Love and Decay

by Rachel Higginson

  Everything freaking hurt.

  “Goddamn,” Miller moaned next to me. Or maybe he was under me.

  Or maybe I was under him?

  I tried to sit up, but we were too tangled and I was too confused to figure out what limbs went where.

  “Page?” Nelson hollered above me.

  I tried to turn my head to look up at him, but it throbbed and Miller’s arm was pinning my head down so I couldn’t move.

  “I’m…” I finally pulled my head free and focused on saying words that made sense. “I’m fine, Nelson. Just a little beat up.”

  Miller sat up and helped disentangle the rest of us. “What happened?” Miller asked my brothers, who were now all peeking their heads over the fifteen foot drop.

  “Looks like a trap,” Hendrix said evenly. I was impressed with his calm collectedness.

  Especially since I heard the word “trap” and immediately started freaking the hell out. “A trap?” I squeaked. “A trap for what?”

  “What?” my brothers shouted in unison.

  This was one impressive hole. Miller and I hadn’t seen it coming. I mean, it took some skill to trick us. But we’d literally walked right into this one. We’d been too distracted by the…

  By…

  “Hendrix!” I hollered. “There’s something up there! I saw red!”

  Sounding equally as confused as Miller, Hendrix shouted down, “You saw red?”

  “As in red eyes!”

  Hendrix’s head disappeared. Then one by one my other brothers’ heads popped out of sight. Anxiety swirled in my gut, warning me that things were about to go south.

  Quickly.

  I looked at Miller. “Are you okay? Anything broken?”

  He sat back on his hands and yanked his foot from beneath me. “That hurt like a sonofabitch,” he groaned. “But I don’t think anything’s broken.”

  My breath whooshed out of me. “Or pierced?”

  “Huh?”

  I nodded my head at a series of natural wood spikes buried in the earth. As thick and long as my thigh, each one looked dangerously sharp. Whoever had built this trap had spaced them out around the bottom of the hole, making sure it was impossible to miss one.

  Somehow, by some miracle, Miller and I had missed all of them.

  “Holy shit,” he whispered.

  My throat went dry. Or drier, since I’d just inhaled enough dirt and grime for a lifetime. I’d made it out of some close calls before, but none of them had painted such a vivid picture.

  “Where are we?” I whispered.

  Miller stood up, popping joints and stretching his back as he tried to work out the bumps and bruises from our fall. He held a hand out to me while he looked around at all of the spikes that were meant for us.

  “Look, Page.” I took his hand and groaned into standing. My neck was going to be sore for a while. Geez. I stopped complaining the second I saw what Miller wanted me to see. Across the hole, most of the pointed tips of the spikes had been smashed and covered in something dark.

  Oh.

  Blood.

  They had been covered in blood because someone, or a lot of someones, had fallen and not been as lucky as us.

  “They’re closer together over there,” I told Miller. “Look.”

  It was true. On the other side of the wide hole, the spikes had been buried closer together, making it impossible to miss. On our side, it appeared they had run out or something. They were spaced more sporadically.

  “They aren’t expecting many people from that side,” Miller pointed at where we’d fallen. “It’s for people fleeing toward Mexico, not coming back.”

  “This is the Colony’s?” I moved around, pacing the fifteen foot length. Glancing up, I wondered where my family had gone to. I couldn’t hear anybody up there.

  “Probably?” Miller guessed. “We don’t have a map of every Colony city, so it’s hard to tell. But I’m guessing if there’re traps inside Colony territory they belong to the Colony.”

  “Welcome to America,” I muttered.

  Something horrible screeched just outside our underground prison. My head snapped in that direction. I tried jumping as high as I could, but the nine and a half feet proved more than I could handle.

  Although I felt better when Miller tried, too. Although he had almost a foot on me his attempt was futile. We were trapped down here with the ghosts of the Colony’s victims and the potential threat of Zombies waging war overhead.

