Paxton had renewed confidence after Manny’s walkthrough. Even if he didn’t know what he was doing, Paxton was sure that Manny could get them to it.
“Have the keys ready. Let’s hit it,” Manny whispered before disappearing around the corner.
Paxton was glad he didn’t freeze up. He grabbed Jeff, just in case he did, though. The two of them turned the corner and faced the mob of teens. The lips smacking grew louder as they noticed the men at the corner.
Paxton and Jeff were right on Manny’s heels as they departed the wall. So far, so good Paxton thought. Manny’s plan was working and they were making a straight line to the parking lot. Half of the monsters hadn’t even noticed them yet, but they were still gaining attention as more time went on. The monsters weren’t fast, but they were headed their way. More and more of them began to gather, slowly packing together.
There was still a straight way through the crowd. Paxton was easily keeping up with Manny while grabbing onto Jeff, making sure he stayed with him. Manny was great with a plan and even reacted fast enough, but Paxton wished the man could move faster. He noticed he moved with a slight limp, which he probably always had but had gone unnoticed until the pressure was really on.
They passed another building on the way to the parking lot. It was the children’s ministry. A large ramada hung over the front of the building so parents could wait to pick up their kids and gather, chatting with other parents before or after services. Now, it was filled with wandering monsters that had once probably been one of the kids being picked up by their parents. Paxton had to push the thought out of his mind as they squeezed through the crowd.
It started to get tight. He was getting worried because there was very little space between any of the crowd. The monsters began to close in. They were so close, Paxton could feel the wet smacking and hot breath on the back of his neck, perhaps more imagined than true, but still enough to scare him. Paxton watched it happen. It was like a slow-motion recap to some event on a sports show, but it was happening right in front of him.
Manny was sliding through a group of what were once a popular clique of teens, when one of them reached out. It grabbed onto Manny’s shoulder, and he began to pull away. He knocked one of the others down, and it grabbed his ankle. Manny twisted around and fell to the ground. The look on Manny’s face turned from determined and solid, to straight panic.
The chomping teeth began clicking and clacking as their heads neared any part of Manny’s body they could get to. It was as if, out of nowhere, they all noticed the three men trying to escape. All eyes, empty or not, were on them. Paxton quickly looked around and grabbed Manny’s leg. “Grab his other leg!” Paxton shouted to Jeff.
Jeff grabbed his leg as Manny cried out in pain. The twist from the fall had injured his ankle, but that was the least of anyone’s worries right now. They dragged Manny through the crowd and put him against the wall of the children’s ministry.
The plan was bust. There was no gap in the sea of monsters anymore. Even if there were, he didn’t know if Manny could make it, and they couldn’t leave him behind. Manny began to stand but kept most of his weight off his left ankle. The man was hurt but didn’t say a word about it. Instead, he only gritted his teeth and looked the incoming threat right in the eyes.
“What do we do?” Jeff asked, beginning to breath faster.
Manny didn’t answer. Instead, he looked ready for a fight, one he would surely lose. Paxton opened his mouth but just let his jaw hang. He had no answer. They were getting closer, slowly making their way toward him. Was he going to see his wife again? That’s all he could think of.
Before anyone else could talk, the five soulless teens to his left disappeared. A loud crash occurred. Paxton had little time to realize what had happened. A car plowed into the crowd that prevented Paxton and crew from going anywhere. The car’s engine sputtered out as the teens bodies were caught under the tires and a few began to rise from the ground, feet away from where they were thrown. The crowd of the soulless hadn’t dispersed from surrounding them on the other sides, but there was a small path open to get into the children’s ministry. Jeff helped Manny over to the doors of the building while Paxton hurried to the driver’s side door, ready to help whoever had just saved his life.
3
Daniel sat in the car, staring forward. The airbag sat dangling loose from the steering wheel. The engine sputtered off and left him in a muffled silence in the enclosed vehicle. The groaning and chomping could be heard very little through the windows. It didn’t matter to him, though. He just stared forward, watching one of the soulless he knocked across the sidewalk begin to get up, arms twisted around it’s back in a mangled mess.
