Death & Decay (Book 2): Divided

by R. L. Blalock

  “We didn’t get the gas we needed,” Rotna murmured to Colin. “Not even by half.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” Colin pulled her in and guided her towards the store. “Let’s get you cleaned up and have one of the nurses look you over.”

  “We won’t be able to get away. Not all of us at least,” she persisted. “Without that gas, we don’t have enough to fuel all the cars.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Colin said with a calm reassurance he didn’t feel.

  “Colin, we don’t have the resources to get away and they are coming for us. Can’t you read the writing on the wall? We’re all dead.”

  Colin shook his head. “No, we’ll find a way out of this. We’ve beaten them back before. We can do it again.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Rotna asked quizzically.

  “Every last one. Right?” He smiled wryly at her.

  “Or die trying.”

  Day 26

  The last few days had been a mad scramble. Half of their supplies had been moved across the river in preparation for the move. Eric and Laura had been posted along the Maryland Heights Expressway near the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. Their job was to watch the roads for the Sovereigns. If they saw anything, they could communicate with Thies through a pair of scavenged two-way radios. Colin wasn’t sure what the range on the radios was. It hadn’t been sufficient for many of their scouting missions, but it at least extended the few miles to the amphitheater.

  Colin stood upright, stretching out his sore back. He wiped the sweat from his face with his t-shirt. The day was as hot and humid as ever, making their work all the more miserable. No sooner had he stepped out the door than he began sweating. Now, hours later, his clothes were soaked through and the sweat continued to pour off his skin.

  The radio on Samuel’s hip crackled. Samuel straightened and unclipped the radio, adjusted the volume. “Come again.”

  “We’ve got movement at the amphitheater.”

  Colin’s blood ran cold.

  “The freaks?” Samuel’s body was rigid.

  “No, cars. Five of them. On the far side of all the traffic. They’ve started circling around the amphitheater.”

  Samuel swore under his breath. The Sovereigns were finally going to make good on their promise.

  “We need to get over there,” Colin said. “Whatever they’re up to, it can’t be good.”

  Samuel nodded. “Let’s get others and get to the cars.”

  They found Ervin, Eric, Rotna, and a few others to go with them. The eight of them piled into three cars.

  “What do you think the Sovereigns could be up to?” Colin asked.

  “I don’t know.” Samuel shook his head. “But if they’re screwing with the amphitheater, it can’t be good.”

  Colin checked his weapon. When they had left, all he’d had on him were three spare magazines. He had his crowbar, hammer, and knife as well, but that would do very little against a human enemy. It didn’t feel like enough.

  “They’re leaving.” The voice crackled across the radio.

  “Leaving?” Samuel snatched up the radio. “Are you sure?”

  “They’re headed back the way they came,” Laura confirmed.

  “Maybe they were trying to grab some of the medical supplies the Red Cross left behind,” Rotna suggested.

  Samuel chewed on his lip. “I don’t know.” He finally shook his head.

  The amphitheater rose up quickly, the parking lot of cars surrounding it making it look like a massive concert was underway.

  BOOM!

  The windows of the car vibrated. The southwestern wall of the amphitheater shuddered violently before collapsing in on itself.

  “Jesus,” Colin whispered. For a moment, the car was utterly silent.

  “Eric! Laura!” Can you see us? Get the hell over here!” Samuel screamed into his radio.

  “You don’t have to tell us twice.” Laura’s voice shook. Two figures popped up from the tall grass and sprinted towards the car.

  “Guys.” Rotna’s eyes were locked on the amphitheater.

  Freaks were pouring out of the hole in the southern wall. Hundreds of them. Like a tidal wave of flesh. They scrambled out of the building, running wildly as they searched for prey. They fanned out, moving towards Thies. The hole had been blown in the perfect spot. The freaks would move out in the path of least resistance, which put the colony right in their path.

  “What are we going to do?” Eric asked.

