It was cool outside, but the stress and the muggy smoked-filled air had me sweating. My nerves were fried and every little sound nearly gave me a heart attack. The brick walls in the alley acted like a megaphone, amplifying even the smallest of noises, screaming to anyone that would listen that we were making our getaway.
Stopping at the end of the building, I looked across the intersection and swallowed. There was another suite of buildings across the street and buildings meant cover from prying eyes. But to get there we had to cross a four lane road.
“We’ve gotta make it to that next set of stores,” I said to no one in particular. “We can probably find some place to hide for the night.”
“Dude, I’m not going out there,” Jake retorted. “It’s too open. You saw what they did to that guy.”
“We can’t just stay here. If someone comes from behind us we have nowhere to go.”
“Let’s just go back to the car. We were safe there.”
“And what then?” I asked him. “The car doesn’t work and we have to get to Wyoming…soon. The car isn’t safe either.”
“I’m with Max,” Brent added. “I’m not staying over here.”
Cindy grabbed my hand and squeezed. Her fingers were sweaty and I could see in her eyes that she’d rather be any other place, but she was as ready as she’d ever be.
“I’m going,” I said and took off.
I pulled Cindy along and ran as fast as I could. She easily kept stride with me as we zipped through the smoke that floated in the air. I didn’t look back for Brent or Jake until we’d made it into the next alley.
Slamming into the wall, I turned back and stared across the street. Brent was speeding toward us and Jake was a few steps behind. Every couple of paces Jake would look back like he was trying to get caught.
“Hurry the hell up!” I growled through clenched teeth.
Gasping for air, they made it into the alley just as a small group of men appeared from around the corner. It was hard to see them through the smoke, but I counted at least five. They held bats and metal pipes in their hands and I didn’t think they needed them for their own protection.
“Quiet,” I said and looked back to Jake who’d been huffing like he’d lost a lung.
The men were close. They’d stopped only a few yards away and started talking with wild animated gestures.
“I’m…. hungry…fucking…sideways…plans,” the men shouted in fragmented sentences, broken up by all of the background noise.
They all started to laugh and shove each other before casting a glance back toward the alley. One of them pointed in our direction then said something that I couldn’t make out. Another one glared back at us and took a step in our direction.
With trembling legs, I squatted and Cindy did the same. We were just out of sight at the corner of the wall. It was dark and smoky enough that I didn’t think they could see us, but the ground was cluttered with trash and one wrong move would send them our way.
They started laughing again then turned around and began to head further up the street. Through the crawling fog, I could see them swinging the bats at the air like they were practicing for someone’s head. Whoever they came across that night was probably not gonna make it home.
Out of nowhere, Brent suddenly coughed and I snapped my head around. He shoved his hand over his mouth, but it did nothing and he let out another muffled bark.
The men stopped and turned back toward us. “Hear something?” one of them asked.
With blank faces the others looked back silently and watched. Their eyes scanned the area for a minute, but they quickly became disinterested.
“Let’s go,” another voice said and the men started to turn back around.
Brent started to cough again and Jake grabbed him and smothered his hands over his face. Brent’s eyes bulged as he tried his best to hold it in. He turned red and lurched forward over and over, straining to keep quiet.
Jake squeezed harder, but Brent started to squirm and fight against him. He pushed away then turned toward the building. Doubling over, he made an inhuman sound and puked out a mixture of blood and water all over the cement. He tried to say something, but started coughing so violently he fell to the ground.
“Who the hell is that?” one of the men snarled.
I looked back and Jake gave me a helpless glance. Brent was on his hands and knees. Blood and spit dripped from his mouth and pooled onto the concrete. Every few seconds he’d gag and go into another coughing fit that only seemed to get louder.
“Get him up now,” I said to Jake as I rushed to help him. “We’ve gotta get the hell out of here.”
Holding Brent in between us, we had no choice, but to try and run. Once again, I was leaning on hope that down the alley there was a way out. But I knew sooner or later our luck was going to come to an end.
Cindy took off and we followed behind her. She sprinted down the alley like she was back in college, quickly leaving us in her dust. Brent wasn’t helping as he coughed and puked along the way.
“Down there,” I heard one of the men say as the thud of footsteps sounded behind us.
We followed Cindy down another, alley and sped up. It was narrow and we barreled through trash cans and empty boxes like a snow plow. Poor Brent was like a battering ram, but we didn’t have the luxury of being gentle.
Suddenly, ahead of us a door swung open and a middle-aged man stepped out holding a meat cleaver. He was wearing jeans and a filthy, white t-shirt that accentuated his beer gut. His ruffled, brown hair was intermixed with strands of white and his eyes were wide with shock.
Cindy fell back, sliding onto her hands to stop. We nearly dropped Brent as we skid and almost crashed into her.
“Get back!” I shouted, the only defense that I could muster against his gleaming blade.
The man narrowed his eyes and glowered at me then looked down at his knife hand and gasped. “This…this isn’t for you. Come quick inside. You don’t want to know what they’ll do to you if they catch you.”