It was Danny. Danny made him do this. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the steering wheel for a moment. He pictured it. He was driving down the road, wanting to get out of town. He only wanted to get to the bunker. But the road out past by the church. That’s when he saw it. The crowd of soulless, just a large mass of bodies. He would have kept driving, but he heard a scream.
Not the type of scream he is used to. The one where someone is looking for help, or even out of pure shock. This scream was from pain and confusion. It felt different when he wasn’t the one inflicting it. That triggered Danny. Danny was used to reacting to situations. He helped people. He was everybody’s friend, when in reality, he was nobody’s friend. Daniel hated Danny, but it’s what he had to have, what he had to become, if he wanted to survive in the world. Then he saw himself driving the car up onto the sidewalk toward the men. Crashing into the soulless. Trying to save their lives when he had just tried to take a life only moments before. That was his lot in life. He hated Danny for it but needed him.
Daniel lifted his head from the steering wheel as one of the men he saved approached the car. He was average in height and clean shaven. He had a relaxed look, sporting a T-shirt and jeans. Daniel wasn’t ready to converse, but he quickly put his Danny face on and looked worried. He opened the door and stepped out, not concerned with the soulless encroaching on his space.
“Are you alright?” the man asked.
Daniel nodded. “I’m fine. How are you?” He put a thick smile on when he asked the man. It probably wasn’t as appropriate as it should have been given the situation, and he wished he had looked worried instead of friendly. The man took no notice.
“We’re okay. My friend is hurt, though. We have to get inside.” The man pointed to the doors at a building that said “Children’s Ministry.”
Daniel assessed the situation, seeing the two other men. The older one was grabbing at his leg as the younger one, probably in his teens, was helping him to the door. They pulled on it, but it wouldn’t open. “Got keys?” Daniel asked.
There was no response, and Daniel nodded. He casually popped the trunk of his car and went over, pulling a tire iron out. He followed the man to the doors and motioned for everyone to give him space. “Out of the way, please.”
The glass door shattered with the first swing of the tire iron. Daniel drug it around the edges of the door frame, making sure to clear any shards that may injure them when climbing through. He held out a hand, waiting for the others to climb in before him.
As soon as Daniel was inside, the other men immediately blocked the door with a round table they had rolled in front of it. The younger one piled some chairs behind it for added measure. The three took deep breaths, relaxing a little as the pounding began on the door.
“I’m Paxton,” the man said, holding his hand out.
“Danny,” Daniel said, grabbing his hand.
The other two held their hands up when their names were called. “That’s Manny and Jeff. Thank God you came when you did.”
Daniel smirked when he heard that. “I’m not sure he had anything to do with it, but you’re welcome,” Daniel said.
“Either way, it’s great timing. Do you know what’s going on? These people, they look, well they look—”
“Soulless,” Daniel
finished his sentence for him.
“That’s exactly it. What’s happening?”
Daniel shrugged. “I’m not really sure. It has something to do with the event. It came early. It’s not just here.” Daniel continued on and informed them of the news story.
“What the fuck, man?” Manny finally said after the long silence.
“How do we get out of here?” Jeff asked, still anxious.
Daniel waited for the reply. He was just as interested. Now that Danny had emerged and decided he was going to save these people, he was without a car. He fucking hated himself for it, but that’s what civilization did to him. He was so used to trying to fit in when it mattered that it became second nature. And because of it, he added one more obstacle in his way of trying to get to the bunker.
Paxton looked to Jeff. “I’ll take the keys. I can get to the car and bring it up here. The four of us will pile in and we’ll get out.”
“How will you get through them?” Manny asked, rubbing his ankle.
Paxton shrugged. There’s got to be a back door out of here, right? I’ll dip around the building and make it to the parking lot. Maybe drive it up the sidewalk like Danny did.”
