Soulless Wanderers: Soulless Wanderers Book 1

by Drew Strickland

  However, if he ran into any more of the soulless, he was afraid his fatigue would be the end of him. This was the best place to be. Nobody was here, the doors were locked. He was as safe as he could be.

  Before laying down, Daniel went down the hall to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet on the wall, finding a half-disorganized mess inside. Still, he was able to find a first aid spray and gauze. He pulled his shirt away, spraying down the wound and cleaning the old blood away. It stung, but he gritted through it and finished by taping the gauze down. He was certain the wound wasn’t deep enough to cause any real damage. It was possible he needed stitches to make it heal better or faster, but for now, this is what he had to work with. He would have to settle for a nasty scar, he thought as he headed back to the bedroom.

  Daniel laid back on the mattress. He left his shoes on in case he had to make a quick exit. He would only sleep a few hours, and then he’d look for the keys to the truck and be on his way. Usually sleep took a while to come for him, but he closed his eyes and everything around him faded away until it all finally went black.

  “Get up.”

  That was all he had to hear. Daniel opened his eyes at the sound of the man’s voice. He didn’t jump or react any other way than calm. His only view was that of a shotgun barrel in his face.

  8

  “Wake up…”

  “Wake up, Paxton…”

  Stacey’s voice faintly echoed in his ears. He opened his eyes slightly. Everything was hazy, and he could just make out her face. Even with the trouble seeing her, he knew she was so beautiful. He could picture it in his mind, the long blonde hair, her high cheekbones, the way she smiled and let the top teeth just show. She was everything he loved, and he wanted nothing more than to just be with her in that moment. He closed his eyes again.

  “Wake up!”

  “Paxton… Pastor Paxton.”

  Paxton opened his eyes. This time, the image of his wife faded out and was replaced with the reality. He was in the bathroom. Kyle was standing over him. His face was full of panic and fright. Normally, Paxton would try to reassure the kid, but this time, he tried to open his mouth and couldn’t speak. He began to lift his head and blacked out again.

  Pain filled his head, and he opened his eyes again. He was in a different position, but still lying on the floor in the bathroom. He could see Kyle pacing around. He cleared his throat, gaining the kid’s attention.

  “Oh, my God.” Kyle rushed over to Paxton. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Me too.” Paxton put his hand on his leg, pain immediately shooting through his body. He quickly lifted his hand, being reminded of the damage from the knife and the glass. He looked down and saw the belt tied around his leg.

  “I didn’t know what to do, so I put my belt around your leg. You seemed to be losing a lot of blood.” Kyle considered for a moment. “At least that’s what they do on TV.”

  Paxton smiled, even though he had no energy. He nodded at Kyle. He looked around and saw the bodies on the floor.

  “What happened? I thought you had—”

  Kyle cut him off. “Yeah, the three, whatever they are now, came in the bathroom. I pushed away from them when they grabbed me and locked myself in a stall.”

  “Okay, but how did you get all of them—” Paxton stopped when he looked at Kyle’s face. He should have kept his stupid mouth shut. The kid’s eyes started welling with tears. Paxton looked to the ground, saw the top of the toilet tank shattered on the ground among the dead bodies. It was easy enough to figure out, but here he was, asking how he did it, forgetting all about what the kid had to go through to do that.

  “I saw that guy stab Molly in the head, killing her,” Kyle said through tears. “I didn’t know her well, but I knew some people who did. Then the other two.” Kyle pointed to the floor, barely able to keep it together.

  “It’s okay, Kyle. You don’t have—”

  “That was Jeremy. He was my friend! Sure, I could be mean to him sometimes, but I was always able to count on him when something was up.” Kyle pointed to the other boy on the floor. “That was Josh. He didn’t deserve any of this. His mom has cancer, and he was always so worried about her. He didn’t tell many people, but he told me. What is going on? What did I do? They were trying to kill you.”

