by Siara Brandt
Snead paused with the flask halfway to his mouth as he watched Eli more closely.
Ailin glanced over at Eli. He appeared to be relaxed and at ease. But she was also aware of the tension in his jaw and the cold look in his eyes.
”Maybe if we work together, Snead, we can figure out something that will be mutually beneficial.” Not that Eli thought it would do any good, but he had to try.
Snead’s chair had been tilted backward. His boots hit the floor as the front legs of the chair dropped to the ground. It jarred his leg, but the whiskey had gone a long way in deadening the pain. “I just want your weapon,” he growled. “I don’t want your damned advice. And I don’t need your help.”
A rumble of thunder filled the silence and Snead looked toward the open door of the shed. “Well, as much as I’ve enjoyed chatting with you both, it’s time for me to get moving. I wouldn’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere after dark.” His mouth wreathed into a sneer. “Especially if I didn’t have a weapon. So it looks like this party’s over,” Snead said as he rose to his feet, favoring his wounded leg. “Don’t try to follow me. Because I won’t hesitate to shoot to kill.”
Without another word, he was gone.
By the look on her face, Eli knew that Ailin was worried. “We’re going to be helpless,” she said, twisting her hands together.
“Not completely. I’ve got a map. And I’ve got a knife. We’ve got one thing more going for us. We’re not drinking.”
They had found Virgene Larkin in the school bus garage, manning her post like a lone surviving soldier. Virgene had told them that some of the drivers were supposed to turn their buses around and come back to the school. Tessa Jerrell’s bus was the only one that hadn’t made it back, and she couldn’t be reached on her radio. Of course, the phones still weren’t working. Virgene was worried.
Athan Clune and his wife had decided to re-trace the bus’s route, so Athan committed his second felony of the day. He stole a car. The car had only a half tank of gas. There wasn’t any way to get more, not before dark, so as he turned the key in the ignition, he was praying hard that half a tank of gas was going to be enough.
Half an hour later they found the overturned bus.
They found Zach’s backpack, so he must have been on the bus when it crashed. They found some of Sisha’s papers, too. More disturbing, there was blood on one of the seats. Even more alarming than that was the thing lying in a mangled heap in the road in front of the bus.
“Where are they?” Rietta Clune was almost desperate now. Every attempt to find their children so far had turned out to be a dead end. At this point, Zachary and Sisha could be anywhere. They could be hurt. They would surely be scared. And they would be waiting for their parents to find them.
It took a considerably longer time to find Josiah Hunter’s vehicle. They followed the skid marks off the road. When Athan checked the interior of the truck, he found the long black frock coat and the stovepipe hat. He also found directions to the Creyvan House along with a copy of the Gettysburg Address. He knew about the re-enactment this weekend, so he said to his wife, “I think I know where they might be.”
She nodded as a long, ominous peal of thunder rumbled through the forest.
Brannet Sneadley sat down to rest. And to drink more whiskey. When he found that there was just a single shallow mouthful left in the flask, he swore profanely and cursed his bad luck. He tilted his head far back, drained the last drop, then wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
He had to get his hands on a car that actually ran. Even if he had to take it away from somebody. He was frustrated that he hadn’t been able to do so yet. All this walking had worn him out, and he didn’t want to be out here after dark. Especially not with a storm coming. And not with-
He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about what might be out there. Abbott’s screams had been unnerving to say the least. It had taken him a long time to die. But at least he was armed now. That was something. That should give him an edge.
He set his jaw resolutely. He’d find someplace where he could get something to eat, and surely, eventually, he would find more whiskey. Maybe he’d even find a woman to keep him company. Just like McShane.
He had no doubt that McShane was screwing her. Because that’s the way Brannet Sneadley always thought about women. They were just a handy means to satisfying his own lust. Women, all women, were something to be used and then discarded. Otherwise, they were more trouble than they were worth.
His eyes hardened as he stared into the forest. He should have forced the bitch to come with him. That would have served McShane right. His mouth twisted into a crooked imitation of a smile. He should have expected that the lucky bastard would end up with a piece of ass like that. Even in the middle of all this.
His eyes darted back and forth like a wary animal. He was finding that he didn’t like being alone. In spite of the numbing sensation of the whiskey. In spite of the sense of bravado that it inspired in him. He felt like too much of a target. At least with Abbott he’d had a ready shield between him and any threats. The woman would have made a handy shield, too. But he knew that would have been pushing it with McShane.
Not that he hadn’t given a lot of thought into forcing her to go with him. In fact, several times he’d had to fight the urge to go back and do just that. But the image of a vengeful Eli McShane on his trail had kept rising up before him.
He consoled himself with the thought that in the end he had managed to take the bastard by surprise. He’d gotten the drop on him. That was one helluvan accomplishment. He heard himself giggle out loud, which was all right since he was alone and no one could hear him. So much for the sonofabitch’s special ops training. It hadn’t done him a bit of good. Oh, yeah. Payback was hell. His eyes grew cold as a zombie’s pecker. What he really should have done was put a bullet in McShane’s brain.
