Children of the Apocalypse (Mace of the Apocalypse #3)

by Daniel J. Williams

  One of the Lost Boys woke with a start, awakening from a nightmare. Feeling the urge to pee, he snuck to the rear of the bus, where he unhinged the back emergency exit door and dropped to the ground, dancing around as he struggled to unzip his fly. He barely got his willie out before the flow started.

  Sighing with relief, he deliberately arched his stream like only an eight-year-old can do, sending it whizzing a good six feet out. Aiming for a rock off the side of the road, he put all his concentration into soaking it completely, not seeing the infected that was approaching from behind it in the darkness.

  “Bullseye,” he expressed happily as pee splattered off the rock. A second later he seemed confused as an object moved directly into the path of his stream. Chills ran down his spine as his eyes followed the object up until he saw the full size of the infected coming at him.

  “No,” he yelled, as the infected reached for him, moaning with desire. He let go of his penis and turned to run, discovering a second one coming up from behind him. “Pirates!” he yelled as he dove under the bus, banging his pecker against the hard ground. He clutched his groin, rolling around as he checked for any infected crawling towards him.

  The kids woke to combat mode immediately, and two of the other Lost Boys jumped out the back of the bus, spears at the ready. They split up as each went after a different infected, who was now on all fours, crawling under the bus after their friend.

  One of the Lost Boys poked at the infected’s rear, jabbing at it repeatedly. “We’ve got to get them from the other side!” he yelled, as he crawled back out and started towards the other side. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. They were coming from everywhere.

  “Back on the bus! Back on the bus,” he yelled. The lost boy from under the bus popped his head up next to him and said excitedly, “I pissed my pants!”

  “C’mon,” his friend yelled, helping to pull him out. “Dude,” he said, staring at his pants. “Your junk’s out!” He couldn’t help himself and giggled as the infected drew closer. All three boys met at the back door with the infected closing fast, the one now laughing hysterically at his friend’s condition despite the deadly threat all around them.

  Screaming, “Go, go, go!” they jumped back on the bus, slamming the back door as the infected came upon it.

  Woody fired up the bus, turning on the lights a second later. Half the bus gasped at the number of infected that were now approaching from in front of them on the freeway.

  Woody ground the gears as he tried to find first. The infected closest to the bus started banging on its side. The bus jolted forward as he found the gear, smacking into an infected and knocking it down. As Woody sped up, he could hear the girls in the back squealing at the smell and sight of the lost boy.

  “Eww! You peed all over yourself!”

  “It smells awful!”

  “Is that your penis?”

  “It looks like a hot dog!”

  Woody continued to grind the gears, jarring the bus forward at faster speeds, and the infected starting falling behind. Lost in his thoughts, he remained silent as he drove.

  From that day forward, lost boy number two was forever referred to as “Hot Dog.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The sky was turning gray as Mace stared out at the burning houses. Standing just inside the compound fence, he was surrounded by the people who had traveled with him from San Francisco. Beyond them, half the camp had congregated for a celebration of sorts.

  A crew was clearing the area of homes that threatened their safety. If this was going to be the place where they lived and died, they were going to have to make it as safe as possible. It felt comforting as he looked around at all the familiar faces. They had a bond that went far beyond anything he had experienced before in his life.

  Jade stood next to him cuddling their baby. She looked up at him, smiled, and then rested her head against his shoulder. A genuine feeling of warmth filled him.

  “It’s beautiful in a weird way, isn’t it?” she said, staring at the flames as they burned fiercely through a few buildings.

  “Yeah. It is. It kind of reminds me of 4th of July in Chrissy field.” It had been a long time since Mace could think of their old life and not instantly feel depressed. They were adjusting to their new life.

  Jade looked up at him. “You remember the time we had Jason with us?” Jason was a boy Mace had mentored in San Francisco. He had perished at the hands of the infected, and they had named their baby after him.

  Mace started laughing at the memory. “He ate all that cotton candy and threw it up all over the lady in front of us.”

  Laughing at the recollection, Jade could barely talk through the giggles. “You could see it coming. His cheeks bulged and he tried to hold it in.”

  Continuing the narrative, Mace picked up right where she left off. “And the lady was looking right at him, getting right in his face, asking, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’”

  Jade was laughing hard enough for tears to leak from the corner of her eyes. She was dying to finish the story but was trying to keep from dropping baby Jason.

  Lisa, who was standing next to her, was now smiling and listening keenly to hear the end. Chelsea stood in front of her with her hands clutched to the chain-link fence, staring in amazement at the fire.

  Mace finished the story. “The look on that poor kid’s face as he tried not to let it go. It came out like a fire hose all over her, and he kept saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get it on your boobs.’”

  Jade laughed so hard she snorted, causing baby Jason to wake up and get fussy.

