Beneath: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Taken World Book 4)

by Flint Maxwell

  “No, we need to find Ray!”

  “I’ll find him. You and the others get somewhere safe. Somewhere that doesn’t have any openings,” Tyler said. As if that matters, he added mentally. These bastards will just smash through the walls. It occurred to him again that nowhere was safe from these things.

  May wrenched her arm free of his grip. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you and I’m not leaving Ray.”

  There was no arguing with her, Tyler knew; when May set her mind to something, it was near impossible to change it.

  “Fine.” He turned to Avery, who had his arms wrapped around Florence. She was crying. “You two get out. Go find somewhere safe. May and I will find Ray.”

  Avery, the good leader that he was, knew when to hand over the reins. Florence needed his love and support, and he couldn’t both fight the monsters and comfort her.

  He nodded, grabbed Florence’s hand, and the two of them disappeared into the dark corridor outside of the sporting goods store.

  The feeling of being stranded on an island came over Tyler as he watched their figures evaporate. He turned away, facing the dark of the stockroom before him, May at his side.

  Something shifted near the corner of the large room, something inhuman, a sound he hated to hear.

  20

  Finding Ray

  May lunged forward after the sound. Tyler had to hold her back, and he found that he almost couldn’t. She was strong enough as it was, but now she was determined, too. A strong, determined May was like a train off the tracks, barreling right toward you.

  He just barely grabbed the hem of her shirt.

  “No,” he whispered.

  “But it could be Ray.”

  Tyler played the sound over in his head. It had been a wet, almost squelching noise. A slimy thing slithering across the concrete floor. Certainly not human, certainly not Ray.

  “Just wait,” he said now, and he tapped his ears, telling her to listen.

  They waited for what seemed like a long moment. They heard nothing. Tyler would’ve guessed two whole minutes passed before the muscles in his body loosened up and his heart rate fell to a somewhat normal pace. After that two minutes, he stepped forward. His flashlight beam was already weakening. It needed new batteries…new batteries he didn’t have. He shined the light in front of them, to the sides, and above. They saw nothing.

  May followed behind Tyler, gripping his jacket tight. Their footsteps weren’t footsteps at all; they were more like nervous shuffles.

  Through the middlemost row they went, now at the back of the room. Tyler shined the weak flashlight beam to the left.

  It caught something.

  A liquid, glimmering on the floor.

  Quickly, he turned to May and said, “Don’t look. Promise me you won’t look.”

  But that was futile. She shoved past him. When she saw what lay before her, a choked sob escaped her throat. Once the sob came and went, she screamed. It was a horrible scream, one that hurt Tyler to hear.

  Ray lay on the floor. A small pool of blood surrounded him—really, just a puddle. The monster that Avery had shot was perched on top of him. Well…at least part of it was.

  A leech-like part of its gummy body extended outward from where it was latched onto Ray’s neck, between the top of his shoulder and the bottom of his left ear.

  Ray’s eyes stared straight up at nothing. No part of him moved. Looking at him, it was easy to tell that he was dead. Very dead.

  The leech sucked and sucked.

  In the dim flashlight beam, Ray’s skin shriveled before their eyes, got closer and closer to the bone. Ray had once been a big man. Not so much anymore. Seeing him like this reminded Tyler of ancient Egyptian mummies.

  He reached out and grabbed May. Her body was stiff.

  Over the sucking sound coming from the monster’s extended mouth—because that’s really what that leech thing was—May’s teeth chattered loud enough for Tyler to hear them.

  “Don’t look,” he said. “Turn away.”

  But she was frozen, bolted to the ground, and she had already seen. There was no unseeing it now.

  The monster had been wounded. Avery had shot it. The bullet holes were visible…but just barely. Puckered skin, burned edges, but no blood.

  Tyler’s jaw, which had already been hanging open, dropped lower. The monster was using Ray’s blood, his life-force, to regenerate.

  On cue, something clinked on the concrete floor. Tyler’s hand shifted, and the flashlight he held illuminated the object. Silver and glimmering, it was one of the bullets. More fell after that, crumpled and bloody. The beast shed them like a snake would shed its skin.