  A second screech joined the first. Deep and low-pitched moaning rumbled around us.

  Zombies for sure.

  And more than one.

  I pulled out one of my knives from my holster. Miller did the same. We circled the hole, searching for a way out. He stuck his knife into the dirt side, hoping to use it as leverage to boost himself up, but the dirt was too loose and all he managed to do was cut a big chunk out of it and cover himself in grime.

  He cursed under his breath and tried a different section of wall with the same result. He lashed out with his foot, kicking it once. “This is so dumb.”

  The once quiet night filled with Feeder screams and human shouts. My heart hammered in my chest. I felt completely helpless. I wanted to be up there. Now.

  Miller turned around and I stared at him across the hole. “What are we going to do?”

  He jerked his head, indicating that I should go over to him. “I can lift you up. You can crawl out.”

  “And what about you?”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  I had just decided that was our only option when Harrison poked his head over again. “It’s mayhem up here!” he shouted. He disappeared again and rolled back over with Jagger hanging on his neck. He coaxed Jagger to let go and held onto the toddler’s arms while he explained, “We’re handing you the kids.”

  Miller reached up to grab Jagger. The transition happened seamlessly and soon the little, crying boy was as safe as he could be.

  King appeared on the opposite side of the hole. “Not that side!” I warned him quickly.

  He saw the closely situated spikes and cried, “What the hell!” he disappeared and reappeared near me. He lowered Stevie down to me. “So obviously this isn’t a permanent solution, but it’s the best we can do right now.”

  “Let her go!” I told him once I had a secure hold on her waist.

  King looked up and barked orders at someone. Adela’s butt appeared next as she slid over the side, kicking up dirt and rocks as she intentionally fell into the hole with us.

  King handed me the bigger kids, Lennon and Vaughan, because their bodies were long enough for me to reach. Miller grabbed Halen from Harrison and set him next to his crying cousin.

  “Go comfort them,” I ordered the older kids. “And watch out for those.”

  They carefully avoided the spikes while they hurried over to the little ones.

  “So you just want us to stay down here?” I hollered up at King.

  He rolled out of sight without saying anything. I stared up at him, listening to the sounds of a battle I couldn’t see. Frustration boiled inside me.

  I hated this feeling of helplessness more than anything on earth.

  I was the one that had led all these people into this and now I was safely tucked away while they fought my battle.

  Miller stared at Adela. “Are you not armed?”

  She clenched her jaw before saying, “Diego all but threw me down here.” Miller’s expression revealed his understanding. That sounded like something Diego would do. “And besides,” Adela continued. “I figured you’d need help.”

  “To babysit?” Miller scoffed.

  I would have argued with him if I didn’t empathize with his feelings of helplessness. The kids were more important than anything else. As frustrated as I was, other people had to fight for me, I also couldn’t deny that I would die protecting this brood. This hole had caused major problems and could have killed one or both of us. But it was a temporary safe haven for the little ones.
>
  For that I could be grateful.

  “No,” Adela sneered. “Against other visitors.”

  Miller’s brow quirked in confusion. King popped his head over the side again, nearly flinging himself headfirst into the hole with us. He braced himself against the wall and puffed out a breath of relief. Then he looked at us and said, “We can’t hold them all back. You’re going to have incoming in like thirty seconds.”

  “Incoming?” It was my turn to be confused. Adela squatted down to put her body in front of the children.

  The first Feeder flew over the top of the hole, dropping down at us with wild, flailing limbs. I had replaced my knife in my holster when I helped the kids down, but now I grappled for it, hoping to beat the Feeder before it could recover.

  By the time I had my blade out and ready, I realized I was too late. The Feeder had fallen victim to the spikes. It lay impaled halfway across the space.

  The foul stench filled the hole, erasing the cool, freshness of the night and mustiness of the dirt prison, just like its presence had completely deleted the sense of peace and hope I’d had only minutes ago.

  “It’s not dead,” Adela exclaimed.

