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

by Daniel J. Williams

  "I know. I'm so sorry."

  "I started petting Buster."

  Lisa's heart dropped as she remembered the dog. Buster was part of their family. She knew how crushed Chelsea must be. Eyeing his body at the bottom of the stairs, Lisa saw a blanket wrapped around him.

  "Did you wrap the blanket around him?"

  Chelsea nodded her head a few times. "Gene told me how to fix him."

  "What do you mean?"

  "He's gonna be blind in a eye," Chelsea said, staring at her mother with all seriousness. Seeing the doubt on Lisa's face, Chelsea pressed the conversation. "Buster's gonna be okay. Gene told me."

  Despite her weakness from blood loss and the sick feeling that the toxin brought on, Lisa couldn't help but sit up straighter. Staring at the body of Gene with a bullet in his head and his brains splattered on the wall, Lisa started to weep.

  "I'm so sorry, honey. I never meant to leave you down here like this. I can't imagine how difficult this has been for you."

  "No, you don't understand! Gene told me how to fix him. Come here, look!" Chelsea stood up and pulled on Lisa's arm, trying to drag her down the stairs. Pushing herself off the floor with her free hand, Lisa allowed Chelsea to pull her towards Buster. "See, he told me to put some stuff on his head and then put a bandage on it. I wrapped him like that cause he said it would help with the shocks."

  A strange sensation came over Lisa as she listened. She gently pulled back the blanket to see a large bandage covering his head. She noticed the torn package of QuickClot next to the dog. She then noticed the open emergency medical kit on the ground.

  Bending down, she felt Buster's body. "Oh my God," she said, surprised. She could feel a heartbeat. Faint, but there. "I don't believe it."

  Looking at Gene again, she asked Chelsea, "Gene told you how to do this?"

  "Not that Gene," Chelsea said, looking at Gene's body. "The one that wasn't shot."

  Chills ran down Lisa's spine. "Where was he when he told you this?"

  "He was right here!" Chelsea said, pointing next to her.

  Momentarily dumbstruck, Lisa didn't know what to say. She felt a headache coming on and knew she needed to treat her own wounds quickly. "Where did he go, honey?"

  "I don't know. He just kind of left."

  ~ ~ ~

  "Pull it over right there," Mace said to Woody, pointing at Angela's house. The sense of deja vu was almost mind numbing. The block was somewhat quiet, with only a half-dozen infected roaming the street. It reminded Mace of the neighborhood in San Francisco where Jason, the boy he mentored, lived. It filled him with apprehension remembering what he'd discovered. He was on another rescue mission for another Jason. "I think we should all get off here. There's a safe house inside where we can wait it out until morning."

  "But they'll try to hide when it gets light. They're not hiding now," said Woody.

  Staring at Woody, Mace realized he was right. All of a sudden he remembered the ambulances.

  "Holy crap, I forgot about the medical center. There are those two ambulances parked in the back." Turning to Jade, he said, "If we can get an ambulance out, we could take them down. We just need to do it without gunfire. It breaks the trance."

  "Slingshots," said Woody. "We take out pirates with slingshots. They don't make any noise."

  Not understanding the reference, Mace looked at him quizzically. He got the point, though. "The slingshots are strong enough to kill one?"

  "We don't miss. Their heads are usually mushy."

  Mace quickly laid out the groundwork for a plan. "Take the younger kids and wait in the cellar with Melissa and Jason," he told Jade. "I'm going to make a run at them."

  "We don't even know if they are okay, yet, Mace. We're talking about your son! We need to check on them first."

  Mace ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay, you're right. I'm jumping ahead. I just refuse to believe that anything could happen to him." He looked at her in all seriousness. "I can't go through that again."

  Peering through the bus windows, he saw the street hadn't attracted any more infected, although the glow in the dark map was drawing the scattered few.

  "Let's take them out quietly and go in," Mace said, looking out the different windows. Turning to Woody, he said, "Woody, can your boys take them out with the slingshots?" He wanted to see for himself just how good the kids were.

  "Yes, not a problem, and call me Peter."

  Woody hit the lever and the door whooshed open.

