The Maddening: Book 2 in the Terror Saga

by Nicholas Head

  “We have to keep moving,” Colleen said compassionately, “we aren’t out of the woods yet.”

  “I’m sorry, momma,” Marisha said, tears streamed down her face, “I don’t know what happened there. I won’t let you and daddy down.”

  Colleen cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, “It happens. You’ve saved my ass enough times, it's only fair that I save yours every now and again too.”

  Momma? Where does she think she is?

  They continued making their way to the upper levels. Moving up, they passed the second floor, quickly ascending so they were almost parallel to the third floor that encircled the elevator structure in a half-moon. The railing on all sides of them was several feet off, too far away to jump to. The two remaining beasts disappeared into the south side where no light could reach, leaving an unnatural silence behind.

  “I think they gave up,” Marisha said. Colleen watched her flex the fingers on each hand, “Give me a few minutes to get some strength back.”

  “You really didn't climb trees as a kid, did you? How sad, you must have had an awful childhood,” Colleen said through jagged breaths.

  “Is that the standard for good childhoods? I wasn’t aware of that? Well, if that’s the case, how did Lito turn out to be such a jerk?” Marisha said, pointing at Lito as he continued climbing, now merely a speck in the distance.

  Colleen adjusted her grip, “He’s not so bad,” she grunted, “I mean, he wasn’t when I first met him.”

  “You mean before he led you to your almost death?” Marisha retorted.

  “Yeah, but he was a sweet guy. He is just trying to make it in this world, like all of us.”

  “He’s the kind of guy who would have let Truthmore put you on the menu for Sunday brunch. Let’s agree to disagree on his salvation,” Marisha sneered.

  “Brunch?” Colleen asked, “Is that like—”

  “It’s a mixture of breakfast and lunch."

  “Nice, it sounds very before to me,” Colleen rolled her eyes, “I think we need to get going before—”

  Growling sounds resonate behind them. The girls turn their heads just in time to see the two beasts barreling towards them at full speed. The railing bracing thick tempered glass that encircled the third floor was the only thing separating them from being torn apart.

  “Brace!” Colleen screamed

  The spider-webbed glass detonated on impact as the two animals flew through the air. The largest was through first and dropped fast. Its tight jaws clenched the bars; the impact of its muscular body throwing the two women back. With the next, almost half the size of the first, the animal clamped onto the steel bars with its lacerating claws. It clambered up the structure, then bit down on Marisha’s shoe and pulled.

  “Get,” she growled, kicking the deformed skull in between each word, “off…me…you…stupid…dog.”

  Holding tight, the animal twisted its head to the side, pulling Marisha down. She flailed her arms as she slowly slid down, finally gripping a wire woven between the bars.

  “Hold on, I’m coming for you,” Colleen called down, her shaky voice barely audible.

  Colleen jumped down rung by rung. She looked over to see the animal still clinging to Marisha; she wouldn’t make it much longer without her help. The bigger of the two animals still hung on by its jaws, not having been able to climb; its murderous claws swung wildly. Taking a breath, Colleen dropped once more, and with a ferocious kick, pummeled the beast, the heel of her boot driving it into submission. One last thwack! And it dropped, falling to the shallow pond below.

  They were down to one. The smallest beast still held on to Marisha’s boot, thrashing back and forth. Her face ghost-white with exhaustion and fear. “Almost there,” Colleen called out as she gasped for air.

  Colleen herself was barely holding on. That last fight had taken everything out of her. She looked up as she heard a rattling metal sound, seeing a blur zooming down towards them.

  Lito

  Lito was bouncing down, effortlessly weaving through the wires and bars.

  “I thought you two might need a hand,” he said, reaching out.

  Colleen shook her head, “Save her first. Do it; for me. Please?”

  Lito nodded, then swung around her, sliding down the pole, stopping just before he got to Marisha. He leaned out, holding on with one hand, and reached into his shirt. In one fluid motion, he aimed at the writhing animal and fired. The bullet tore into its shoulder, exiting in a cloud of blood and hair. The beast wailed and let go, falling to meet its companion.

  “I’m sorry,” Marisha muttered and let go.

  In nearly slow motion, he saw her body give up, sliding down, her boots providing the only friction to slow her. Lito dropped again, almost forcing himself down to sink faster than her. His viselike grip wrapped around her wrist as he locked his leg into the structure.

  “I can hold you for a few minutes, but you’ve got to give it everything you have and find a way to swing your legs on and over that bar.”

  Marisha mumbled something he couldn’t make out.

  “Okay, well, how about you just nod if you understand? Sound good?”

  She halfheartedly nodded and swung her legs, not enough to get her over.

  He gave her a pained smile and said, “I don’t think that was quite what I was looking for. Let’s try again. The quicker we do this, the quicker we get to safety.”

