Apocalypse Family (Book 2): Family Reunion J

by P. Mark DeBryan

  The scene at Sparky’s looked like a Hollywood horror movie. The smell was a mix of feces, urine, and the beginnings of rotting human flesh. Gwenn started gagging when the wind shifted and blew the smell directly at them. Bodies littered the area, some horribly disfigured. Others looked intact but had the same gray opaque skin with what looked like sunburn that they’d seen on the remains of ones that attacked the truck driver last night. Gwenn’s gagging turned into full-fledged retching and she lost what little contents she had in her stomach. Jon held her hair back and tried to keep his feet from getting splashed. “Oh jeez, Jon,” Gwenn said between heaves. “You’re worried about your shoes?” He shrugged, dropped her hair, and turned toward the store.

  “Anybody alive in there?” he shouted.

  In answer, a rifle barrel slid out an open window. Jon turned and was about to yell at Gwenn to run when a man stepped through the door. “Hello, I’m Ben. About fifteen of us made it through the night,” he said, taking the steps down to where Jon was standing. Jon noticed that the big man was careful not to block the line of fire of whoever was aiming the gun.

  Jon pointed down the road. “There are another thirty-four people with us. We kind of got elected to come up here and see what was what.”

  “Any of them troublemakers?” Ben asked.

  “Don’t know, we met all of them within the last hour,” Jon replied honestly.

  Ben put his hands on his hips and looked in the direction of the group. “Any of them have weapons?”

  “Again, I don’t know. None are carrying rifles, and I didn’t see any handguns, but I couldn’t swear to it.”

  “Okay, go on back down there and tell them to come up, but explain that we have weapons and we will use them if we feel threatened.”

  “Yes sir.” Jon took Gwenn’s hand and they returned to the group.

  “They’re armed, and asked if any of us had guns,” Jon told the group when he got to them. “I won’t promise you that things will work out, but I think they’re decent people. He did say that if they feel threatened, they would use their guns. So, it’s up to you if you want to come along, or you can go back to your cars. It makes no difference to me, one way or the other.”

  The first guy they met this morning spoke up. “What are you going to do?”

  Jon looked at Gwenn. “I think we’re going to go up there and wait for the National Guard to show up. We have no water, and no food to speak of, though I’m sure we could scavenge some from cars.”

  Everyone in the group nodded except the man who had yelled at Gwenn and Jon to stay away from his car the night before. “You people are idiots. You think those guys are going to share their stuff with you? They’re probably planning on killing the men and raping your women.” He turned to his wife. “Come on Doris.”

  Jon watched as the middle-aged couple headed back to their vehicle. “Well, I’m going to the store now. If you follow me and you have weapons, leave them behind. I’m not dying because one of you thinks he’s Jesse James.”

  They all stood in front of the porch attached to the gas station portion of the sprawling store. Ben stood above them, giving them the once-over with a discriminating eye. “Thought you said there were thirty-four. I count thirty-two.” He directed this at Jon, so Jon answered. “A couple didn’t feel comfortable with the idea, so they went back to their vehicle.” Ben just nodded in response.

  “Okay folks, here’s how it is. You are welcome to stay here until this situation is over, or at least until we know more of what’s going on. However, if you stay, you will work. We have some food, and we can get more, but there is no free ride. If you don’t like the idea, then you can keep on walking. Now, raise your hand if you understand and agree, or get to walking.”

  The entire group raised their hands, some immediately, others after a moment of consideration.

  “Good. Now raise your hand if you have food preparation skills.” Several of the group raised their hands. Ben picked two of them and asked them to come forward. They did, and he asked them again if they understood the rule, you work or you walk. They both agreed and Ben sent them to see Tami, his wife, as she was in charge of the kitchen.

  This continued until he had assigned everyone a task and sent them on their way. Ben asked Jon to help haul the bodies to a burn pit and Gwenn to help with the cleanup of the remaining mess.

  It took two full days to clean up. Jon had gone back to the couple who left for their car to try to convince them to come up to the store. When he got there, he found both of them sitting in the car. Their bodies were unrecognizable, but Jon was sure that this was the car. They must have left the windows down. The turned had reduced them to a pile of bloody clothes and bones.