  As Jade led most of the kids straight to the front door, Mace hung back at the rear and watched as Woody dispersed his boys. Six quick shots led to six kills, and Mace's heart beat a little harder at their efficiency. They were very good at what they did.

  Mace rushed to the front door where Jade and the children waited for him. "Stay back until we know it's safe," Mace whispered to the kids. Turning to Jade, he said in a hushed tone, "Ready?"

  "You have no idea," she whispered. Mace tested the front door. It was unlocked.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

  As Mace turned the handle on the door, automatic gunfire suddenly ripped through it. Years of hunting fugitives had taught him to stand back when uncertainty rested on the other side. The kids all jumped and dove for cover.

  With her back against the wall, Angela was delirious from blood loss and the twisted effects of the toxin on her brain. Demons flew all around the room, ghostly apparitions covered with Sarah's face, all glaring at her. The floor teemed with maggots, and she knew they were waiting to drag her down to hell.

  She let out another burst from the M-16. She hadn't had enough strength to get to the safe room, but she'd heard Melissa trip the lock and knew she'd never get past it anyway.

  Inside the safe room, Melissa rocked Jason gently in her arms, praying that someone would find them. She could hear the dull thud of repetitive gunfire outside, and had no idea what to do. "We'll be okay," she kept whispering to Jason, who slept soundly in her arms.

  Out front, Mace pulled Jade next to him, who was close to having a panic attack. "I'm going to have to go in through the back. Watch the door and keep the kids safe."

  "What about Jason? Oh my God, what has she done to him?" Clutching Mace, Jade looked frantic. Mace had never seen her so worried.

  "He's fine," he answered, doing his best to display confidence. Inside, his stomach was tied in knots and his heartbeat felt irregular. "I'm going to find him. Trust me."

  They heard a moan from the street and grew uneasy as an infected moved towards them. Looking beyond the one,they could see the street growing crowded again.

  "Shit," Mace said. "We can't stay here."

  Seeing the commotion, Woody started directing the kids. "Hot Dog, you take Thor and the Lost Boys and clear out the street to the left of the bus. I'll take Alexi and the warrior princesses and clear the right."

  If the situation weren't so dire, Mace would have laughed out loud. The kids had all changed their names again.

  Turning to Mace, Woody seemed to sparkle with excitement. "Do what you have to. We'll keep it clear out here."

  Knowing he couldn't control the kids, Mace just nodded. Jade grabbed him as he started to leave. "Be careful," she said, "and get him out of there." Her eyes were filled with fear.

  As Mace ran around the front of the house, he felt a chill run down his neck. The infected were back and moving throughout the neighborhood. He watched Woody take out two in quick succession before sprinting towards the back. A sudden realization gripped him, and he almost stopped. Only a few of the kids had been inoculated. "Please, God," he said as he ran, "don't let them get bit." The situation had the potential to actually get worse.

  ~ ~ ~

  Inside their darkened home, Jim and Yvette peeked through the curtains at the street overrun with the dead. "What are we going to do?" asked Yvette quietly. They'd been in hiding for the past hour, but the storm had finally lightened up enough for them to contemplate some type of action.

  "I don't know. There's n
owhere for them to go."

  "What's going to happen once the sun comes up?"

  "They're gonna look for a place to hide."

  "I don't like the sound of that."

  "Me neither," said Jim, imagining a multitude breaking down their door at daybreak. "We've got to get out of here."

  "But how?"

  "An ambulance!" Jim said excitedly, recalling the town meeting where their efficiency had been discussed.

  Yvette let go of the curtain, standing up straight. "The ambulance isn't just sitting in the garage, you dork. We can't go out there. Not when it's like this."

  "There's that pink moped in the garage," Jim said, raising his eyebrows a few times.

  "Tell me you're kidding."

  "I don't see anybody else doing anything. Besides, we've survived worse than this. Remember the hospital? Or the motel? Think about it, Vette. We put on thick jackets, gloves and helmets, and we're almost zombie proof."