  Shawn stood eight-feet away, lost in thought as he stared out at the burning wreckage. He knew he needed to carry on, but he felt more like walking straight out into the fire and letting it consume him. The loss of Angela was harder than he had expected. Love didn’t come easy out here, and after this, he didn’t think he had anything left in him to give.

  ~~~

  Angela waited in the darkness for Jeff to return. She had heard his boot-steps in the hallway and knew he’d be coming through the door any second. She had ripped a piece of cloth off the bed sheet and was going to strangle him with it.

  The door opened, and he said loudly as he entered, “Party time, darlin’. Get ready for some good times.”

  Tensing at his approach, she sat up in the bed, waiting as calmly as possible for him to make his move. Inside her, the adrenaline was pumping as the desire for revenge grew stronger.

  “What do ya say, we gonna make this easy this time?”

  He undid his belt and held it in his right hand, letting it dangle by his side. The room was mostly dark, with a few rays of the day’s last light sneaking through the blinds. Angela didn’t move, each muscle remaining perfectly still.

  The look in Angela’s eyes was of pure contempt. “Bring it on, you worthless piece of shit.” His mouth dropped as she finished with, “This time you’re going to be the one hurting.”

  The belt swung back and forth as he moved forward, growing angry at her boldness. “I didn’t take you for such a dumb cunt. You’re not going to be able to walk for a week after I’m done with you. And that doesn’t include what I’m going to do to you with this belt.”

  He lifted the belt and swung, and Angela put her arm up in defense. The middle of the belt slapped against it with the buckle swinging around to smack her in the back. She winced, crying out in pain, before grabbing the belt and yanking herself towards him. Despite her weakness, the anger surged and she got her feet under her. She leaped off the bed, slamming into him. Her hands went around his throat.

  Jeff seemed surprised as he fell backwards, and as soon as she landed on top of him, she lifted her head and slammed it into his face. Blood gushed from his nose, and she slammed her head against him again. Jeff forcefully pushed her off and rolled over, grabbing his face with his hands.

  Angela got to her feet quickly, pulling the long strand of cloth from around her wrist. She rushed up b
ehind him as he got to his knees and put it around his neck. She tightened it with both hands as hard as she could, and Jeff grabbed for the strand, trying to pull it off. Angela held tight as Jeff started rising from the floor. She wrapped her legs around him, and he pushed backwards as he rose, causing them both to fall rearwards, his weight crushing into her as her back hit the floor.

  She gasped for breath and let the cloth go. He pulled it off, scrambling away from her, gasping for air himself. Angela rolled on her stomach, trying to get her wind, when she saw him turn towards her, enraged, and he came at her, kicking her hard in the side.

  Her body jumped from the blow, and she rolled over again, crying out as a cracked rib dug into her side, the pain pronounced and screaming in her brain. With the pain came a renewed sense of rage, and she scrambled away, feeling an intense desire for revenge and sex. The toxin was now flowing feverishly through her veins.

  She was able to scramble to her feet, holding her side, and she smiled through the pain at the blood that was gushing down his face. “I’m going to fuck you up,” she said dryly, waiting for him to make his next move.

  He immediately charged her, catching her around the waist and throwing her up against the wall. Her head banged against it, cracking the plasterboard.

  “You’re gonna fuck who up?” he yelled as she saw stars, and something snapped inside of her. His ear was near to her mouth, so she locked onto it like a mad dog with her teeth, tugging back and forth as she dug her nails into his face. Jeff yelled out in pain as she ripped a chunk off his ear with a vicious jerk. He let go of her and clutched his head, doubling over. She spit the chunk at him and then grabbed his head, lining up and kneeing him hard in the face. His head snapped backwards, and he went down, trying to cover up as she jumped on top of him, screaming in rage as she wailed punches on his face until he finally stopped moving. Exhausted, she moved away from him, watching him carefully.

  Zane came rushing into the room, lighting it up with a flashlight. The others had heard the commotion but had been too focused on what was going on outside.

  “We’ve got to go!” he said as soon as he entered the room. “There are dead outside. They’re coming!” His eyes grew wide as the light fell across Jeff sprawled out on the ground, unmoving. He instantly flashed it towards Angela, who had Jeff’s blood smeared across her face. She had a wicked smile as she stared back. She felt invincible and defiant.

  Jeff stirred from the floor, and Angela’s face turned dark as she went over and smashed him hard in the face with her fist. “Are you in or out?” she said as she looked up at Zane. “Tell me now before I rip your throat out.”

  “I’m in,” he said nervously, taking a step back, unsure what to say or do. He quickly looked over his shoulder. “Dave and Tommy are waiting for us. We’ve got to leave. I was supposed to come back with Jeff.”

  “Tell them Jeff said he’s almost done with the bitch and will catch up. Is there someplace he would tell them to meet?”

  “The Vaughn’s house. We’ve met there before.”

  “Tell them right now and come back. If you don’t, I’m going to kill you. Understand?”

  “Yes. But we need to leave. There are walking corpses everywhere.”

  “Do what I told you. Now.”

  Zane looked panicked but stayed silent, rushing out of the room and returning thirty seconds later. “They said we need to go. They’re not waiting around.”

  “Is that all they said?”

  Zane stayed silent, but the look on his face told her there was more.

  “What else did they say?”

  “They said to tell Jeff that a piece of ass isn’t worth dying over.”