  Paxton got up from the floor, his head spinning. He grabbed Kyle and put his arms around him. The tears began to soak into his shirt as he forced a hug on the kid. “It’s okay, you did what you had to, and I’m glad you did. You saved my life.”

  Paxton pushed Kyle back and looked directly in his eyes. “These things aren’t your friends anymore. They aren’t in there. They don’t have a soul, they just…they don’t.”

  Kyle looked at him confused. “If they don’t have a soul, then do you think this was—”

  “No.” Paxton was short. He refused to believe this was the second coming.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because, Kyle. I just do. Why aren’t you or I up there with them, then? It’s too much of a coincidence that we happened to be inside when it happened and everyone outside turned.”

  “That’s true. So, then, it’s like a zombie apocalypse?”

  Paxton nodded. “I guess so.”

  “I thought it would be some sort of slow virus that would come.”

  “And I never thought it would come at all. I don’t know, Kyle. I’m being thrown into it just like you. But it seems to have something to do with the event.”

  “So, what do we do now? I need to get to my house. My parents and brother are going to be worried about me.”

  “First, I need to sit back down.” Paxton lowered himself to the floor and put his back against the wall. The room was beginning to spin around him again. He was still not out of the woods yet with the blood loss and couldn’t forget that. He needed to save his strength to get out of the building. He also didn’t want to tell Kyle that his family may be part of the soulless now, just like Paxton’s wife. He pushed both thoughts from his mind. If he was going to believe his wife was alive, then he would give Kyle the same respect.

  Kyle put his ear against the door, then looked at Paxton. “Who was that guy?”

  Paxton grimaced at the thought of Daniel. “The Devil.” The words just came out, but he believed them now.

  “You can hear them outside.”

  “We will have to get out there soon. It’s the only way out. Nobody will come to save us in here, especially if they see all the soulless around. They won’t know we’re even in here.”

  “Should we look?”

  Paxton was amazed at Kyle’s bravery. It was much different than Jeff, not that he could blame the kid. “Yeah, let me scoot over there. We’ll take a look, but we’ll need to be able to hold the door in case they’re right out there.”

  “I don’t think they are. I can hear them, but not very well. It’s like they’re in the gym, but just wandering around, moaning.”

  Paxton got up to the door, still sitting on the ground. He was ready to slam his back against the door if he needed to. “Okay, grab the handle and open it a smidge.”

  Kyle did as he was told. The door opened just a sliver, allowing both of them to look out. Paxton saw the gym. It was just as Kyle had assumed in his description. Nobody was directly on the other side of the door, but there were still some soulless in the gym. A lot of them had cleared out of the room, possibly to the hallway or back out the front doors. He motioned to Kyle to close the door. The door closed without a sound.

  “It wasn’t too bad out there,” Kyle said.

  “Okay, once we’re out, we’ll need a car. My truck is right outside, if there’s any life left in it.”

  “Good, `cause I got a ride from Sean.” Kyle paused, then looked at Paxton. “Do you think?”

  Paxton shook his head. “We’re it. I’m sorry.”

  Kyle nodded. “I know, I just thought I’d ask anyway.”

  Paxton patted Kyle’s leg, still standing as Paxton sat
. “Okay, I left the keys in the truck, and it should still be running. I had to slam it into Daniel’s—”

  “What?”

  “Daniel’s car. The guy who did this,” he said pointing to his leg. “His car was dead, and mine wasn’t. If he made it out of here alive, which I am sure he did, how much you wanna bet he needed a ride out of here and took my truck?” It was the most logical thing to do.

  “So, what now? Maybe we can get the keys from someone and take their car.”

  “We’d have to fight one of them, hope they had keys, then make it out to the parking lot through the crowd, and then try all the cars with the keys, hoping it was out there. It would be too much.”

  “Okay, so?”

  Paxton fished the keys out of his pocket. “We can take Jerry’s car.”

  “Pastor Jerry? Is he here?”