  "Yeah, almost," she said, sarcastically. Peeking out the curtains again, she whispered, "I can't say we've been through worse than this. This looks pretty bad to me." Peering as far left and right as possible, she said, "We haven't heard anything else on the radio since the tornado lifted. Either they're all in hiding or dead. We know houses have been overrun. We've heard the explosions." Many of the houses in the compound were rigged with explosives in case of breach.

  That stuck under Jim's skin. He said with a bit of anger, "I'd bet money Mace is out there right now. Shawn, too. This is a big compound. We have no idea how many people are alive or still fighting."

  "We haven't heard any gunshots."

  "Probably taking them out by hand. Guns make too much noise."

  Giving him a long, hard look, Yvette couldn't argue with his logic. She would be surprised if Mace and Shawn weren't out there right now. She wasn't sure about the rest of the camp, but she knew her people. "All right. I don't want to just stay here. We make a run for the ambulance." She felt her heart sink as the words left her lips.

  "Think about how cool this story will be for our kids."

  "First we have to survive, and then we have to have kids."

  Jim stuck his tongue out at her. "Details."

  Rolling her eyes to mask her anxiety, Yvette had a bad feeling about this. "Dork," is all she said.

  ~ ~ ~

  Mace was sweating as he tried the back doorknob. This one was locked. He didn't want to make any noise. He checked a few rear windows and found one that was cracked open.

  Lifting it quietly, he slowly climbed inside. Once his feet hit the ground he listened closely for any sounds. A horrifying scream came from somewhere within the house. He moved quickly and silently in its direction.

  Sitting against the wall, Angela was lost inside a hallucination. Keeping the M-16 aimed at the front door, she tried to concentrate on the door knob. The demons continued to swirl around the room. Every once in a while one would dive-bomb her, and she'd point the rifle in its direction, causing it to fly away. "You can't get me just yet," she said, watching one of the faces of Sarah as it moved swiftly across the ceiling.

  The door appeared to be melting, but she wasn't sure if it was just the steady flow of blood that was now falling inside the living room that gave it that appearance.

  One of the faces of Sarah abruptly dove towards her, it's mouth growing larger as it drew closer, snarling at her in fury. "You killed me!" it shrieked. Swinging the rifle up didn't divert it this time, though, and Angela felt instantly claustrophobic as the mouth came down over her head. Everything went black as it continued down, inch by inch, the filthy slime of its insides closing over her until it swallowed her whole. She was in complete blackness, in the belly of the beast, and as it squeezed her in its grip, she screamed in complete panic.

  Mace swung his pistol around the corner to catch Angela sitting on the floor. The expression on her face was of pure terror. He moved towards her slowly, keeping the gun trained on her face. "Where's my son?" he demanded, his blood pressure rising at the sight of her.

  At the sound of Mace's voice, Angela could now see through the skin of the beast, although the thin membrane created a weird haze. "Help me," she said weakly, reaching her hand out towards him.

  "Where's Jason? What did you do with him! Where's Melissa?"

  Angela couldn't understand what he was talking about. She was being crushed by the beast. "What?" she said, her mind swimming, trying to remember.

  "Tell me!" he yelled, losing his patience. "Where are they?" He took a step towards her and realized she was completely mad. The look on her face told him all he needed to know.

  Angela stared back from somewhere else. "It's swallowing me," she said weakly in resignation. She could feel the maggots pulling her down. Her eyes closed and her body went limp, sliding down the wall to slump against the ground.

  "Fuck," said Mace, trying to keep from losing his own grip. "Melissa!" he yelled. "Jason!" He kicked a chair over and ran his fingers through his hair. Not knowing what else to do, he opened the front door, finding Jade leaning against the house, looking drawn and tired. She was all alone. She jumped as the door snapped opened, then sobbed at the sight of Mace without Jason in his arms.

  "Is he...?" she asked, searching his eyes for a clue to the truth.

  "I don't know," he said, reaching out to hold her. "Angela's dead. I don't know where they are. I haven't found them yet." He looked out at the darkened street, noticing a decent number of bodies lying on the pavement. "The kids?" he asked.

  "They're back on the bus. They said they feel safer there."

  From inside the house, they heard Melissa's voice. "Mace?"

  They both bolted inside the door to find Melissa standing over Angela's body, staring at her with Jason tucked safely in her arms. She looked up and her eyes were watering. "She lost her mind. She was totally whacked out."