  And in fact, it wasn’t. It had been stabbed twice, once through the shoulder and once through the gut. Blackish blood trickled from its open wounds and its lower body didn’t move, as if it couldn’t. But still the creature’s good arm swiped through the air, scratching its claws on the nearest post readying them for us.

  While we watched, the skin from its chest began to tear open around the shoulder wound. The disease had either rendered it too paper thin to hold together after such a deep injury or the Feeder was pulling itself apart on purpose…

  Its brain was fine. So its addiction to human flesh would be too.

  I watched in abject horror as Miller stepped forward, careful to avoid its claws, and plunged his knife through the top of the Feeder’s head.

  It stopped moving almost immediately. The head flopped back and it lay there, face up, truly dead. The children screamed.

  I didn’t blame them. It was really disgusting.

  Another Feeder flew over the top. It was like it had learned from the mistake of the first one, though. This one managed not to impale itself on the sharp spikes. The worst damage was a long gash through its calf.

  A she this time. Her ravaged dress and long clumps of hair were thick with coagulated blood and slimy puss. She hissed at us from across the hole. Her gaze flickered to her dead companion and she screeched at the sky. Adela stood up, poised with blades and fierce resolve.

  I did the same. Miller moved slowly, trying to get a better angle on her without setting her off. It was as though she sensed the danger. She didn’t immediately attack us instinctively. She waited, crouching low and baring her blackened teeth. They winked in the moonlight, just like the bleached bone that protruded from her arm and the exposed ribs along her side.

  Her eyes flashed bright, crimson red. They glowed with a strange hue I hadn’t seen before. It was unnerving, to be honest.

  I was certain I’d seen it all. But not this…

  She was like a cat. Her red reflected in the few streaks of moonlight that reached our pit of despair.

  I gripped my blade more firmly. I bent at the knees and tensed for her attack. I didn’t have to wait long. She launched herself, heading straight for Adela and the children.

  Miller and I met her on either side, lunging to keep her from reaching those precious things we would die protecting. Just at the last second, she whipped her head to the side and faced me.

  Miller swiped at her, but she danced out of the way with scary speed. I held my ground and I caught her arm as she tried to grab me.

  She howled in protest as my blade pinned her arm to her side. She quickly gave up fighting for her arm and threw her head forward, jaw already chomping. I kicked out, catching her in the stomach. She stumbled back where Miller was waiting.

  His knife came down on the top of her head bringing her to the ground. She kicked and flung her arms to the side, as if unwilling to actually die.

  I watched with wide eyes as the life slowly left her. She fought until the end, screeching and moaning and trying to murder Miller for his transgressions against her.

  Finally she stilled and with her, our temporary prison fell silent. We stared at her dead body, unconvinced that she couldn’t come back from the dead to finish this.

  “What the hell was that?” Miller panted.

  “I don’t know.”

  We had a second’s notice before another Feeder fell into our hole. The stench of rotting and decay was almost too much. It suffocated all my rational thoughts beneath the promise of death.

  This Feeder wasn’t as lucky as the last. It landed upright on a spike that shot straight through the bottom of its foot and out its shin. I couldn’t stop watching. Even though I wanted to.

  The pike shattered bone as easily as Miller’s knife stabbed through the dirt walls. Blackish blood spurted out of the wounds, coating everything around it in the thick grossness. My stomach flipped with warning and I felt bile climb up the back of my throat.

  The Feeder was completely unfazed by the accident. Other than the minor inconvenience of being tethered in the middle of the hole, it lunged forward and swiped at the air with its elongated claws.

  The children screamed in terror and the Feeder groaned hungrily. I hesitated for a second before I shook off the disgustingness of the situation and rushed forward.

  I reached it just as it tore its leg from the post and wobbled to the side. The creature hadn’t realized it would be off balance with only one and a half legs.

