Soulless Wanderers: Soulless Wanderers Book 1

by Drew Strickland

  Inside the storage room, he grabbed a can of food and looked at the weapons. There was just a small trunk of what he had. It wasn’t weapons like most people would think. It was mostly knives. Sure, he had a few pistols and a couple of rifles, but it was never his thing. And, if someone had figured him out, what was he going to do with more than that? Police would have swarmed the place, and he would have had a showdown, but he still only had two hands. It wasn’t his style to go out guns blazing anyway. Thankfully, all of that was over and he never had to worry about it again. He smiled, grateful to be home.

  After finishing the can of peaches, he sat on the couch, thinking of the best way to deter the soulless from his home. If he was going to make it here, he would need more than just some thin walls. Before he could get any further in thought, he heard footsteps coming from below the hill. It didn’t sound like too many of them. He grabbed a knife from the trunk to replace the one taken from him at the camp and headed to the door, stepping outside.

  He paced around the top of the hill and saw the pair heading his way. He gripped his knife firm and made his way to them. He stopped when he saw it was a man and a woman, still alive, just dirty. They looked up just in time to see him. Their faces were filled with relief, but then they saw Daniel’s expression, and their eyes went to his hand, gripping the knife.

  “We don’t mean you any harm,” the woman said. She was wrapped in a blanket, and the man had his arm around her. The cool air had been a relief to Daniel, but to others, it must be a nuisance. Daniel couldn’t tell if their hair was brown or if it was just that dirty. Their faces were smeared with what looked like dirt and possibly blood. They didn’t look like they had anyone else.

  Daniel could feel it well up inside him. Everything with Alan before, the entire group turning on him. All his frustration. He hadn’t killed anyone since this whole thing started. The blood inside him was starting to bubble. He was right on the edge of euphoria. All he had to do was take that knife and plunge it inside of them. End their lives forever. Put them out of their misery.

  “Please.” The man broke Daniel’s focus.

  They had each other, Daniel could see that. Sure, they probably wouldn’t make it, but they had someone. It wasn’t his usual kill. Besides, he had things to do. He didn’t have time to enjoy this. It would be a complete waste if he couldn’t savor the kill afterward.

  “Where are you headed?” Daniel asked them, genuinely curious.

  “We’re looking for food. Then hoping to get to the road and find someplace to stay. It’s been a long—” The woman stopped talking and began sobbing. Daniel felt it inside him. It was like he felt something for her. As if he wished she didn’t have to feel the way she did. To be so desperate and not have any way of staying safe. He looked behind him and checked the bunker. There was no way to see it from where they stood. The hill and trees covered it up just enough.

  Daniel pointed to the east. “If you go that way, you’ll find the road. But stick to the east.”

  The pair nodded, and the man opened his mouth, as if to ask for something. The woman grabbed his arm and shook her head. It was obvious she knew Daniel was not someone to push any further. They were lucky to get what they were getting. They moved on, and Daniel headed back up to the bunker.

  Once he got inside, he slammed the knife down on the kitchen counter and looked at his reflection in the microwave that hung above the stove. “What the fuck was that?”

  He had just let those people go because he couldn’t enjoy it? What the hell was he doing? This wasn’t some stable where he could enjoy them later, he just let them go completely. His mind wandered back to the group and the camaraderie he had mildly felt. He thought of Howard reading him like nobody else had. He wasn’t going to be right.

  “Fuck those people!” Daniel grabbed his knife and a handful of energy bars from the cupboard, then tucked a bottle of water under his arm. He was going to need the boost after he was done with those people. His hand shook, maybe from the anticipation, and maybe from something else.

  He ran down the hill, and to the east from where he had met the couple. They hadn’t gone far. They were probably tired and on their last legs anyway. It would be such a mercy for him to do this, and it would feel so good. He wasn’t trying to surprise them at this point. It was better to get it over with for them. Like a Band-Aid, he thought.