Even better, he should have taken that mouthy bitch right in front of McShane and made him watch. Now that was a satisfying image. So satisfying that he indulged in a little sexual fantasizing. One that involved every single perversion he had ever watched on his computer screen. In fact, the images so aroused him that he was gonna have to-
He quickly unzipped his pants. The woods were soon filled with his deep pants and his excited moans. He’d never done it in the woods before and he found that arousing, too. He was concentrating so much on his throbbing member that he didn’t hear the rustling sounds. And when the zombie burst out of the woods he didn’t even see it coming.
Chapter 15
_______________
It was disconcerting to have them suddenly appear at the windows or the glass doors. Thankfully they couldn’t get inside. At least they hadn’t gotten in so far.
The officers that had been here earlier had heard over their radio that the military had just shown up in Willow Grove to round people up and take them to a safe place. They advised everyone to wait inside until someone came for them. So they stayed inside. And they waited. Even though they had no idea what they were supposed to be kept safe from, or where they would be taken to. It was enough that someone was coming to rescue them.
Of course, they had heard the explosions and the sirens. They had seen the helicopters and those- those things wandering around in the fields and the parking lot outside the inn. They didn’t call them zombies. They didn’t know what to call them. And there had been that savage attack in the lobby. But everyone had a different theory about what was really going on.
Most of the guests had gotten together and discussed the wisdom of staying in their rooms until they were rescued. The ones on the first floor had changed to second-floor rooms so they wouldn’t have to see those things looking in at them. But as the day wore on, the majority of the guests got bored and came downstairs anyway. Others kept wandering downstairs to see if there was any word from the authorities yet.
“Hang up the phone, Nilah.”
When she didn’t immediately obey him, Penndle
scowled at his wife. “Did you hear me? I said hang up the phone. I told you before, you’re just wasting your time.”
“I’m worried about the kids.”
“You’re always worried about them.”
Of course she was worried about them. She didn’t expect Penndle to try to comfort her. Or do what he could to put her fears to rest. He made himself comfortable in the lobby chair and propped his feet up on the table before him. “At least they’re not stuck here,” he grumbled.
Penndle had run out of patience a long time ago. He sat with his chin hanging dejectedly towards his bandaged chest. “We should have left earlier,” he muttered to himself. “Before those things showed up.”
“They told us we would be all right if we just stayed inside,” the woman in the red blazer spoke up in her nasal tone, but even her voice sounded strained.
“Have you looked outside lately?” Penndle asked her testily. “The longer we wait, the more of those things there are.”
Nilah saw right away that the woman in the red blazer didn’t like Penndle’s attitude. Something flared in her eyes as she shared a look with the woman seated beside her. That one was fanning herself with a brochure, and she looked almost as impatient as Penndle did. She gave Penndle a sidelong gaze as he said impatiently, “We might as well be in prison.”
One of those things smashed into the front door, smearing blood on the glass and looking at them like it wanted only one thing. To get inside. Bits of black, clotted blood stuck to the glass as it moved away.
Penndle grimaced in disgust.
“What do we do if one of them gets inside?” Nilah asked nervously.
“I don’t know,” the woman in the blazer answered as she continued to stare at the door.
“What do you think they are?” Nilah asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Do you think it has something to do with- ” Nilah’s gaze shifted to the pool room where the dead terrorist still floated face down in the water.
They all referred to him as the terrorist because they didn’t know what else to call him.
“Whatever it is, that pool’s gonna have to be emptied out,” Penndle muttered under his breath.
“That’s probably the least of anyone’s worries right now,” Nilah said with a frown, embarrassed as the two women shared a look at Penndle’s expense.
Penndle shrugged without being aware of the subtle slur. “He got what he deserved.”
One of the reasons that Penndle had been growing more irritable by the minute, was that he had been hoping that somebody would go outside and try to get to their car. Or at least create a diversion so he could get to his. They were running out of food and drinks and anyone could see that the situation was going to get desperate before very long.
Another one of those things, this one wearing a pair of underpants and nothing else, was at the door now. Most people tended to avert their eyes so they wouldn’t have to look at any of them, but the woman in the red blazer was snapping pictures again. Every time a ghoulish face would appear at the door or one of the windows, you would see a flash and hear the click of her camera.
“Why would you want pictures of those things?” Nilah asked her.
“Because when we get back home, no one will believe all this without proof.”
Nilah stared at her. “You think this is the only place this is happening?”
“I think that most places would be able to handle this better, whatever it is,” Edmina answered for her.
Eventually the two women went back upstairs to their room. Nilah was left alone in the lobby with Penndle, except for another couple who was staring through the glass door at the terrorist floating in the pool.