I turned toward the alley. The men hadn’t made it around the last corner yet, but I was sure they were on the way. I looked back at the man and considered how much of a threat he could really be. He was armed, but there was one of him and three of us that were still ambulatory. We had better odds against him, even if they were slight.
“Hurry up!” he urged.
With my free hand, I grabbed Cindy’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “Stay close,” I whispered.
I shot a quick glance at Jake and he looked back down the alley then nodded. Swallowing, I stepped forward and followed the man into the building. He slammed the door behind us and we were immediately cast into darkness. I shivered from the cold and wrinkled my nose at the smell of gas that seemed to fill the nebulous room.
“What is that?” Jake asked.
There was a thud and something clunked in the shadows. The smell grew stronger and a throaty growl rumbled up ahead of me. It sounded like a lawnmower or some kind of motor bike.
“What the hell is going on?” Jake pleaded.
There was no response, just a louder whine from the motor. I could feel it getting closer, feel things moving in the dark all around me, like a storm brewing just out of sight.
“Hey! Where did you go?” Jake continued. “Max…Max what is that damn noise?”
I finally recognized the sound, but I didn’t answer. We’d made the wrong choice. We’d left the smoke-filled alley and the unknown assailants behind and entered a dark room with a crazy butcher wielding a fucking chainsaw.
CHAPTER 14
WE’RE ALL JUST WAITING FOR THE END
I tightened my grip on Cindy's hand and pulled her closer to me. She buried her face into my chest and groaned in fear, flinching as the grumbling grew closer.
Brent collapsed to the floor as he slipped from my grasp. His body made a muffled clump that vanished in the dark.
“What the hell is that?” Jake shouted. “Sir…sir where did you g
o? What’s going on in here?”
Something slammed behind us and I whipped my head around. The droning sound suddenly stopped and an overhead light shot blinding rays into my eyes.
“Argh!” I growled and squinted.
My eyes watered and burned and my hand did nothing to shield them from the light. Wincing, I slowly opened them, blinking the tears away. The small room gradually came into view and I could see the man standing in front of us.
“Sorry,” he started. “The generator pulls the power from the lights momentarily. I need it to run the lock. Come with me.”
He headed off further into the building. I looked at Jake and nodded my head to follow him. Bending down, I grabbed Brent’s arm and we dragged him along.
“In here, in here,” the man called back to us.
We followed him into a smaller room with a round, wooden table in the center. There was a dim light hanging from the ceiling that cast an orange glow against the cream painted, brick walls. The gas smell wasn’t so strong in there, but the scent of standing water and old wood had taken its place.
“Our friend needs help,” I said softly.
“Please have a seat,” the man replied and started to pull chairs out. “Sandra…Sandra. We need you out here.”
There was some rustling in the back then a thin, redheaded lady stepped around the corner and gave us all a discerning look. With her head cocked to the side, she clicked her teeth then let out a heavy sigh.
“Carl, you can’t…you can’t keep doing this,” she groaned. “You’re going to get us all killed. You know it’s not safe out there.”
“Just help the man damn it,” Carl replied.
Skeptically, the woman stepped toward us and gave Brent a look. “What happened to him?” she asked.
“Not sure,” I replied. “Had a bad cough then threw up blood and pretty much passed out.”
The woman looked over him briefly then touched his forehead with the back of her hand. She raised her eyebrows then leaned toward me. “Leave now,” she mumbled lowly.
“What?” I asked, uncertain if I’d actually heard her.
Pursing her lips, she placed her hands onto her hips and tilted her head to the side. “My name’s Sandra,” she said loudly. “I’m a nurse. Bring him this way.”
Right around the corner in the next room, there was a twin-sized bed pushed up against the wall. We laid Brent across it as Sandra ran off to get a washcloth to clean him up.
“I could’ve swore that lady told me to leave,” I whispered to Cindy.
“She told you what?”
“Where are you folks from?” Carl asked as he suddenly stopped behind us.
“What is this place?” Jake asked, ignoring Carl’s question. “And what was that back there?”
Carl grinned then took a seat in one of the rickety, wooden chairs. He leaned back and ruffled his hair. “Well, this…this is the storage room for my bar. Don’t worry, they can’t get in here…the door is magnetized. That’s why the lights went out for a sec, generator can’t power both at the same time. Believe it or not, this place was used during prohibition…thank God for that. Lot of stories come through here.”
Carl’s eyes drifted away and his face slacked. He stretched his legs out and relaxed into the chair then grinned.
“What the hell is going on in this town?” Jake asked angrily.
Carl didn’t reply. He was fixated on something no one else could see, staring dreamily toward a wall.
“Hey!” Jake spat. “What’s going on outside? Has everybody lost their damn mind?”
Carl slowly turned and gave Jake a puzzled look. “Where have you guys been for the past two days? The world’s ending,” he said.
“Yeah…yeah, we get that much, but what the hell is going on out there?” Jake continued as he waved his hand back toward the alley. “They’re killing people in the streets.”