  "Oh thank God," said Jade as she rushed to Melissa. Melissa couldn't help but smile as she held Jason up for her. "Thank you, oh my God, thank you." Jade reached for him with trembling hands, instantly hugging him tight. Jason continued to sleep like a log.

  "I thought you were dead," said Melissa, gawking at Jade. "How on earth did you get out of there?"

  "It was a stroke of luck," Jade said as she smiled at the baby, kissing his nose.

  Melissa turned to Mace. "I thought I heard you. I opened the door for a second to find out what was going on, and I heard you call my name. I went to grab Jason."

  "Shawn said it was like Fort Knox in there. Did you see anything we could use?"

  "Oh God, yeah. There's a whole box of flash grenades and ammo up the wazoo."

  Adrenaline started pumping through his veins. "We need to get out of here, but let's load up on ammo first. Let me go grab a couple of kids."

  ~ ~ ~

  "This is crazy. I can't believe we're going to do this," Yvette said, staring at the little pink moped as Jim climbed on board. Her heart was racing.

  "It'll work fine. I'm telling you. Get ready to open the garage door."

  "It looks like a Barbie toy, Jim. I'm surprised it doesn't have training wheels on it."

  Jim started it up and the engine purred quietly. "Sounds like a champ to me. If it stalls, just put your feet on the ground and start running. Worked for the Flintstones."

  Yvette rubbed the the dent in her shoulder as her pits grew moist. Her forehead beaded with sweat. "I can't do this."

  "We have no choice. We can't stay here. Open the door, Vette."

  She could tell he wouldn't be swayed. Jim moved the moped to the front of the garage. "Go ahead," he said firmly.

  Yvette took a deep breath and pulled up the garage door. An infected was right outside the door. She stifled a scream and jumped on the back of the scooter, quickly pulling on her helmet. The infected moved towards them.

  "Go!" she said, holding on to Jim's waist as he pushed off and drove around the infected. It reached for them, it's fingers scraping across Yvette's shoulder. She shuddered a
s they moved past it.

  Driving out onto the street, the headlight caused a stir as the infected raised their arms up in defense. The scooter wobbled as Jim tried to keep it under control, maneuvering through them. The infected moaned in defiance, chasing after them.

  Jim turned a corner and brought the moped to a stop. Turning to view the chasing mob, his heart started pounding. They were right behind them. There was also a huge congregation of infected in the middle of the street ahead, swarming around something.

  Jim hit the gas and rolled the scooter onto the sidewalk. Moving as fast as he could, he raced the bike down the sidewalk past the horde. They made it past without even being noticed. The horde was too focused on their latest victim to pay them any attention. It was Shawn. He'd gone out fighting.

  ~ ~ ~

  Angela gasped as her eyes snapped open. She couldn't believe she'd climbed her way out of the beast. Her breath was fast and shallow, but she was still alive.

  Pain radiated out from her stomach, engulfing her in its intensity. She embraced the feelings. It was now all she was. Rising waves of horrible splendor vibrated throughout her being. She wanted to kill.

  Scanning the room for any hint of Sarah's ghost, she felt momentarily relieved. She was all alone. She could feel the maggots wriggling under her skin, but she still had a little time before they'd break through and consume her.

  Angela was bleeding out. The only thing that enabled her to rise off the floor was the power of the toxin within.

  She knew where she needed to go. It's where they would eventually end up. She just needed to live long enough to finish it.

  Staggering outside, the infected turned towards her. She lifted her gun, eager for a fight. They turned away and moved on. Startled, she realized what she had become.

  ~~~

  Mace was now racing the school bus towards the medical center, much to Woody's dismay. It was his bus, and he'd established himself as the driver. He tried to hide his displeasure, but Mace could read through it easily enough. He'd make it up to him later.

  The kids cheered as Mace smashed into an infected and its head burst against the grill. Switching on the windshield wipers, the kids roared louder as the mushy splatter scraped off the window. "Yeah!" screamed Hot Dog, holding on tight as the bus rocked and rolled over the fallen infected. Woody stayed silent, still steaming.