Penndle was staring after Edmina and Bevanne. “They obviously have money,” he said under his breath. “And we stand to make a lot of money off this,” he said significantly. “This is going to work to our advantage.”
“What do you mean by this?”
“This.” He turned both hands palms upward in an impatient gesture, as if she should know what he was talking about. “I’m going to sue. My suffering should be worth something.”
Suffering? It was barely more than a scratch. She couldn’t help wondering what all her years of suffering were worth.
“These people don’t have any control over terrorists,” she said.
“They should.”
Nilah closed her eyes for several long moments, praying for her own patience.
Penndle made a sound and shook his head. “I should have known you wouldn’t support me in this.”
“Penndle, something is happening. Right now we should be worrying about those- things, whatever they are, getting in here. Even more than that, we should be worrying about our children.”
“You’re absolutely right. There is a lot to worry about. This has turned out to be one hell of a vacation. We’ve got a dead terrorist floating in the pool. We’ve got some kind of lunatics running around outside. And it must be at least 85 degrees in here. On top of that, no one seems to be worrying about whether we starve to death or not. Or what we’re supposed to do here all day and all night with no TV.”
“For heaven sakes, Penndle. Do you expect them to entertain you, too?”
“I didn’t say that. But they should be prepared for things like this. We could starve to death waiting for someone to rescue us. We should have tried to make it to a restaurant when we could. I still think there might be a chance to- ”
She gave him a horrified look. “You saw what they did to that man.”
Another attack had happened right in the parking lot. A group of terrified guests had watched helplessly as a man was violently assaulted as he tried to get to his car. No one in the hotel had seen the actual attack. It had happened behind the man’s car. But they’d heard screaming and they’d seen blood seeping out from under the car. No one left the hotel after that.
Disgruntled by his wife’s non-supportive attitude, Penndle settled back in his chair and glowered at the couple still standing by the pool room door. He said in an undertone, “Do you think those people had to pay for their room?”
Those people had barely made it into the hotel alive. They had parked their car right outside the door and then they had run a gauntlet of those things to get inside.
Penndle looked around and lowered his voice. “There’s only one vending machine. If that runs out, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
He leaned forward. “When those people leave the lobby, why don’t you go in there and get some more drinks. Hide them in your purse and then sneak them up to the room.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“I didn’t ask what you thought,” Penndle snapped. “Don’t give me a hard time. Just go do it. Here,” he said as he emptied his pocket of change.
Nilah didn’t get up. He must be pretty desperate if he was thinking about hoarding vending machine food, she thought.
Penndle half raised himself out of his chair as he dug around in his other pocket.
She sighed and said, “Have you ever in your life thought of someone else’s needs?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said as he continued rooting around in his pocket.
“Of course you don’t.”
When his pockets were empty, Penndle braced his hands on the arms of the chair. “I’m hurt here, Nilah. And you’re arguing with me?”
“I don’t want to go in there,” she came right out and told him.
“Why?”
She shouldn’t even have to explain it to him. There was a dead terrorist floating in the pool. So far everyone in the hotel had avoided going in there.
“It’s a simple thing, Nilah- ”
Suddenly she’d had enough. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Don’t I have some years coming to me where I don’t have to do this?” she gritted.
“Do what?”
“Become a casualty in this battleground we call a m
arriage.”
Penndle straightened in his chair. “What in hell does that mean?”
“It means that I can’t play the same old role for you. Not even for another minute.”
He looked at her like he usually did. Like she wasn’t quite bright and that she was trying his patience on top of it. “If you have something to say, Nilah, then say it.”
She had plenty to say.
“The war is officially over, Penndle. You are cheating us both out of life and it is only getting worse.”
“What are you talking about?”
She shook her head slowly, almost sadly. “This isn’t love. You don’t even know what love is. You never did.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not this again.”
“All these years you have worked very hard at proving that I am not worth even your time, but you expect me to wait on you hand and foot. I have fought against this year after year after year, but no matter how many times I try to discuss it with you, you haven’t changed one bit. And there is only one reason for that. It’s because this is the way you want things to be.”
“All right. I get it. You’re stressed. Who isn’t? Now that you’ve gotten it all out of your system, see if they have any root beer in there.”
Nilah rose up from her chair. She looked down at her husband and said, “Get your own damned soda, Penndle.”
That’s when they heard the woman by the pool room door ask, “Did he just move?”
“That can’t happen,” Nilah said as she walked across the lobby and looked inside the pool room for herself.
But it was happening. The “dead” terrorist was thrashing about in the pool.
Chapter 16
_______________
The sun was almost down. Storm clouds were reaching across the sky and the air was growing heavy with the feel of rain. They weren’t going to make it to the hotel today. The best they could hope for was to find some suitable shelter for the night. Ailin almost ran into Eli’s back when he stopped suddenly.