“Look buddy, I don’t know what all you saw, but the world is falling apart, earthquakes and shit, real end of days stuff. We’ve had a hell of a time here. It didn’t take long for everything to fall apart. And then the prison got hit…thousands of convicts got out and there weren’t enough cops to do a damn thing. Most of them had gone home to protect their families.”
“Thousands,” I echoed with a smirk.
“Well, you get the idea. Nothing is safe anymore and convicts are outside killing people. We’re all just waiting for the end, ain’t we?”
“Those are prisoners out there?” Cindy asked then covered her mouth.
“Sure are.”
“Carl I’m gonna need some help,” Sandra said as she wheeled in an IV stand.
“What the hell is that for?” Jake asked defensively.
“I can explain myself to you or I can save your friend’s life. But I ain’t doing both, so pick one.”
“Just ignore him,” I jumped in.
She sneered then went back to tending to Brent. I punched Jake in the arm and cut my eyes.
“What?” he gasped.
“We need their help,” I replied through clenched teeth.
“Your friend here is pretty sick,” Sandra started as she poked a needle into his arm. “Not sure what it is, but he’s dehydrated and burning up. We’ve got a few antibiotics here, but beyond that, there’s not a whole lot I can do for him.”
“He was just fine,” Cindy mumbled.
“No telling these days. Best we can do is keep him hydrated and watch him.”
She held the IV bag up and the clear liquid began to flow into Brent’s arm. His eyes were glossed over and his face was sticky with sweat. I glared at his pale skin and swallowed. He didn’t look like he was going to last long.
“Is he gonna die?” the question blurted out before I could stop it.
“Not if I can help it,” Sandra said with a smile like she was talking to an eight-year-old.
“Sandra is a fantastic nurse. Your buddy’s in good hands,” Carl said with an odd grin. “Where about were you four headed?”
“North,” I quickly replied.”
“North?” he repeated. “I guess it’s just as good as any place.”
“Are you going to stay here?” I asked him. “It’s only going to get worse.”
“Where do you suggest I go?”
“The National Guard was evacuating people in Georgia. They were setting up camps…I think those would be safe, safer than this city. I’m sure they’ve managed to put something together around here.”
Carl started to laugh. He stood up and walked to a shelf in the corner. He grabbed a small black radio and brought it back to the table and set it down.
“They’ve been playing it on loop,” he grumbled. “I’m sure they’re long gone, but it’ll probably keep broadcasting until the rest of the grid goes down.”
“What?” I asked.
He clicked a button on the side of the radio set. A shower of static erupted, but as he wiggled the antennae it slowly cleared enough to hear voices.
“And outlying parts of Florida,” a monotone voiced droned. “This message will now repeat. This is a public service announcement from NPR and Ricky the Rocket Stevens. If you can hear this, we urge you to shelter in place. Increased weather and seismic activity will continue to throughout the night. All guard stations have been decommissioned and the Federal Government no longer have the resources to assist with any rescue efforts.”
“What the fuck?” Jake mumbled.
“All emergency response teams have been disbanded and a curfew, enforceable by the military has been put in place. That’s all the information we have for now folks so stay safe and keep your head down. There are unconfirmed reports of Tsunami conditions and the following areas are now listed as unreachable: New York city, New Jersey, the east coast of Massachusetts…”
“Turn it off! Turn it off!” Cindy suddenly snapped.
Carl hit the power button then frowned. The radio fell silent and he pushed it toward the middle of the table then took a seat. “Didn’
t mean to upset you…just thought you might want to know what’s going on.”
No one replied. Cindy buried her face into her hands and Jake stood there with his mouth open. Step by step the world was falling apart. Civilization was crumbling, deconstructing in front of us.
“There’s…there’s a few cots in the other room. Sandra says your friend needs some time to rest so you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like,” Carl said sheepishly.
I didn’t feel exactly comfortable staying with Carl, but as I looked at Cindy I knew she wasn’t ready to head back out. Jake was worthless at his best and Brent wasn’t even conscious. It looked like we would be spending the night.
CHAPTER 15
NO WAY OUT
I awoke the next morning ready to hit the road. I figured if I could find a car, Brent could rest and we might make Wyoming in the next day or so. We didn’t have much time to spare and I was afraid we were already too late.
I sat up on my cot and yawned. It was quiet and that was something I’d learned to not take for granted. All night I could hear the war raging outside. Shouts and cries of pain and anger, the music of the night born out of despair and hate. But quiet meant hope, it meant we might still have a chance.
I looked back at Cindy as she slept silently, wrapped under a tattered, green blanket. She was so peaceful in that moment. Dreams were sometimes an escape from the horrors that reality held, I envied her for that. When I slept my mind just replayed all the shit I’d been through the day before. There was no reprieve for me.
Leaning over, I gave Cindy a kiss then stood up. I glanced around the room for a moment then headed back toward the storage area where we’d first come in.
“Your friend is looking better,” Carl mumbled.
He was seated in the corner, his face obscured by the shadows. I didn’t reply immediately. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust and find him.
“What are you doing up?” I asked.
“Who could sleep with all this shit going on?”
The Mayflower Project: Deconstruction Book Two (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller) Page 9