  The monster turned and faced them, all the while, the leech part of its extended mouth continued sucking and sucking away at Ray’s corpse. His skin was paper-thin. Cheekbones stood out sharp enough to poke through. Eyes sunken in.

  It was horrendous. Tyler felt himself growing sick. He had been prepared for almost anything…but not this. Not this at all.

  Looking into the monster’s many eyes, Tyler saw a vigor, a rejuvenation.

  A hunger.

  The leech-mouth detached from Ray’s neck with a pop! The skin there was completely gone, now just a gooey, red mess. No blood dripped, though; there was hardly any blood left.

  The leech-mouth retracted. The monster’s jaws snapped shut with a resounding clamp. Slowly, it turned its head. Long teeth jutted from its red lips. It crouched.

  As it crouched, it reminded Tyler so much of a flea—an oversized one of course, with a sucker inside of its mouth capable of draining a man as large as Ray completely of blood.

  Things were not looking good for them. Both he and May seemed to be frozen, nailed to the ground.

  The monster’s eyes changed from hunger to desperation. Ray’s blood was not enough. It wanted more. Hell, Tyler thought it would never stop, not even when its stomach neared exploding and it could barely move. These creatures were relentless. The only way to beat them was to be even more relentless than they were.

  “May?” he whispered.

  A low, rattling noise came from the back of the monster’s throat.

  “May, we have to run.”

  Through tears: “I know.”

  “Take my hand.”

  She did, and she squeezed hard. He squeezed back, letting her know it would be okay, everything would be okay. They would make it out of this alive. No matter what. He tried to make that squeeze say more than he ever could. Right then, he didn’t have many words. Seeing this abomination before him had taken the words long before they could’ve reached his tongue.

  The low, rattling gave way to a growl, coming from deep within the monster’s bowels. Lips peeled back fully, its jagged, red-stained teeth showed. Then, moving like lightning, the monster lunged forward. Tyler and May had thought they were ready, but short of holing up in a military tank—and that was debatable—no one could’ve been prepared for this beast’s mad pursuit.

  They weren’t, but they had to try.

  Tyler yanked on May’s arm as hard as he could. She cried out in pain. It crossed his mind that the arm he nearly pulled from its socket was the one she’d broken only months ago. That didn’t matter now. Having a busted it arm was much better than death.

  Tyler stumbled as he ran, shouting out in surprise, but he kept his footing and his hold on May.

  Behind them, the metal shelves that lined the stockroom began toppling over, one after the other, like dominoes. The noise was catastrophic. It almost felt like they were running through a battlefield, instead of through the back room of an abandoned sporting goods store.

  Tyler shouldered through the stockroom’s door. He crossed the court. The monster burst through behind them, jaws snapping, growling ravenously. Tyler thought—though the rational part of his mind knew this was completely insane—that he could hear the blood, Ray’s blood, sloshing in the creature’s belly.

  “C’mon!” he shouted. “Get in front
of me!”

  He sling-shotted May forward. She stumbled, fell, and bounced up crazy fast, knocking over stacked boxes of Puma and Adidas shoes. Tyler turned and faced the creature, raising his gun. He was going to end this. End it once and for all.

  Except…as he turned, as he faced the darkened basketball court, the monster was not there.

  He stood still. Stock-still. He would’ve given the mannequin to his right modeling the latest Jordan Brand basketball gear a run for its money.

  “Tyler!” May shouted.

  She sounded far away. Tyler ignored her, straining his ears. Low, and farther away than May had sounded, he heard the grumbling growl of the beast.

  Above him?

  How was that possible?

  “Tyler, come on!” May was on the verge of hysteria, and rightfully so.

  How Tyler was still standing after he’d seen what he’d seen, he didn’t know. But he was.

  Tyler turned, that low, rattling growl echoing in his ears, and he rushed out of the store.

  Together, he and May pulled down the shutter meant to deter break-ins. The gate rattled closed, dimly sounding the same as the monster hidden somewhere in the darkness.