Manny nodded in agreement. Daniel said nothing but thought about the plan. It was about the best that could have been said, and he didn’t want to take the leadership role. Part of being Danny meant just sitting back and not drawing attention. He was the perfect follower. Taking charge meant more eyes on him, which meant any slip up could be detected. Besides, Paxton was putting himself at risk for them, so he had no drawback from this plan.
“Pastor, uh Paxton.” Jeff’s voice could barely be heard over the banging on the table blocking the soulless from entering. His voice was shaky, almost like a child fessing up to doing something wrong but was afraid of the punishment.
“Just give me the keys, I’ll find the car,” Paxton said with confidence, holding out his hand.
“That’s the problem,” Jeff said. “The keys. I dropped them outside.”
“What?” Paxton exclaimed.
“It must have been when we grabbed Manny. I had them in my hand, but I had to use both hands to pull him. They’re out there.” Jeff pointed to the blockade as it shook.
Paxton rubbed his hands through his hair. Daniel could sense the man’s frustration. But he could also tell he was trying to hold it in. If he was a pastor, the last thing he wanted to do was yell at the kid when it was a complete accident. Either way, it put them all in a tough situation. What was the plan now?
“What about Danny’s car?” Manny spoke up.
Daniel shook his head. “Engine shut down when I ran over those things.”
“Those things are my friends,” Jeff mumbled.
“No offense,” Daniel offered halfheartedly.
Jeff shrugged and looked at his feet, shuffling them around. Paxton shook his head and finally spoke up. “Then I guess it’s my car. It’s just on the other side of the campus. I should be able to make it to the east parking lot from the back door.”
“It’s pretty far,” Jeff said.
“And the gate is locked,” Manny spoke up, clearing his throat.
“What do you mean?” Paxton asked.
“I mean, I locked it. Most people parked in the west lot, so I left that one open and locked the east lot.”
“And your keys—”
“Are out in the crowd.”
“Shit,” Paxton let out.
The table started rumbling hard. It began to give way and slide across the room. Jeff saw it, panic filling his eyes. Daniel quickly pushed against it. Against his better judgment, he decided to give his opinion. “Whatever we need to do, let’s get it done.”
“The spare keys. Jerry keeps a spare set of keys in his office.”
“The head pastor?” Jeff asked.
Manny nodded. “Yeah, if something happened, he’d be able to get in and out if he stayed late working on a sermon or something.”
“Okay, great. It’s all the way at the north end. So, I’d have to head over there, get in, get the keys, then make it to the east lot and bring my truck over.”
“I’d go, but—”
“I know. You’d only slow me down. And Jeff and Danny need to stay here to help keep them out,” Paxton said, more to himself than anyone else. “Besides, I’ll be quicker just worrying about myself.”
Daniel watched everything go down. Paxton seemed like a good man. He would risk himself for the others. It was what he sometimes wished he could be with Danny, but it would require a genuineness he didn’t have.
Paxton jogged down the hallway, past the coloring pages taped to the wall of varying skill level. If Paxton didn’t make it, Daniel would have to figure out a better way to get out of this situation that Danny had put him in. He wondered what the likelihood of Paxton succeeding would be. He seemed genuine and caring, but he didn’t seem like he had the means to make it out in the crowd of soulless. That meant, Daniel might have to figure it out himself.
Daniel waited, listening for the door to open and shut. Once it did, he looked to Manny and Jeff. It was obvious Jeff was going to be no use. He was young and scared. Maybe he did well in school, but he definitely didn’t have the means to assess this sort of situation. That left Manny. The man seemed like he had been around. The tattoos were a giveaway for some of his past, probably questionable and rough. It meant he was going to do well in a stressful situation, or at least not back down from a fight. Maybe he was on a different path for his life now, but what one has done in their past always seems to seep through to the person they are trying to be. Daniel was a true testament to that.
