“Is everywhere an acceptable answer?” she asks with a grin. “That evac center better be all it’s cracked up to be. We can’t go on like this much longer. Come on, let’s get back to the bus.”
“I wonder whose body I was going to bring out of the basement,” I ask, grabbing my weapon from beside the ladder I guess I don’t need.
“Her body came down when the ceiling collapsed. She must have been in one of the apartments above. Noah, before we get back to the bus, look, I know I’m not that girl, but I just, I need to know, what are we? Like, do we tell Caylee how we feel? Because I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I really like her. I swear to god if you even think about a ménage…” she says with a scolding finger, “I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed,” she adds quickly under her breath with a wink, “but what do we do? I don’t want to lie to her.”
“I know. I don’t either. Let me talk to her. She’ll be hurt but, I feel like maybe she’ll understand. I don’t know. Just, I’ll talk to her.”
“Sorry,” she whimpers. “I hate putting you through this.”
“It’s okay,” I say, kissing her forehead as if it’s her lips. “You’re alive. That’s all that matters. I couldn’t do this without you.”
“You don’t have to,” she purrs, sliding her hand down my chest. “We’re in this together.”
Smoke rises from the piles of burnt corpses the rain has finally extinguished as we round the corner. Their unrecognizable limbs shake beneath the barrage of raindrops. The charred skeletal remains of human beings attempt to drag themselves across the bloodstained asphalt on the quest to cure their undying hunger. Buildings are collapsing all around us, surrendering to the flames nature isn’t strong enough to combat. Yeah, Neil was right and no I don’t like it.
“My god, Noah, they’re everywhere,” she whispers, more to herself than to me, surveying the damage. “How are any of you alive?”
“These helped,” I say, fiddling with my chainmail vest. “In fact, here, you’re taking this one.” I peel it off over my head before she can protest and slide it on over her. “It saved Caylee’s life. And I didn’t see it coming but it is extremely sexy on you. Can I kiss you again?”
She smiles at me and nods, reaching out her arms to bring me in closer.
“Felecia!” It’s Neil. “You’re alive? Holy shit, it’s you. You’re really alive.” He stumbles over on wobbly legs like a baby deer learning to walk. “How? We thought…”
“Almost, but I’m not that easy to kill. I learn from the best,” she says, nudging me in a playful manner I’ve never seen in her before. It’s like she’s a new person, the person I always knew was in there, disguised by the image she wanted the world to see. Now, with no more world, maybe she’s finally able to be at ease. “Neil, thank you for coming to search for me. That was brave of you and don’t let your father tell you anything different. I hope we can find a way to be friends.”
“I’d like that,” he says, nodding, barely able to look at her. “But it’s not gonna happen. I brought him on the bus, now I have to be the one to take him off. I’m gonna convince him we should leave. Us, my brother, and anyone else you don’t want on there with you.”
“Neil,” I say, putting my hand on his shoulder, “you don’t need to leave. Your father, yes, but not you.”
“I’ve caused enough damage. I left you guys in the middle of nowhere to dig a grave. I’m happy for you two, I really am, to see two people who love each other and actually like each other’s company, in spite of everything going on around us, I really am happy for you. But I can’t stick around to watch. He’ll take better care of you than I ever could,” he admits remorsefully to the girl of his dreams. “He’s everything I pretend to be and I hate him for it, but I get why you feel the way you do about him. I’m sorry for everything. Maybe someday this’ll all be over, and we’ll be able to grab a drink and laugh about the time we survived the zombie apocalypse. But right now, I gotta get my dad off that bus before he does something I can’t fix.”
“What was that?” Felecia asks, squinting her eyes. “Were those…”
“Gunshots,” I finish for her. “The bus.”
CHAPTER 23
Another blast shatters the windshield. What the fuck are they doing?
Tyrone pops up from the seat behind Marty and fires back at the tail end of the bus. A man yells but I can’t tell who it is. The windows are too foggy to see much of anything. Two more shots fill the damp air as I slam into the door that won’t open for me. I try to pry it apart but it won’t budge.