  “We need to find the others,” May said. “Before it’s too late.”

  Tyler turned to face her. Her eyes were wet and shining. Her face was red. She trembled slightly.

  “May, are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “Of course I’m not okay. But I’m alive. That’s something, right?”

  Tyler nodded.

  “You taught me how to be strong. All those months ago, when you saved me and killed the scorpion monster, that’s when it started. You taught me how to be brave,” she said. “And I’m doing my best. I’m not gonna quit.”

  “You’re doing great,” he replied. “You make me stronger and braver, too.”

  “Two peas in a pod, eh?”

  Tyler smiled. It wasn’t a good smile. They rarely were these days.

  21

  Finding the Others

  Avery and Florence were in a men’s fine clothing store. In the windows were tacky tuxedos and signs offering discounts to wedding parties.

  The shutters were down, but unlike those of the sporting goods store in the opposite corridor, these were hard plastic instead of metal. They looked sturdy enough, but any crook worth their salt could bust through without problem. Then again, if someone wanted to get into a place—really wanted to get in—they would find a way. Maybe the monsters and people weren’t so different after all.

  Tyler heard the low whispers of his friends through the shutters. He tapped on the barrier with his gun, May standing in front of him. The blurred shapes of Avery and Florence moved slightly. Florence gasped.

  “They’re here. Monsters,” she said.

  “Relax, it’s us,” Tyler whispered.

  Footsteps came toward the door. The shutters came up about two feet, moving soundlessly on their tracks. Tyler and May army-crawled beneath it into the suit store. The place smelled like mothballs and old leather, but there was a large, plush couch on the far end by the fitting rooms and many-angled mirrors. For the bored wife-to-be or best friend, Tyler thought. He went to the couch and fell into its heavy cushions.

  “Where’s Ray?” Florence asked, but Avery was already preparing for the news. He hung his head down, slouched.

  “He—he didn’t make it,” May answered.

  Florence said, “No-no-no, this is bad. Not Ray.” She turned and faced Avery. “Where’s your God of Karma now? Huh?”

  Avery didn’t answer, and Tyler was too exhausted and scared to ask what Florence was talking about. The adrenaline that had spiked through his veins while fleeing from the monster had dissipated; all he was left with now was high blood pressure, a backache, and a cold feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

  May pursued when Tyler couldn’t.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  Florence, her face a red, wet mess, put her hands on her hips and stared daggers at Avery. Avery walked on rubbery-looking legs toward the couch, and plopped down next to Tyler. He smelled of fear and adrenaline himself, a coppery, metallic scent.

  “He believes in karma. ‘Karma’ this, ‘karma’ that. We saved you guys, so good things were supposed to happen. But Ray’s dead! And we’re under attack, stuck in this suit store with barely any weapons between us. Karma, my ass,” Florence said.

  “I’m not God,” Avery muttered. “I don’t control these things.”

  “Well, you cast out Kurt and Skylar. That canceled all your good karma, right?” May replied. “Not like I believe in any of that.”

  “What do you believe?” Florence demanded.

  “I’m not sure. I guess I just believe in love and kindness.”

  The other woman snorted. “Yeah, that’ll save us.”

  Avery said, “Don’t mind her.”

  “Yes, mind me.”

  “No. You’re upset. We’re all upset. Rightfully so. But we’ll be okay. We’ll get out of this.”

  Florence didn’t reply. For that, Tyler was grateful. They were doing their best; sometimes, though, your best just wasn’t good enough.

  “We regroup. We make a plan,” Avery continued.

  “We rest, too. Don’t forget rest, Avery,” Tyler said.

  After a moment, Florence said, “I-I can’t believe Ray is gone.” She looked down at her shoes.

  May, her back turned toward everyone, burst out in tears.

  Tired or not, Tyler sat up and went to her. He put his arm around her shoulders. She was still shuddering. Her crying turned to sobbing. In the angled mirrors countless men had looked at themselves in, Tyler saw himself and May. They looked like ghosts, emaciated shadows of what they had been just months ago.