  “We can…We can…” Colin’s eyes were locked on the rapidly growing horde.

  “We need to turn them.” Rotna offered. “Get them to head in another direction.”

  “We should send them back to the Sovereigns,” Colin said. “They started this. They set them loose with the intention of wiping us out. Let’s finish this. Right here. Right now.”

  “But there are innocent people at that camp!” Eric protested. “Children! Families! We can’t just kill them all.”

  “There are innocent people back at Thies!” Samuel roared. “They started this war. They let loose the horde. We have to do what we must to survive.”

  They had to do this now. They had to put an end to the Sovereigns once and for all, but could they actually use the freaks to do it? Could they actually herd the freaks back to the Sovereigns? Wasn’t it suicidal to dangle themselves in front of that many freaks? Crazy to think that you could taunt them and survive?

  “We need to do it and we need to do it now,” Colin said firmly. “If they went to this extreme, there’s no telling what they’ll do next. We need to take them out now, and if we don’t act quickly we’re going to lose the ability to react at all.”

  “We can’t just kill everyone. We could divert the horde. We’re leaving in a few days anyway. The Sovereigns won’t be our problem anymore.”

  “Then get out,” Samuel said through gritted teeth, setting Eric with a cold gaze. “We are going to protect our people. We are going to do what needs to be done. We are going to end this.”

  “There is still a chance a segment could break off and head for Thies. We’ll need people there to protect everyone else,” Rotna said more gently.

  Eric’s lips were pressed into a tight thin line. “This is still wrong.” He shoved open his door.

  “You worry about our people,” Colin said. “Let us worry about the Sovereigns and the horde.”

  Rotna was already on the radio, calling back to Thies and ordering those available into cars to help curb the horde. Samuel was reversing the car as the advancing horde streamed toward them.

  With a quick yank of the steering wheel, Samuel angled towards the river. He didn’t take off fast, though, opting instead for a steady speed just slightly faster than the horde.

  A freak pushed several of its slower brethren aside, forcing its way to the front of the pack. The man’s lips and nose had been ripped away, leaving the monster with a face permanently stuck in a skeletal sneer. As it approached the back of the vehicle, it leapt up onto the back bumper, pounding on the rear window.

  “Colin, keep the faster ones off the car!” Samuel’s eyes darted between the rearview mirror and the field ahead as he angled around the amphitheater and headed back towards the highway.

  Colin chambered a round into his rifle and rolled down his window. Carefully, he wiggled the top half of his body out the window. The SUV may not have been moving terribly fast, but the bumps and jolts of the uneven field made a fall possible at any second.

  The freak screamed angrily, reaching across the top of the vehicle for Colin. Colin aimed the rifle, his arms jolting and jumping with every bump. He had never fired out of a moving vehicle before. At five feet, though, everyone was a sharpshooter.

  The freak’s head exploded. Its body toppled backwards off the car and rolled until it became lost under the feet of the horde.

  The other two cars had pulled up alongside, flanking their vehicle. Colin glanced over and saw others hanging out the other vehicles,
firing back at the horde.

  Carefully, he turned back to look behind them again. The horde was following them. Colin envisioned it winding around the amphitheater like a snake coiling around its prey. Or a hydra with thousands of heads.

  Beyond the horde, he could see the dust trail from the reinforcements that followed Thies. They pulled up alongside the horde, careful to keep their distance as they helped guide the winding body onto the correct path.

  A few more of the freaks surged forward, grabbing at the vehicle. Colin’s first shot went wide as the vehicle hit another bump. The second shot found its mark in the center of a freak’s head. The third shot hit another freak’s shoulder, spinning it to the ground where it was lost under the feet of the massive horde.

  They didn’t have to kill them. Just knock them down and let the horde do the rest of the work for them as it surged forward mercilessly.