“Noah, I’m gonna go around the back,” Neil says, heading towards the other end of the bus.
The door finally folds and Marty slides down the steps, holding his shoulder. Blood coats his hand, seeping out from between his fingers. Son of a bitch, they shot him. Someone shot Marty. Paul jumps off after him with a bloody towel.
“What the fuck is going on in there?”
“Buckley!” Paul shouts. “He wanted Marty to leave you guys behind but he wouldn’t. They started yelling, then this. Noah, I need those medical supplies Neil got. We gotta stop this bleeding.”
“We’ll never get the stuff without getting hit,” Felecia says quickly, “Noah, you help them, I’ll run into the pharmacy. What do you need?” she asks Paul.
I run onto the bus, keeping low to avoid the bullets. It sounds like three guns in the back. I already know Tyrone’s shooting but we should have two guns on our side. Shane, Shane’s got the other one. He pops up and shoots towards the back. There’s blood on the seat. And the floor. Shit, someone else got shot. I peer under the seats to try to see who.
Caylee’s crawling towards me, sliding beneath the seats where she can’t be seen. She’s got the hatchet in her hand like it’s going to be of any use against guns. Seeing me causes her to burst into tears she does her best to keep silent. She’s on the other side of the aisle, she’s going to have to be out in the open for a split second if she’s going to get off this bus safely.
I have no choice. I jump into the aisle to block her. She takes her cue and crawls out from under the seats while my body acts as her barricade. Without making it to her feet, she leaps towards the stairs and tumbles down. I dart after her but a shot hits the giant rearview mirror in front of me so I duck into the driver’s seat, covered in Marty’s blood. Rain is pouring through the shattered windows, glistening on the shards of glass that blanket everything in the vicinity.
It’s Kristen. From here I can see that it’s Kristen they shot. She’s holding her arm, crying, trying to be strong while Shane pops up and shoots again, blowing out one of the emergency door windows. It looks like it’s her bicep, closer to her elbow.
I poke my head up ever so slightly just to survey the situation. Buckley and one of his cohorts are the ones shooting. Todd Sanders is down, he’s hit, the one who stood up for me all those years ago. He’s clutching his stomach. It looks like Blake is trying to stop the bleeding but I’m pretty sure it’s hopeless. He’s yelling something but I can’t make it out over all the screaming and gunshots.
Dad? No. Dad pops up and shoots at my friends. Shane ducks down just in time and makes eye contact with me. The subtle shake of his head is enough to tell me we’re fucked. He tosses the gun onto the seat beside him. Son of a bitch, he’s out of bullets. He pulls Kristen closer to him and closes his eyes tightly.
I peer around the window side of the seats and see Tyrone looking back at me, one seat between us. He holds up two fingers. He’s only got two shots left. I think I know what he’s telling me but if I’m wrong, I’ll be dead before I have a chance to regret my decision.
I rise from the driver’s seat with my hands raised.
“We’re out of ammo. Don’t shoot.”
“I’ll tell you,” Buckley shouts, “you and your buddies walked a slippery slope kid, one you couldn’t handle. Look at this shit!”
“I had nothing to do with this, I wasn’t even on the bus.
People are injured. We need to help them before it’s too late.”
“I’m afraid it’s already too late.”
I can tell by the change in his facial expression that he’s about to shoot me. If he was going to leave me and his son out there, stranded, he won’t think twice about gunning me down in cold blood.
“Now!” I scream. I duck behind the seat but decide to drop all the way to the floor instead, not trusting the thin metal and vinyl to actually stop bullets.
I was right. He shoots. And right again, it tears through the seat cushion and hits the dash.
Tyrone should be shooting back right now. What the fuck is he doing? I thought we were on the same wavelength here. I cause the distraction, he shoots. Two shots, you’d figure at least one of them would hit Buckley. Why isn’t he shooting? What are those noises? It sounds like he’s struggling.
I poke my head around the aisle. Darius is wrestling the gun away from him. What in god’s name is he doing?