  Just as she thought. Her life didn’t count for shit with any of them. They would use her and then cast her off to die. She felt confused and unstable over everything that was happening. Her brain wasn’t functioning clearly.

  “Come here,” she said, sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to her.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Come here and find out.”

  Zane looked over his shoulder. “We really need to go.”

  “Take off your pants.” Angela felt sick to her stomach but couldn’t stop herself.

  “What?” he said, clearly caught off guard.

  “I said take off your pants and get over here.” She felt turned on by the power.

  “Are you crazy? Are you not listening to me?”

  Rolling her eyes, Angela said, “All the windows and doors are closed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then what the fuck are you so scared of? Get over here now.”

  Looking at Jeff’s body and then back at the open door, Zane quickly pulled his pants off, moving towards the bed. “Are you going to leave me like this?”

  Angela just stared at him. “Take off your shirt.” She felt flushed.

  Zane’s heart was pounding as he took off his shirt.

  “Now the underwear.”

  “Oh, c’mon, you don’t need to do this,” he started protesting. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “I know you will,” she said. “Now take off your underwear.”

  As Zane removed his underwear Angela could feel her excitement building. Staring at his naked body, she said, “Now get on the bed.” She felt herself getting moist.

  Looking at her oddly, he realized that she wasn’t going to just leave him. “What are you going to do?”

  “Get on the bed.”

  He moved to the bed where he nervously laid on his back, covering himself with his hands and staring at her with fear and uncertainty.

  “What now,” he asked.

  She climbed on to the bed, moving his hands out of the way and taking his member in her hand, stroking it. She moaned as the excitement within her built. They could hear the infected outside, and the presence of death so close excited her even more. She straddled him, grinding herself against him. She groaned as she felt him getting hard, and she whispered seductively in his ear. “I need you to fuck me good. I need this.”

  Zane forgot about what was prowling outside and almost came as she slid down over him. She started grinding, slowly at first and then with more force, covering his mouth with her hand as he started making noise. She was almost instantly orgasmic, quickly followed by him, and she bucked him until he slid out, too soft to continue.

  She took her hand from his mouth. “What the fuck was that?”

  He could tell she was angry. “I’m sorry. I’ve never. I mean, I just…”

  “Shut up,” she said, sliding off the bed. “Get dressed. We need to get out of here.”

  Zane got dressed quickly as Angela pulled her old clothes back on, then he followed her out of the room. Jeff started stirring again on the floor. “What are we going to do about him?”

  “Leave him for the freaks. Are there any guns left?”

  “Just Jeff’s shotgun.”

  “Shells?”

  “A box.”

  “Any other weapons?”

  “A crowbar.”

  “What happened to the flash grenades?”

  “Jeff took them.”

  “Do you know where they are? Are they here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Go get them.”

  A slump against the front door let Angela know they were close and put Zane in high gear. She moved towards it as he disappeared into the other room. Peering out the peephole, she realized Zane had been right. In the light of a full moon, she could see them moving around. They were everywhere. There was one directly in front of the door and a large number behind it.

  Zane reappeared, and she whispered as he handed her the grenades, “Get the other weapons. We’re going out the back.”

  Zane grabbed the shotgun and box of shells as she stuffed the grenades in her jacket pockets. As he tried to grab the crowbar, he fumbled with the load and dropped the box of shells, spilling them on the hardwood floor. The creature out front started clawing at the d
oor at the sound, and more soon followed.

  Angela could hear Jeff making noises from the bedroom and knew he’d be up any second. Shooting a quick look at Zane, she felt sick for having just had sex with him. He was just a kid. She felt sick about everything. She hated herself for what was happening to her. She hated Jeff even more.

  “Give me the crowbar,” she whispered to Zane. He quickly handed it to her. “Pick up the shells and head to the back door. Wait for me there. Don’t shoot anything, you hear me?”

  A window smashed next to her and Zane squealed in fright. Decayed hands reached through the curtains towards them. They could now hear the moans much more loudly and clearly. From the bedroom, Angela could hear Jeff yell out. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “What are you going to do?” asked Zane, thoroughly freaked out.

  “Open the front door.”

  “What? Are you crazy?!”

  “Go now!”

  Zane took off, running past the bedroom towards the back of the house. Angela took a deep breath and then pulled open the door, backing away quickly. The infected spilled inside instantly, moaning at the sight of her. She turned and ran.

  “Zane!” yelled Jeff from the bedroom as he picked himself up off the ground and moved towards the door.

  Angela maneuvered quickly towards the back door. She reached the bedroom door as Jeff was coming out. His face was still covered in blood. At the sight of her, he reached out to grab her, but she jabbed the crowbar at his face. It sliced across his forehead and stopped him instantly. He grabbed his head and bent over, covering himself up. Angela kept moving towards the rear of the house. The infected turned their attention from her to Jeff. She could hear his screams as she reached the back door.

  Zane looked terrified as Angela swung it open, moving quickly through. The infected were just as thick in the back as the front, and at the sight of her, the closest one lunged. She lifted the crowbar and shoved it through its decaying skull. She yanked it back out and it toppled over.