  He said nothing.

  She said nothing.

  She rested her head on his chest, and cried, and cried.

  “How many are there?” Avery said. He was in full leader mode. “My count is two. The one I shot dead, and the other one that was in the sporting goods store.”

  “More than that,” May said. “At least three. But if they got in somehow, others will be doing the same.”

  Tyler nodded. “In the backroom, I could’ve sworn there was more than just one. May’s right.”

  “Okay, so a lot. Let’s prepare for the worst.” Avery sat next to Florence. She was reclined on the couch, her head resting in Avery’s lap. “We can take them. All we have to do is get to the armory.”

  “Remind me where that’s at,” Tyler said.

  “Not far. Other corridor, about halfway down, in a janitor’s closet.”

  “The way you say that makes it seem like it’s very far.”

  Avery offered a half-smile. “We’re a little out of the way, yes, but I haven’t heard any of the monsters lately.”

  May shook her head. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  “She’s right,” Tyler added.

  Avery nodded. “I know. I’m just trying to think of one shitty thing at a time here.” His voice undulated slightly, and Florence, asleep, stirred on his lap. He stroked her hair absentmindedly. “I’d say we split up, but I’ve seen enough Scooby-Doo to know that’s never a good idea. For the sake of plot, it might work, but for the sake of our lives, I think I’ll pass.”

  By this time, they had been in the suit store for an hour. What time that made it, Tyler had not the slightest inclination. There were no windows in here, and the shutters were too blurry to make out the sky through the skylights. If he had to put money on it, he would’ve guessed that it was black, as it usually was, and that it was well past midnight. Time, though, was obsolete now.

  Still something he would never get used to.

  Just then, a noise echoed loudly through the mall corridor. Florence shot up, nearly screaming. Avery quickly put an arm around her and held her close. Tyler’s heart leapt. May stumbled.

  Together, all their eyes turned toward the shutter.
It was pitch black beyond the plastic, but Tyler thought he saw an even blacker blur moving outside of it. He couldn’t be sure. He was tired, so his brain might be playing tricks on him. He hoped no one else saw the same thing.

  For a while, it seemed they hadn’t…until May said, “What was that?”

  “Looks like they’re done waiting,” Tyler said.

  May stood up. “Bring ‘em on.”

  22

  The Reaper Advances

  More and more, Kurt Walton had begun to think of the tall man in shabby clothes as ‘the Reaper’ a few miles back. Perhaps it was telepathy, the kind reserved for old, married couples, or perhaps it was just because this man—if one could call him a man—who was leading the road bandits back toward Amsterdam Mall was, in fact, Death personified.

  Stranger things had happened. That was truer now than ever before.

  They could see the mall just over the horizon, a dark shape past the hill of Legal Street. No lights burned within it. Kurt knew that the places where the lights would be on were not places that would be broadcasted to the outside, unless the inhabitants so chose, like they had done with Tyler and May. Avery himself had shuttered all of the windows before fortifying them, most of which had been done long before Skylar and Kurt had arrived at Amsterdam. Lord knew the smug bastard bragged about it enough. But, despite the charade, a group of people lived within those sleeping walls, laughing, smiling, living. Kurt knew that. And the Reaper knew it, too. He could smell the humanity in the air, like a monster himself.

  Kurt, in the lead, with the Reaper and the two other men behind him, stopped at the apex of the hill on Legal Street. Destroyed cars lined the road, cracked windows stared at them from shops long-abandoned, and a cold wind blew—one the Reaper didn’t feel.

  “There it is,” Kurt said.

  He had not thought of his wife since they’d left her behind. To his sobering mind, she had been killed a long time ago, in the forest, by some unspeakable abomination. And that was perfectly okay, wasn’t it? Sure, maybe a decade ago he’d held some love in his heart for her, as much love as a cretin like Kurt Walton was capable of feeling, but not anymore. All he currently cared about were two things: surviving until the next drink, and getting revenge on the darky who’d had him exiled from the very mall he now stared at.