Tyrone ducks down in his seat while Darius falls back with the gun, accidentally letting off a shot. It shatters the window beside him and they both disappear from sight. That double crossing bastard must have seen us and decided to interrupt our plan. But why? Whose side is he on? Tyrone’s his best friend. What is happening to people? Have we all lost our god damn minds?
“Give it up Britton! It’s over,” Mr. Buckley growls from the back. “You’re out of weapons. Let’s not make this any bloodier than it already is. Give me the colored kid and his trigger happy friend, and I’ll consider letting the rest of you go.”
“You don’t need to do this,” I plead. “People on both sides are shot. You go your way, we go ours.”
“Didn’t realize you were in the position to make demands. Or maybe you aren’t and you’re just retarded enough to do it anyway.”
“Please, haven’t we lost enough?”
“Oh,” he laughs, “you mean your little mistress? That’s always been your problem Britton, you’re too emotional. You think with your heart and that’s what gets you into trouble. You led her out there, with some half-baked, idiotic plan. You can blame her death on whatever you want but the fact of the matter is, you killed her. Her blood is on your hands Britton.”
He’s talking about Felecia. He thinks she’s dead. I don’t know why but I want to keep it that way. If he kills me, at least she’ll have the chance to escape. I glance through the open door to see if she’s visible but I don’t think she’s out there. She might still be getting supplies.
Marty, he’s looking at me, pointing down and mouthing something I can’t make out. I’m not a lip reader. What the hell’s he trying to tell me. Is he singing Under The Sea, the Little Mermaid song? How much blood has he lost?
“Noah.” Dad? “Son, don’t take this any further. It doesn’t need to end like this.” He’s approaching slowly, ready to jump out of harm’s way with every cautious step he takes in our direction. “Do what he says Noah.”
“I’m your kid,” I scream. “How are you on his side? I’m your son.”
“This isn’t about family Noah, this is simply about survival. And the choices you’re making, they’re going to get you killed. Please, for once, just do as you’re told. Everything will be alright if you just shut up and follow orders.”
“Like you?” I ask, my voice cracking from the heartbreak. “Just be like you Dad? Do what everyone tells me to do even when I know it’s wrong?”
“You want to talk about wrong? Okay, let’s talk about being wrong. Your mother cheated! Not me, her! So you tell me Noah, how am I the bad guy here? How am I in the wrong?”
“You were wrong the second you put work before us. But you didn’t do it just one time, did you? You did it over and over again. You would rather defend that monster standing beside you than your own family. And you can’t tell me that isn’t true because you’re doing it right now. Because you’re too scared what he’ll do if you don’t bow down and do exactly as he says. Your work buddies came before your own children. Because you’re too fucking scared to disappoint them. But while impressing them, you lost us.”
“I wasn’t like you Noah. I didn’t have friends. I was the kid who ate his lunch in the bathroom to hide from the bullies. I didn’t hang out on the weekends or get girls. I spent my entire life being looked down on. Until I met Joe. He changed my life son, and he can do the same for yours. He taught me how to be strong. And confident.”
“And how to be a heartless asshole who would rather leave his son out there to die in that wasteland than risk disagreeing with his supposed friends.”
“If that’s what the situation calls for than yes. This is about survival and I want to live, damn it. For once, I’m going to be on the winning team. We’re going to rule what’s left of this world and I don’t want you to be on the wrong side. You can either be the kid who gets picked on, or you can be the bully who picks on him. Being the loser is no fun Noah, believe me, I know, I spent most of my life there.”
“The bullies are only bullies until someone bigger and badder comes along. Please, Dad, you don’t have to do this.”
“I’m afraid I do son. And it kills me, it really does, but I don’t have any other choice.”
“Yes you do! That world where you were bullied, that world doesn’t exist anymore. I get why you did it. I understand the need to fit in, the need to be accepted. I really do. But that life is behind us. Those people are gone. We make this new world whatever we want it to be. And if you side with him, nothing changes. He wants the power for himself, not for you to share, it’s for him and him alone.”