  Unfortunately for me, I had momentarily forgotten that too. I plunged my knife through the air to stab it in the head, but the head was gone. The uneven Zombie fell over, catching its back on another spike ripping it open.

  In return it managed to tear open my shin, sinking its filthy, jagged nails through my leather pants and slashing at my skin. I saw Miller move to help me but another Feeder dropped from the sky before he could get far. He threw himself at it while I dealt with Legless.

  I dropped to my knees, pinning its arm beneath my knees. Before it could inflict anymore damage on me, I used two hands to plunge my knife through its forehead.

  This Feeder, identical to the last one with glowing red eyes and the determination not to die kicked out with its serrated stump and good leg. Its claws managed to scratch at my calves even while I had them pinned, although this time they didn’t tear my good pants.

  I leaned back away from its other hand while it continued to jab at me. My blade stayed lodged in its weak skull until at last the light from its eyes blinked out. Finally, it was still.

  I breathed in deeply and ignored the putrid stench. My lungs needed oxygen.

  I glanced back at the children just to make sure they were okay. They were traumatized and crying, but they were alive.

  Whew.

  When I finally turned to Miller, he was hovering over his latest kill watching me. He gave me a look that I easily interpreted as wanting to know if I was okay.

  I gave him a weak thumbs up.

  He nodded. He didn’t give me a thumbs up in return, but when he stood up I assumed he was okay as well.

  Adela turned around to speak softly to the children. Jagger and Halen threw themselves at her, burying their little toe heads in her neck. My heart clenched. I wanted to go to them, too, but I was covered in blood.

  Instead I stood on shaky legs and waited for more Feeders to appear. After a few minutes had passed I started to hope that was the last of them.

  Reagan and Haley’s heads appeared at the top of the hole, both streaked with tears.

  “What’s wrong?” I instantly demanded. My heart stopped in my chest. Everything inside me stilled while I waited for the worst.

  They looked at their children. They were battle torn and covered in blood, but they only had eyes for their kids. Their husbands joined them second
s later.

  “They’re okay,” Hendrix breathed. “Oh, thank God. They’re okay.”

  “This goddamn hole,” Miller grinned up at them.

  Hendrix surveyed the small space with shrewd eyes. “It looks like you’re lucky to be alive.”

  “We all are,” Haley sniffled.

  “So no one’s hurt?” I panted. Their tears were drying. They had been afraid… nothing else.

  “We’re fine,” Nelson declared. “But we need to get going. Let’s get you out of there.” He reached his long arms down.

  For a moment I contemplated telling him to forget it. I was exhausted after that fight and the adrenaline was leaving my body. My arms felt too heavy. My eyes drooped with exhaustion.

  Harrison leaned over the hole. “Or you could stay down there,” he suggested. “We have more incoming.”

  All of the heads above disappeared at once. Damn.

  When Hendrix leaned back over it was not with good news. “Humans this time,” he announced. “I don’t know what we’re up against.”

  I heard Diego shouting in Spanish overhead. The scientists started yelling at Hendrix, asking him what they should do. Miller and I looked at each other. In or out? Could we possibly hide down here? If they were captured, could we figure out how to get out of this thing on our own?

  What if we couldn’t find them?

  What if they were killed before we ever made it out of this hole?

  “Get us out!” I shouted up at them.

  Nobody appeared to rescue us. Minimal shouting turned to loud, boisterous yelling. It was hard to make out anything from down here. All the voices blended together in a tangle of orders and commands.

  Long lights spread over the top of the hole, shedding unnecessary light on the horrors of our prison. Giving up on a rescue scenario, I stepped over to the children and gathered Vaughan and Stevie against me. Adela still held Halen and Jagger. Lennon was old enough to pretend that he didn’t need comfort.

  I tugged at the hem of his shirt and shared a meaningful look with him. He nodded, his little chin trembling with the effort to stay brave for his brother, sister and two cousins.

  Miller moved to stand over us. His huge body was almost big enough to block us completely. Almost, but not quite.