  Just when he caught up to them, he squeezed the knife and saw them turn around. Tears welled up in her eyes, and the man looked tired and frightened. Daniel’s eyes went lower and saw the little girl. She looked to be half the size, and probably age, of Eden. Her hair was red, and she was mostly kept clean. The couple had done their best keeping her clean and alive but hadn’t saved anything for themselves.

  The little girl looked up at Daniel and didn’t seem scared at all. “Look, Mommy, a man. Is he going to help us?”

  The mother looked at Daniel. She stared directly into his eyes, and he stared right back at her. It was something most people didn’t do when they were facing their own death. Most people he killed were frightened and spineless. This woman, after everything she had been through, stared death right in the eyes. Maybe some of it was pleading, but the other part was something different. “I don’t know,” she finally said.

  Daniel looked back down at the little girl, then up at the mother and father again. They stood for a while, nobody saying anything. It was like the worst stand-off he had ever seen or been a part of. They were too afraid to set the man off holding the knife, and he was too afraid to act and have to face whatever lay on the other side. Finally, the girl did it for him. “My name is Mavi.”

  He looked at the smile on the girl’s face and it broke him. “I’m Danny.” He curled his heavy lips into a smile. He felt the water in his eyes.

  “Nice to meet you, Danny. We’re trying to find some nice people to help us. You seem nice.”

  He wiped his eyes. What the hell was happening to him? He shook his head. “You can do better.” He looked up at the parents, whose faces had dropped from fear and tension, only slightly. “You need to do better.”

  They nodded and turned away slowly. “Bye, Danny,” Mavi said.

  “Wait,” he said, stepping closer. “Take this.” He handed the handful of energy bars and the bottle of water over to the family. “And do what I said. Stick to the east.” He turned around and ran, not wanting to see their faces. He could imagine they were confused, maybe frightened still, and most of all grateful.

  He didn’t run to the bunker, though. He ran to his group. He ran to find Eden.

  30

  Inside the house was a complete mess. Paxton assumed it was from whoever was upstairs and the guy he had dealt with outside, but part of him wondered how Stacey had done for herself. Did she not go outside? Was she living off whatever was in the pantry up until now? Things he hadn’t thought before crept into his mind about how she was surviving, when this whole time he had just worried if she was alive or not. It never occurred to him that if she was alive, she may be worse off.

  He pushed the thoughts from his mind when he heard more noise from upstairs. He passed the mess and smell of rotting food and went up the stairs. He held the rifle, pointed out, and slowly made his way across the hall to the bedroom. The muffled sounds getting louder as he went in. The one thing he had going for him right now was the element of surprise. He had to keep that, even if his wife was in danger. He was no good to anyone dead.

  The door to the bedroom was open a crack already. He nudged it with the barrel gently and pushed it open. In front of him, the scene was horrific. His wife lay on the bed, struggling, but the man on top of her was much bigger and stronger. Her small frame was no match for the layers of heft he carried. He was between her legs, pants around his ankles. Paxton wasn’t sure if he had gotten to the point of rape yet, or if he was setting himself up for it. Either way, Paxton saw nothing but red.

  “Hey!” Paxton shouted out. The man turned around quickly, revealing his di
rty face. It was bearded and not kept well. Dirt was smeared on his face, and the shirt he wore was stained with blood and mud. His gut hung so far that Paxton couldn’t see his penis. The man was a slob.

  “Who the fu—”

  Paxton fired the rifle before letting the slob finish his sentence. He flung over the bed and onto the floor. Paxton rushed to Stacey, her clothes torn apart and her face full of bruises and tears. She screamed and thrashed against him. “Stacey, it’s okay, it’s me. It’s Paxton.”

  She still fought but finally opened her eyes and saw him. “Paxton?” He nodded. “I thought you were dead.”

  He smiled. “Nothing would keep me from you.”