  The horde almost seemed to breath, the growls and snarls growing and decreasing almost rhythmically. The steady pounding of thousands of feet providing a heartbeat for the horde, making it into a living entity. A force of nature, like the Titans in Greek mythology. Too powerful to be conquered. The freaks weren’t Titans. They were monsters, human monsters that could be killed, and Colin was glad to do the favor.

  Colin clutched at the runners along the roof as the car rocked wildly upon entering the road once again.

  “You alright?” Rotna crawled between the seats.

  Colin nodded. If he fell, it was all too easy to imagine being crushed underneath the vehicle’s wheels or ripped apart by the mob.

  “How much longer?” he screamed down through the window.

  “At this pace, probably about thirty minutes.” Rotna’s eyebrows furrowed. “The road narrows ahead. The cars on the sides are going to pull away. They’d get overwhelmed by the horde if they stayed where they are. They’re going to meet back up with us at the St. Charles Rock Road. Just keep your eye out because we won’t have as much back up until we get there.”

  Colin felt his stomach drop. The sheer anxiety of hanging out the window for another thirty minutes, acting as human bait, might very well kill him. And the fact that they would only have the three lead cars for even a portion of it made him feel nauseous. They hadn’t been prepared for this. They hadn’t planned for it. He wasn’t ready for it. But it was happening all the same. One way or another, their fight would be over soon.

  The ride wasn’t as bumpy now that they were back on the real roads. It felt crowded and claustrophobic, though, compared to the open fields around the amphitheater.

  He watched the flanking vehicles peel away from the horde, shooting ahead as they took off down a different street. Ahead, he could see the divide looming. The highway had been separated by a thin concrete median that was little more than a raised sidewalk. A two-foot-high divider suddenly rose up just before crossing under Interstate 70.

  “Hey,” Colin called down into the vehicle. “Is the divider going to split the horde?”

  “It doesn’t last long,” Rotna called backed. “If a portion splits, they should still follow and merge back together. We might lose a few, but not too many.”

  As they rolled past the divider, the horde pushed together as they tried to stick as close to the vehicles as possible. Some of the freaks were still being forced onto the other side of the small concrete wall. Those ones slowed a bit as they tried to figure out how to get closer to their prey.

  “Hit the horn. We’re losing some of them,” Colin shouted into the vehicle.

  The car horn blared, blocking out all other sound, as Samuel held it down. The horde shifted and churned in response to the stimuli. The freaks stuck on the other side of the divider surged forward once again.

  At this point it had become a two-lane, one-way road, breaking away in two separate directions. Buildings, large square structures, created walls that fenced them in, forcing the freaks to follow in their wake.

  A shriek rose above the din of the horde as one of the stronger freaks shoved its way to the front. Colin knocked it down with a shot to the abdomen and watched it disappear into the mass of bodies.

  He puffed a breath out of his lips. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to be safe again. Perhaps once the Sovereigns were gone that would be possible.

  Between the trees, off to Colin’s right, the road that had split away from them came into view. He looked ahead and sighed with relief. The roads were widening again, the buildings receding. He couldn’t see the rest of their group yet, but they were close.

  Tires screeched.

  The jeep on their left jerked, narrowly avoiding being broadsided by a small red Toyota. Colin’s grip on the rails tightened as his own car jerked and swayed as Samuel tried to avoid colliding with their own people.

  A hand clamped around Colin’s ankle, making him jump.

  “I’ve got you!” Rotna had dropped the radio and locked both her hands so tightly around his ankle that it started to restrict the circulation.

  Two more small cars darted forward and roared ahead. The Toyota’s tires squealed as the driver stepped hard on the gas and the vehicle lurched into motion once again.

  Behind them, the horde screamed, surging forward with a new burst of energy. Colin quickly knocked down two freaks that were closing in on them.

  “Pick up the pace a little!” he shouted into the vehicle. The horde had closed some of the gap in the chaos.

  A squeal, quickly followed by the sounds of tearing metal, pulled Colin’s gaze away from the horde and back to their front. The little red Toyota sat off to the right of the intersection, smashed up against the side of a black SUV. The Toyota’s two companions had stopped. People were milling around the cars. Behind the SUV, four other vehicles from Thies sat waiting for them.