  Jon had been standing watch the night Jay arrived from the north, but it had been too dark for him to recognize her. Jon helped Ben light the fireworks that night when they lured in the turned and fried them with the lights or shot them down. It wasn’t until the next day that he’d found out that their visitor was his best friend’s wife. She left the next day to look for her daughter at the beach. She returned with Auddy two days later.

  The radio clicked and he heard Jay checking to make sure it was okay to head to the root cellar where he and Gwenn were helping Tami inventory the food. He figured she was coming to discuss their plans to leave for West Virginia.

  Chapter 35

  Day 8

  Root cellar

  Marion, SC

  Jay & Auddy, Jon & Gwenn, Tami

  The wind was picking up and the air smelled like rain as Jay hustled from the store to the root cellar. A large garage with no doors sat a hundred feet from the main building. They kept several vehicles in it but it also housed Ben’s shop. This is where he’d modified Jay’s SUV. She checked out Jon’s 4x4 extended cab Silverado as she went to the back of the garage. Jon must have retrieved it and Ben had worked on it while she’d been gone to Surfside. It looked ready to go.

  At the back of the shop were two doors. One led to the small bathroom, the other down to the root cellar. She opened the door to the bathroom by mistake, thought about it, then dismissed the idea. Jon would have heard the radio and would be expecting her. If she spent some quality time in the bathroom, he would start calling her over the radio. There was only one thing she hated more than large groups of people, and that was public acknowledgment of her bathroom habits. No, that could wait.

  She shut the bathroom door and opened the one that led to the root cellar. The stairs were steep and the clomping noise her boots made as she descended would have awakened the dead. She found Gwenn at the bottom sitting in a folding chair. She had a clipboard and was writing down the types and quantities of supplies as Tami and Jon called them out to her. “Three cases of whole tomatoes?” she yelled around Jay. “Yeah, and six cases of kidney beans,” Jon yelled back.

  “Hey guys, how much longer are you going to be busy here?” Jay asked as Jon stuck his head out of the back room.

  “Probably another half hour at least,” Jon replied, not quite yelling.

  “Okay, would you come find me when you get done so we can make plans for tomorrow?”

  Jon came all the way into the front part of the cellar, brushing the dirt off his pants. “Absolutely. You’ll be in the main building?” Jay nodded. “Okay, we’ll see you in a few,” he said, and disappeared into the back again.

  Jay climbed the stairs and made a left as soon as she closed the door. Now for a few minutes of privacy to take care of some business she thought as she opened the bathroom door. It was the small things in life these days. Just a few minutes alone in a real bathroom, no matter how small, seemed like a treat.

  She fumbled for her glasses, put them on, and opened the year-old celebrity gossip magazine she found lying on a small table. She’d only read a page or two when the radio squelched. “This is the north watch, there’s a thunderstorm coming in, you may want to close the windows.” She heard Ben answer that he would have someone take care of it. She we
nt back to reading about Pam’s breast reduction and Kim’s workout routine.

  Ten minutes later the radio squelched again. This time it was Gerald, who sounded a bit rattled. “Ah, Dad, the storm is really picking up out here, and there’s a lot of lightning. Should we relocate our guys to downstairs?” There was a pause, then Ben came back on. “No, I know it’s a bit dicey out there boys, but you’ll just have to tough it out. We need you up there. Keep a sharp eye out.”

  The rain blew sideways and stung Gerald’s face. The hair on his arms stood up and the air smelled like chlorine. Why his dad insisted they stay on the roof completely baffled him. Nothing would be out on a night like this. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he saw headlights.

  He ducked down behind the ledge and yelled into the radio. “Dad, we have someone coming in from the north.” He held the radio up to his ear, but still couldn’t hear Ben’s reply. “Dad, I can’t hear you. I’m going to go tell the others up here to be ready.” With that, he stowed the radio and went to alert the three others on watch.