The banging and pushing became more forceful. He pushed back, scooting a chair out of the way to put his back against the table. There was only a half inch of compressed particle board between him and the soulless. It was a position he didn’t want to be in. He had to think of a better way, and possibly one where he wasn’t the point man in the situation.
“Manny, right?” Daniel said with a chipper tone placed on the end.
Manny looked at Daniel. “Yeah, boss?”
Daniel wasn’t used to being called that but shrugged. “What’s in this building? Anywhere we can get to easily that may have better walls?”
Manny nodded. “Yeah, lots of little rooms. Like little classrooms.”
Daniel pictured it in his head. If it was what he thought, that wouldn’t work. They’d be cornered. No windows, one door in and out. The soulless would surely get in when they left the barricade, and there would be no hope for them to get out or, even if Paxton did make it, no way for him to get in to them.
“Anything else? Somewhere we can hole up in that we can get out if needed?”
“Can’t we just stay here?” Jeff asked sheepishly.
A window broke over Daniel’s left shoulder just as Jeff said that. The table began to give in behind him. Pieces of the particle board splintered in random places. One hit Daniel right in the back with a spike of pain. As Daniel had found out earlier, the soulless felt no pain. They were probably making their hands and fingers bloody from the clawing and banging against the table.
“Not gonna work, kid. If we try to stay here, they will get in. We need to have a plan before that happens or we’ll all be dead.”
Daniel switched his attention back to Manny. His head was low and his eyes darted back and forth. It was going to be difficult to get him to focus in this stressful moment. If Daniel could beat it out of the man, he would, but he knew it would do nothing and he would be left fighting off the soulless alone. “Come on, Manny.”
“Alright, it probably isn’t much better—”
“Anything is better than this!” Daniel exclaimed as a large chunk of the table burst in splinters next to him. An arm came through and grabbed at his face. He grabbed the arm before it could do any damage. He looked at Jeff, hoping for some help but received nothing. Manny hobbled over, in an attempt to help, but Daniel lifted his left hand to stop him
.
Daniel grabbed the arm with both hands and twisted. There was no yelp or cry for mercy. He just kept twisting as the banging, moaning and chomping kept up. Finally, a loud snap was heard over everything. Jeff looked yellow and turned around, nearly puking. Daniel shoved the arm aside as it dangled loose, being held on by skin and muscle only. Another hole burst through on the other side of his head. It was definitely time for another plan.
“Whatever it is, let’s do it,” Daniel said and stepped away from the table. As he did, it pushed forward and the soulless came barging in. With the amount of pressure Daniel was holding off, it would have seemed like they would be charging forward, ready to slaughter the three men, but no. The soulless came in and wandered about. Sure, they made their way toward the men, but they had no speed to them. It was the one thing that was going to save their lives at the moment.
“Follow me!” Manny said, hobbling down the hallway Paxton had gone through.
Daniel grabbed Jeff, who was still yellow and holding it all in. The kid had no ambition to go, but Daniel figured it would be best if Jeff made it with them. Leaving the kid would only put him in a position where Manny would want to save him. He couldn’t have that happen.
Daniel ran faster than Manny could and overtook the lead. He passed multiple little rooms, just as Manny had explained and Daniel had imagined. Each one of them were filled with drawings and colorings from little hands and minds that had so much to learn. Now, if the men entered them, they would only be their future tomb.
Eventually, Daniel began to see the end of the hallway. He didn’t want to go outside, but if that was the only choice, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it. In fact, maybe it was better if he just made a break for it and left the other two here to distract the soulless. Daniel began to shape the plan in his mind when Manny finally spoke up.
“Stop, right here!” Manny struggled to make it to Daniel, his ankle still giving him trouble. The man made a solid effort of not showing it, but Daniel could see a hint of pain in a small wince in the eyes as he finally reached up to him.
Soulless Wanderers: Soulless Wanderers Book 1 Page 3
