said. “Slow down a bit now and I’ll say when.”

  Sam lowered the truck’s speed to a velocity that the speedometer could barely register. The needle bounced with the bumps in the road.

  Budd brushed his thumb across Juliette’s left cheek and gave her a wink when she looked at him. “Nearly there, honey.”

  She smiled but then winced with pain as Danek jerked the Glock beneath her ribcage. The Pole had spotted something on the road ahead of them. “What is that?” he asked.

  Sam altered the truck’s course, guiding it to the right and passing the dismembered bodies that littered the road’s left-hand lane.

  Budd looked away, but wished that he’d done so sooner.

  I counted one head, three feet, five hands and more lumps of flesh and guts than anyone has ever seen outside a Chinese restaurant’s kitchen…

  Ahead of them, patches in the fog began to darken, tainted by the outlines of the buildings it concealed.