  Jay was enjoying an article about someone hacking several celebrities’ online accounts and posting their nude pictures when she heard Gerald’s announcement over the radio. Great, here I am sitting on the throne, pants around my ankles, and the general alarm sounds. She made a mental note of the page number of the article she was reading, put down the magazine, stowed her glasses, and finished her business. With the paperwork done and her pants secured, she went back down to the root cellar. She almost ran into Jon as he headed up the stairway.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, thinking she was coming back from the main building.

  “I don’t know, but it sounds like we have company,” she said. The lights dimmed for a moment, then flared brightly as the main generator kicked on.

  On the roof, Gerald stood next to Mr. Jenkins, Jon’s favorite tourist left stranded by circumstances beyond his control. Gerald yelled over the wind, “Looks like it’s a single vehicle.” Mr. Jenkins nodded his agreement. “Wait here and don’t shoot me,” Gerald shouted, “I’m going down there.” Mr. Jenkins nodded again and checked the thirty-aught-six rifle he held to make sure it was ready.

  Water poured down from the ceiling access and Ben saw Gerald’s boots coming down the ladder. When he reached the floor, he turned and pulled his hood off. He shook his head like a dog and water splashed his dad standing at the generator controls. This earned Gerald a look, but Ben didn’t say anything right away.

  “I’m going out front; whoever it is should be here any minute,” Gerald offered as he stomped his rained-soaked feet.

  “Let me grab my poncho and I’ll join you,” Ben said as he flipped the main switch that activated the entire array of lights for the property.

  Mr. Jenkins smiled when all the lights came up. He liked the lights. They made him feel more secure. It was bad enough being out here in the dark, but this horrid weather made it seem even more eerie than usual. Even with the lights on it was still hard to see. He peered north up Highway 501 as the headlights got closer.

  “What do you think?” Jay asked Jon. “Should we wait here or go find out what’s going on?” Jon pursed his lips thinking. “Why don’t you head over there. We’ll stay here and keep working. It’s probably one of the locals. Give us the word on the radio when you find out.”

  Jay almost asked him why she should be the one to go out into the shitty weather, but she wanted to check in on Auddy, so she just let it go. “Okay, I’ll let you know,” she said, and retreated up the stairs.

  Ben strapped on his Colt Python and grabbed his poncho. Gerald already stood by the front door with his shotgun waiting on him. When Ben opened the door, the rain slapped him in the face like an offended nun. It was cold and it was relentless. He pulled his John Deere baseball cap down tighter and bent his head into the onslaught.

  They got outside just as the vehicle crested the last rise in the road before arriving. The sheltered porch didn’t help much as the rain drove straight into their faces. Ben shielded his face with his left hand, trying to identify who it was that approached.

  “It’s Richard!” he shouted to Gerald.

  Gerald got on the radio. “All clear, all clear, it’s Richard, stand down.” They both broke from the limited cover of the building and ran to greet their neighbor.

  Jay heard Gerald’s stand-down order, which was an immediate relief. She was standing next to Auddy’s cot; she had been about to wake her. Instead, she sat down on her own bunk. She went to remove her wet tee shirt. When she raised her arms over her head, water escaped from where it had collected in her cast, sending a substantial river of cold water down her arm and across her exposed breasts. Her nipples hardened and goosebumps sprouted. She shivered, reached for her towel, and wrapped it around her torso, tucking the ends in to secure it.

  As Richard’s Yukon came closer, Ben could tell something was wrong. The vehicle swerved crazily and went from one lane to the other. He grabbed Gerald’s arm and pulled him closer. “Something isn’t right.”

  The large SUV didn’t slow. It crossed the median before reaching the paved turning area and bounded through the grass. A whoosh of water fanned out in its headlights as it came through the dip headed straight for Sparky’s.

  Mr. Jenkins looked on as the large white SUV headed straight at his corner of the building. Gerald had just said to stand down, which he heard through the earpiece on his radio. The indecision held him where he stood as the truck crashed into the building.

  Both Ben and Gerald dove left into a four-inch-deep puddle. The sound of the SUV plowing into the corner of the store rose above the noise of the storm. Screeching metal and breaking glass created a cacophony and the building shuddered all the way down its length.