  Shit! Shit! Shit!

  Samuel laid on the horn again, causing the figures to freeze and look towards them.

  “Get back in your fucking cars!” Colin could hear Samuel screaming into the radio.

  The figures in the road scrambled for their vehicles. A few pulled a limp figure from the SUV and dragging them towards the other cars.

  They couldn’t stop. Not even for their own people. The horde would swallow them all whole.

  They passed the cars as everyone was scrambling back in, doors standing open as people threw themselves inside. Colin couldn’t tell who had ended up where. It had all happened too fast.

  He watched everyone pile into the cars, following their movements with his rifle. If the freaks got too close, there wasn’t much he could do, but he would do all he could. Two of the cars started and lurched forward. They pulled ahead before regaining control to fall into line with the rest of the cars.

  The Toyota’s companions rocketed off down St. Charles Rock Road. One of the cars rocked dangerously before regaining control.

  As the cars took off, Colin’s stomach twisted into a knot. The horde began to split. Half of the freaks trudged on after Samuel and Colin’s group, the other half turning down the Rock Road and following the other survivors.

  Colin banged on the roof of the car. “Lay on the horn again! We’re losing them!”

  The freaks, intent on catching a meal, turned to follow the little car. The horde split as though someone had pulled on a zipper. Colin watched on in horror as thousands of freaks peeled away from the main horde in pursuit of the little car.

  “Hit the horn again!” he screamed, firing at the mass and trying to make as much noise as possible.

  The horn rang in Colin’s ears as Samuel laid on it. The other cars in their convoy followed suit, but it was too late. The freaks were too focused on the little car. Their lunchbox on wheels.

  Most of the freaks stayed focused on their convoy. The group that followed was still thousands strong—more than enough to overwhelm the Sovereigns.

  Colin sighed and sent up a silent prayer that those people would be able to escape the horde.

  They had broken away from the horde five minutes ago.
Four other cars had followed them, leaving only Ervin’s car to lead the horde onward. Instead, they had gone around the back of the conservation area, leaving their vehicles and creeping as close as they dared to the Sovereign’s camp.

  The sound of tires moving quickly across gravel reached Colin’s ears. Almost as one, he and the others looked towards the road. The pockmarked silver truck was picking up speed, putting distance between itself and the horde.

  Screams rose from the camp. People scattered out of the vehicles path as it cut around the camps edge.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Shots fired from within the camp. The vehicle rocked then veered to the left, slamming into a tree.

  “Shit!” Samuel looked frantically between the still empty road and the crashed vehicle.

  “Where is the horde?” Rotna asked frantically. “They couldn’t have been that far behind.”

  “We need to go get them.” Samuel grabbed Colin’s arm before he could stand up.

  “We can’t.”

  The Sovereigns were already closing in on the vehicle.

  “We can’t just leave them there to be killed!” Colin snarled. “Those are our people. If the Sovereigns don’t kill them, the freaks sure as hell will. We have to go get them.”

  “If we do, we’ll all die. Where does that leave us then?” Samuel whispered harshly.

  A screech pierced the air, leaving a tense calm falling over the camp. The camp froze. It was quickly followed by more and more until the piercing guttural screams became a chorus. The sounds of thousands of feet running almost drowned out everything else. Screams rose from the camp as people snapped into action. Gunfire erupted as men rushed towards the front of the camp.

  Samuel’s grip on Colin’s arm loosened as he watched the scene unfold. Colin took the opportunity to break away. Before Samuel could react, he leapt up, sprinting for the vehicle.

  “Colin!” Colin ran as hard and as fast as he could, forgoing stealth for speed.

  Colin’s breath wheezed in and out as his feet slid across the underbrush and he slammed into the vehicle. Ervin jumped at the sound as Colin wrenched the door open.