  Paxton shook his head, seeing the image of his friend with the hole in his eye. “Long story, but no. We just have to get to the east lot, which is a lot less crowded than the west lot.”

  Paxton rose to his feet, stabilizing himself against the wall.

  “Easier said than done, though,” Kyle said.

  “I’ll be fine. We just need to get out of here. You’re gonna have to run point.” Paxton put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

  It was true. He needed this kid to get him out of here, and he had already saved his life once. Thankfully, Kyle was handling all of this pretty well and, from the evidence on the floor, was able to do what it took to survive. With a little bit of luck, they’d be on the road in no time.

  “Like a Band-Aid. Let’s go,” Paxton said.

  Before Kyle had a chance to protest, or even try and get ready, Paxton pulled the door open and stepped out into the gym. Kyle quickly followed.

  There weren’t many soulless in the gym, but the few that were took notice of them quickly. The growls became directed at the pair.

  “Let’s go through that hallway,” Paxton shouted, pointing at the doors he and Manny had used for their original escape.

  Kyle took the lead. He was halfway there when two soulless bodies stepped into his path. Paxton tried to hurry, but his leg made it impossible to move any faster. He was worried he would be too late, but Kyle didn’t need his help. Kyle put his head down and barreled through them, like he was in a football game. The two soulless stumbled back and fell on their asses. Kyle continued on, but one of them grabbed his ankle.

  Paxton was sure it wouldn’t be good, until Kyle took his free foot and stomped the hand down hard. A loud crunch echoed through the gym, and the hand lost its grip on his ankle. What remained of the hand was no threat to grabbing anyone ever again. Kyle was already to the gym doors by the time Paxton looked up from the damage.

  All soulless eyes were on him as he hobbled through the gym, trying to catch up to the kid. They were slow, much slower than he was at the moment. He only had to keep up this pace until they reached the car and he’d be in the clear. He could do it. He had to do it, for Stacey.

  Kyle slammed the door behind Paxton as he made it through. Kyle put his back against the wall and relaxed. Paxton pointed up ahead down the hallway.

  “We’re not safe in here. They can come through, let’s go that way,” Paxton said, remembering Manny’s instruction.

  The pair headed down the hallway, reminding Paxton of Jeff, sitting at the end. This time around, it was empty. There was no crying teen to console. The loud crash of the doors at the gym entrance of the hallway echoed down the hall. The soulless were inside.

  Kyle pushed through to the outside, not giving a second thought to what could be on the other side. Paxton would have spoken up against him doing so, but he was in the same mindset. Get the fuck out.

  Fortunately, there was nothing on the other side of the doors. From there on out, Paxton hoped it would be pretty clear. He knew it would be. He had just come from there and ran into very few of the monsters.

  Kyle was still in the lead, but he would check back to make sure Paxton was alright. He appreciated the gesture, but Paxton continued to wave the kid on. Paxton was running on fumes and needed the kid to get the car in case he passed out again.

  Once at the parking lot, the only thing in sight was the Buick and the small group of soulless Paxton had sped by in his truck. They took notice, but Paxton and Kyle were inside, sitting on the comfort of the leather upholstery and seat warmers before any of them had a chance to catch up to them. He handed Kyle the keys as he laid back in the passenger seat. He was in no condition to drive, and he knew he needed to get the kid to his family first. It was his responsibility. Kyle would know how to get to his own house better than he would.

  When the engine revved to life, and Kyle put it in gear, Paxton’s thoughts went immediately to his wife. Her hair and smell of it tingling his senses as he faded off into the warmth of the seat.

  9

  “Who are you?” the voice behind the shotgun demanded.

  Daniel stayed calm and slowly sat up. He put his hands up in an attempt to come off as cooperative. The wrong move could end him here, but not trying anything would also probably do the same thing. He couldn’t let himself get taken in a situation like this.

  “I said, who are you, asshole!” the voice shouted.

  Daniel opened his mouth, weighing his responses. “My name’s Daniel—”

  “Did you kill my family?”

  “What family?”