  Jay felt what she at first thought was an earthquake shake the building. The noise did nothing to dissuade her of that thought, but South Carolina wasn’t known for its earthquakes. There was no need to wake Auddy, who had already bolted from her bed, her pistol out as she pointed it frantically around the room.

  Mr. Jenkins felt the impact as he rose high in the air. About the time he realized he was going up, the roof collapsed beneath his feet and he went down, rapidly.

  Gerald splashed around in the puddle looking for his shotgun. Ben, already on his feet, ran to the driver’s side of the SUV that protruded from his store. As he ran around the vehicle, he saw the door open and Richard roll out, falling to the ground.

  He rushed toward Richard to help him. Richard’s eyes were wide. He started shaking his head before Ben ever reached him. His mouth opened and formed the word no. His head was still moving from side to side when it exploded from the impact of the bullet. Ben stopped short as he watched his friend’s skull expand outward, until the stretching skin parted, deforming his entire face and exposing the soft gray matter that once held the hopes and memories they shared. He felt the bits of his friend’s skull bite into his cheek. He shifted his eyes to the right and saw the demonic smile of Danny Trejo, then the barrel of the gun that blossomed blue white.

  Mr. Jenkins landed on the hood of the Yukon. His head hit the windshield and he saw the door open and a man push someone out. He saw the shot that killed Richard, then he saw the shooter lean over and fire at his friend Ben. Mr. Jenkins raised his rifle to shoot through the window, only to find that what he held wasn’t a rifle but a piece of two-by-four, the other end of which was sticking through his stomach. He slid off the fender of the truck and as he fell, he saw Ben’s body leaning against the back wheel, his eyes open and vacant.

  Jay heard gunshots coming from the front of the building. Auddy jerked in that direction, her pistol shaking violently. Jay stood up and grabbed Auddy’s face in her hands. “Come with me!”

  Gerald finally recovered his shotgun and as he stood, he heard the blast and saw the bright flash explode in the cab of the Yukon. He raised his weapon as he walked toward the truck and saw another bright flash and heard a second blast. He stumbl
ed around the back of the SUV and saw his father lying there. The sight froze him for just a moment; he looked up in time to see the barrel of a shotgun swinging down on him.

  Jay held Auddy’s shirt collar in her right hand and the radio in the other as she ran for the back of the store. She screamed into the radio, “Jon, we’re under attack, get to your truck.” Auddy stumbled, then regained her footing, but the fall caused Jay to lose her grip with her weakened right hand. She dropped the radio, grabbed hold of Auddy with her left hand, and continued to run. They burst through the back door and made for the garage.

  Riggs, aka Danny Trejo, lifted Gerald to his feet and slammed him against the Yukon. “Where is the generator? Tell me, or I will cut off your balls.” Gerald was barely conscious but he saw the knife waving in front of his face. “Fuck you!” He spat out the words, then felt the knife slide between his ribs. He was amazed at how clearly he experienced that blade. He felt it scrape against the rib, puncture his lung, and pierce his heart. Riggs let the body fall to the ground as he turned to the building, intent on finding the generator. The plan was that he would disable the generator before his gang showed up to finish off the men and collect the women.

  In the two minutes since it all began, the remainder of those asleep had rallied. They gathered their weapons and started to move to the front of the building. The two remaining on guard duty had made their way to where they had seen Mr. Jenkins disappear into the broken roof. They arrived there in time to see two semitrucks barreling into the parking lot off 501. They didn’t hesitate and began firing into the cabs of both.

  Jon was shocked to hear Jay’s message on the radio. He didn’t wait to confirm what she had said. “Gwenn, go to the truck, now!” Then he turned and ran to the back room of the cellar to get Tami. Gwenn hurried up the stairs and opened the door. She ran to the truck and remembered that Ben had laid the keys on the workbench in the rear of the shop. She made her way through the normal shop debris, tripping over an old tire, banging her head against a hoist, before finding the bench, then the keys. As she made her way back to the truck she kept hitting the unlock button on the key. Jon and Tami came through the door just as Gwenn went past them. She didn’t slow down, she just kept hitting the unlock button as she ran.