  She smiled back. He sat her up and saw the man get up from behind the bed. His shoulder was covered in blood. The bullet missed his heart and hit him high. Paxton was knocked off his feet when the man charged. Stacey screamed.

  The man smelled awful, like rotting fish, body odor, and had the breath of someone who chewed on assholes instead of gum. Paxton struggled as the man was on top of him. The fists flew into his face, bloodying Paxton’s nose immediately. The pain surged with every punch. Paxton quickly grabbed the man’s thick, fat neck and squeezed, but the punches kept coming. Paxton moved his hand to the man’s shoulder and fished around, finally finding the bullet hole. He put his finger inside and plunged it as deep as it would go. He squeezed and pinched until the man howled in pain and rolled off Paxton.

  Paxton reached over to the dresser by the door and pulled himself up. He fell back down, knocking nearly everything off the top and onto the floor, when the slob grabbed his feet and pulled him. The man began to climb back on him, but Paxton grabbed the first thing his hand could find. It was Stacey’s metal hairbrush. An heirloom from her grandmother. She mostly had it there for a keepsake and never used it. But today, it was going to see some use.

  Paxton swung the heavy brush across the man’s face. He did it again and again until the man’s weight shifted. Paxton pushed up on him and got on top. He swung the brush over and over, bristles breaking off it with each swing. He flipped the brush around and plunged the handle down, like a knife right into the man’s eye. He screamed a shrill pitch. The brush was too short to go deep, but the damage was still done. Blood poured from his eye socket, leaving a mess of white and red trickling down onto the floor.

  Paxton turned, searching for anything else he could use. He was tired and knew he couldn’t strangle the thick-necked slob to death. He reached far and grabbed a pair of scissors from the mess by the dresser. He had seen his wife trim her bangs many times with these small, unthreatening scissors. Still, they were going to do the job. As the man writhed in pain on the floor, Paxton still on top of him, he raised the scissors as high as he could. Just as he decided to bring them down, Stacey caught his attention.

  “Paxton!”

  He quickly turned to her, seeing the fright on her face. It wasn’t at him, though. It was over his shoulder. Paxton turned to see a third man charging down the hallway. He wore a camouflage shirt and his face was just as dirty as the other two men. Before Paxton could do anything, he was met with the butt of a rifle to the face. Paxton was on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

  He could hear it in the background. Stacey was screaming, but it seemed so far away. “No, no! Get away from me!” He could just barely make it out. His vision was blurry and starting to fade.

  “You’re gonna regret that, boy.” Paxton saw a figure standing over him before he passed out.

  31

  Daniel remembered each step he took to get to the bunker, so finding his way back to the camp site wasn’t a problem. Memory had never been an issue with him, even through the forest where everything seemed the same. It was one of his many gifts or talents he had. He supposed he had to sacrifice his humanity for certain things, and this one was one of them. Although, he was headed back to save the group, so maybe he wasn’t completely lost in that sense, was he? The discussion with himself rambled on through his head right up until he made it to the camp.

  He slowly approached the area, having noticed nobody calling for Eden anymore. Maybe they had found her and left. That would be alright, that meant everyone was safe, except for being with Alan. He saw the bungee cords on the ground where he was held captive. He heard footsteps approaching from the other end of the camp and hid behind a different tree. The sun was much further down on the horizon, making Daniel realize how late in the day it was and how long this day had taken for him to just walk back and forth between the camp and the bunker. Then the voice came, it was Alan.

  “Shit, he ain’t here. He got loose.”

  “Think something came around and ate `im?” the other voice came through static. Alan was talking to someone through a radio.

  “Nah, there’s no blood. He got out.”

  “Who gives a shit, just come on back.”

  Daniel watched Alan peering through the forest. “Yeah, alright. On my way.”