  “Downstairs! My wife and son, they’re—”

  Delicate situation. Daniel didn’t know quite how to respond, especially if this man didn’t know what was happening. He took a deep breath and tried. “They weren’t your wife and son.”

  The sound of the shotgun was shaking in the man’s hands. Daniel was trying to figure out if it was from rage or sadness. Probably a little of both.

  “You did.”

  That was all Daniel needed to hear. Before anything else could happen, he put his shoulder into the side of the shotgun barrel, moving it away from pointing at his face. He spun around as the shotgun went off, blowing a hole in the bed, feathers flying up in the air from the exploding comforter. He grabbed the man’s face and head-butted him right in the nose. The man fell backward, nearly on his ass, but somehow stayed on his feet. Daniel kicked the shotgun from his hands, now barely hanging on to it anyway. It slid under the bed, the barrel barely pointing out from underneath.

  Daniel picked up the man and pulled his knife from the sheath on his belt. He put it to the man’s throat while looking down at him. He could finally put a face to the voice instead of a dark tunnel of metal in his view. The man was in his late forties probably, his hair salt and peppered. Tears were streaming down his face as Daniel put the cold metal against his throat.

  It all hit Daniel. This man didn’t know what happened to his family. He was just concerned, he was just scared, he was just confused. Daniel didn’t know anything about this man. Breaking into someone’s house, killing them without doing any research was a huge deal breaker for him in the world. His rules had saved him from being caught and here he was, ready to break his own rule.

  The Danny inside him wanted him to stop, wanted him to pick the man up and give him a hug. But the world was different now. This world had a steep learning curve, and Daniel was going to teach him. He pushed the blade closer to the man’s throat, causing blood to trickle down from the slice in his neck. Danny couldn’t stop Daniel now.

  Just as he was about to pull the blade across the man’s throat, a shuffling noise caught Daniel’s attention. His eyes looked up to the door, and he saw a young girl in the doorway. She couldn’t have been more than twelve years old. Her eyes were cold, watching him. She didn’t say a word, and she didn’t look afraid. She just stood there, almost taunting Daniel. Something inside him went colder than usual, and he felt as if he was being pressured, like she was daring him to kill this man.

  “Honey, get out of here!” the man shouted at the girl.

  Daniel watched as
she stood in the doorway, not moving. He could tell she was in shock, but there was something else. It felt different. He was sure it wasn’t just preteen angst, there was something beneath all of it. This was strange.

  “Eden, get out of here!” the man shouted again.

  He pushed into Daniel, trying to break free from his grasp, but Daniel held on tight, making sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Don’t you fucking touch my daughter,” the man said.

  Daniel looked down at the man. The tears still streamed down his face, across his clenched teeth. His face was red with anger. Daniel brought his attention back up to the Eden. She only watched.

  Daniel shoved the man to the ground. The air in the room went thick and it was as if his lungs couldn’t get enough air in them. He needed to get out of there.

  “Keys,” Daniel said, his eyes never leaving the girl.

  “Wha—”

  “Give me your fucking keys!” Daniel shouted, being caught off guard by his own use of swearing.

  The man fished the keys from his pocket and threw them at Daniel. After catching the keys, Daniel gave a quick look to the man who was eyeing the shotgun. It didn’t even register in his head to grab the gun. He had to get out of the room.

  Daniel pushed past Eden, not taking another glance at her still standing in the doorway, then dashed out of the house. He took a deep breath when he got to the fresh air, bending over, taking as much of it in as he could. He looked up at the house when he felt satisfied and quickly ran down the path to the truck at the road that he had parked next to. He unlocked it and got in. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

  He looked at himself in the rearview mirror.

  “What the fuck was that?”

  He looked back at himself, wondering if it was Danny or Daniel making that decision. He didn’t know, and he didn’t like it. He rolled down the window, letting the air flow into the truck. He started the truck up and decided it was best to get as far away from anyone as possible. He needed to get to the bunker.