“Don’t listen to him Carl,” Buckley commands like he’s his puppet master, and it might not be far from the truth. “He doesn’t understand power because it’s something he’s never known. The uneducated and the misinformed, they fear what they don’t understand. They hate what they fear because weak minds can’t comprehend the truth they don’t want to see. He doesn’t want to see it Carl. You’ve known that for years, nothing has changed. We can’t let him take it away from us. We can’t let him have it.”
Oh my god, he really does have him brainwashed. Take what away from them? What the hell is he talking about? You’ve got to be kidding me. My own father is going to murder me. Buckley could have walked down that aisle and done it himself but no, he has my father do it just to prove a point. The point being, Joseph Buckley is in charge here. We’re all pawns in his game and if he wants to knock us off the board, he can do so whenever he pleases. He preys on the weak in order to make himself feel strong. If enough people worship a living creature, does it make that creature a god? What is Joseph Buckley, man or god?
I don’t even have a weapon. There’s nothing. The second I step out from behind this seat, he’ll shoot me. My own father. This is the type of control one person can have over another. This is what creates holocausts and genocides. This is the kind of thinking that can destroy the world. Not that there’s much left to destroy.
How did I make it through all of this only to be killed at the merciless hands of a pathetic, brainwashed follower who happens to be my father? Even if I had a weapon, I don’t think I could do it. He’s my dad. He’s the man who read me bedtime stories every night. He used to hide coins in the sand so I’d always find buried treasure at the beach. He’d take me out for ice cream even when I didn’t win because seeing me do my best was victory enough in his eyes. He was the greatest father any kid could ask for.
Then he got hired by a gun manufacturer to represent them in court. He met Joseph Buckley. He won the case. He lost himself. The end.
CHAPTER 24
“Forgive me Lord for the sins I’m about to commit.” My father is practically in tears. His voice cracks before he can finish his pointless prayer that I’m quite sure doesn’t negate murdering your own son.
We’ve all lost it. I get it, I really do. But this is pushing the limit. Does he even understand why he’s about to kill his own kid? Because I’m not really clear on the m
otive behind it. Because Buckley said so? Couldn’t they just remove me from the bus and call it good? Take my weapons and leave me out there to die if they must? I guess to be fair they already tried that. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place. Marty wouldn’t be bleeding to death at the foot of the steps singing Under The Sea. Kristen wouldn’t have a bullet in her arm. Under the seat. He pointed down. He said under the seat, he wasn’t doing an interpretive dance in his delirium. He knows damn well what he’s talking about.
I reach under the driver’s seat and pull out something metal. It’s his emergency box. I flip the locks open and fumble through the contents. Reflective triangles. A fire extinguisher. That could come in handy. Flares. I could burn him with a flare if he gets close enough. Seatbelt cutter. It’s got a small hammer on the end but it wouldn’t do much damage, not when he’s got a gun. Then my hand lands on a red gun. Flare gun. Marty you brilliant bastard.
“I’m sorry son, I don’t want to do this. I just don’t see any way around it.”
“Shoot him Dad, turn around and shoot Buckley. Please. Don’t do this.”
I peek out into the aisle. He sees me. The pained expression on his face breaks my heart. His eyes are tearing up. I can see the confusion mixed with desperation. He’s not like them. He still has a heart. It’s in there somewhere. It has to be.
It isn’t. He pulls the trigger.
The shot shakes the bus, echoing off the confined corners. I roll out of the way and the bullet disappears into the console. It’ll be a miracle if this thing even starts up with all the damage it’s taking. What the hell are we thinking? Whoever wins this shootout is going to be stuck in the middle of downtown Leyland as it burns to the ground.
I don’t want to do this but I don’t have a choice. I know he thinks he doesn’t but he does. I don’t. I can’t see the father I once knew. He’s gone. He has been for years. I have to see the father who banished me from going on hunting trips. I have to see the father who abandoned me when I chose to live with Mom after the divorce. I have to see the father who came to town on business and didn’t bother to let me know. The father who didn’t call to see if I was alright. The father who didn’t care to. The father turned stranger turned coward.
Blood Type Infected (Book 2): Fallen To The Flame Page 14