  Alan clipped his walkie talkie to his pants on his hip and shrugged. He walked back through the trees, and Daniel darted behind, catching up to him. Something was going on with Alan, and he wasn’t going to let it continue. Alan’s time to die was now. Daniel flew out of the tree, just behind Alan. He gripped his knife tight as Alan turned, his face shocked at the sight of Daniel. Daniel plunged the knife toward Alan’s heart, wanting to be done with him immediately, but Alan pushed at Daniel’s wrists, causing the knife to plunge into the soft, fleshy side of Alan’s gut.

  “Godammit!” Alan screamed in pain.

  “You fucker, I hope you take it all in because this is the last you’re going to see of this world,” Daniel said, spit frothing at his mouth. All the anger was finally coming out, completely uncontrolled.

  Alan laughed.

  He laughed? He had an eight-inch knife buried to the hilt in his gut and here he was laughing. Alan was more psychotic than Daniel had realized. “What’s so funny, asshole?” Daniel couldn’t help but ask.

  “You usually seem so calm and collected, but man, these fucking people have really gotten to you, haven’t they?” Alan asked, gritting through the pain.

  “It has nothing to do with them, it’s all you,” Daniel said, pulling the knife out. Blood soaked into Alan’s shirt.

  Alan pulled a gun out of the back of his pants, but Daniel saw it coming before Alan had even thought it. He grabbed Alan’s arm and pushed him against a tree, the gun firing before falling from Alan’s grip. “Alright, alright. Looks like you got me,” Alan said. He coughed a little and winced when his muscles tightened at the wound.

  Daniel put the bloody knife against Alan’s throat. “This could have been much easier for you if you didn’t struggle. Now I get to savor this.”

  “But if you kill me, you won’t know where the group went.”

  “As long as they are far away from you, that’s all that matters to me.”

  “True, but they aren’t just moving on. They’re with my friends.”

  Daniel pushed the knife against Alan’s throat, the blade cutting his neck a little. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You think you’re the only one that enjoys this?” Alan smiled. “I brought them up here for my group. My real group, I mean.”

  “Where?”

  “I can take you to them, but that would mean not killing me.” Alan looked down with his eyes at the blade.

  Daniel loosened his grip around Alan and let the knife relax a little. “They’re alive?”

  “Absolutely. For now, at least.”

  Alan was a liar. He was someone not to be trusted. But the group was gone, and he was here. It made sense that he was with another group just to lead them up here. What if they were already dead? Then that was a problem Daniel would have to deal with when it came up. For now, he could choose to go with Alan, or kill him.

  “Let’s do this,” Daniel said, throwing Alan to the dirt. While he was on the ground, Daniel picked up the handgun and pointed it at his cap
tive. “How far is it?”

  Alan smiled. “A couple miles.”

  He was right. The walk hadn’t been that difficult. They mainly stuck to the road, but after walking a while, Alan had guided them to turn into the woods. There was a small dirt road that was easily missed if someone wasn’t looking for it. Daniel looked around, noting the sun beginning to get lower and lower. If the sun set before they were there, things were definitely not going to be in his favor. Although, walking into an unknown situation was already a gamble, one he never would have made before.

  “You know, you and me aren’t that different. I can see it in you. You have what it takes.” Alan spat a large mouthful of phlegm on the dirt path. “Those others don’t have what it takes. If it wasn’t for me, and maybe you, they’d all be dead by now.”

  “If it wasn’t for you, half of them would still be alive, wouldn’t they?”

  Alan smiled. “Sometimes an Alpha has to go to control the group.”

  Daniel nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Henry was a strong leader. Not only that, but he was willing to be hands on for the rest of the group. Had he been alive still, Alan would have had a much harder time getting to this point. “Still, doesn’t explain Miles.”

  “That fucking guy. That bitch had his balls the entire time. If you ask me, I did him a favor. Annoying fucker, anyway.”

  Daniel could think of another person who fit that description, and he was walking with him to his camp right now. “What’s the plan with everyone?”

  “Jesus, man.” Alan looked at his gut and held it down. The blood was soaked through. “You really went for it back there.”