  Marisha closed her eyes, gripped the bars, and heaved herself up over it. She let out an exhausted sigh and collapsed against the structure. He tried to say something, but she put up a finger and shook her head.

  “That was too close,” he called up to Colleen as he crawled back up, “but you and your girl aren’t going to like this next part.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  Lito wiped his brow and sighed, “I wish I was.”

  Thirty-One

  Colleen

  The pyramid had shifted to an inky black void the higher they climbed to the top. Luckily, they had located the service ladder entirely by accident, of course, by aimlessly feeling around. In all her exhaustion, Colleen noted Marisha had nearly forgotten about her fear of heights. She only seemed to recoil and notice how high up they were on the last few rungs, but it was close enough to the summit for Colleen to pull her up the rest of the way when she froze.

  As soon as Lito had reached the top, he turned around, packed a gun, and went back down the intimidating shaft like it was nothing. At the bottom, he quickly constructed a makeshift sling and carried the injured, but still amiable, Jackson back up. He did all this while Colleen and Marisha searched for anything useful in the relatively small area full of discarded construction materials and insulation.

  The top three floors were once used as a hotel and observation area. Each hotel room faced out, providing a spectacular view to anyone who had stayed there. Dark hardwood paneling and obsidian stone lined the walls in the long hallway. It was beautiful and yet immediately downcast by the dingy carpets that smelled like mildew and grew stronger with each step. Marisha admired what used to be an intricate swirl pattern of brown and white, reaching down to dust a hand through the shag material. Now it was caked in a thick layer of dirt and littered with spots of dried blood.

  The stairs connecting each floor had collapsed long ago and possibly were destroyed on purpose. The floors in each of the hotel rooms that branched off the hall were made entirely of glass. The network of steel beams and aluminum supports were visible below and provided enough stability for them to walk without falling through the areas that had been cracked or shattered. Quickly, they rounded up enough dry wood and fabric to have a fire for the night.

  Lito had climbed the tower again, only this time he was showing actual signs of exhaustion, and laid a sleeping Jackson. Placing him by the warmth of the fire, he propped his head up with a bundle of cloth. Lito milled about, moving blankets around as if looking for something.

  Colleen tiptoed over to Jackson and stroked his s
oft underbelly, “How is he?”

  “I cleaned him up a bit,” Lito said, “Just a few scratches but nothing life-threatening. He'll be ready for tomorrow with a little rest. If he were walking, that would be a different story, but he's seen worse, I'm sure.”

  “I don't know what I'd do without him,” Colleen said, framing her face with unsteady hands. “Do you think we'll still have rides when we head out tomorrow morning?"

  “I checked and the horses seemed fine. There was no sign of the dogs anywhere, but I don’t think we should chance anything before the sun is up.”

  “Hellhounds seem more fitting than anything minutely related to Jackson. I’ve never met a dog that wanted to tear my face off for sport. That can’t be natural. What do you think created those things?” Colleen asked, stroking Jackson's ears. The dog's eyes closed as he drifted off to sleep.

  “I’ve seen some weird things in my life, but those, those weren’t born of any normal process. You can’t breed something like that,” Lito said, a visible shiver rippling through his body, “those came from the mind of a madman or nature's really messed up product of evolution.”

  “This isn’t the first time I’ve run into them either.” Colleen's expression fell as she looked at her hands.

  “What? When?” he looked at her, shock radiating from his face.

  “Several months ago, when I was in Utah. I can’t be one hundred percent sure, though. I was practically blind at the time, but they were this close to my face,” Colleen said, putting a hand inches from her nose.

  “Well, whatever they are, we should steer clear of them.”

  “Affirmative,” she said as Lito rolled out his blanket next to the fire. Her eyes scanned around the room before falling on Marisha, who sat by herself further down the hall. Lito stoked the coals, tossing another few pieces of wood on.

  “I don’t imagine you happened to grab any food while you were down there?” she asked. Although it was a serious question, she had to resist the urge to smile when Lito cut her a look and flexed his fingers. He pulled his hat over his dark brown eyes, rolled over, and was asleep in seconds—leaving her with an unspoken answer.

  “Are you okay,” Colleen asked as she approached Marisha from behind, who sat nearly motionless with her mind elsewhere. Her hand was in the pocket of her jacket, intently focused on something. She could have sworn she mumbled something under her breath. Colleen sat down and put a hand on Marisha’s shoulder, pulling her mind off of whatever was keeping her preoccupied.

  “Earth to Marisha, is there anyone in there?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Marisha said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “It’s just a lot right now. I don’t know what came over me back there. I could have got us all killed, gotten you killed, all be because I freaked out.”

  “I mean, you didn’t really freak out. It was kind of the opposite, the total opposite actually. Like you just,” Colleen’s face became stiff, and her eyes bugged out, shaking. “It’s not your best look either,” she said, taking a seat next to her.

  “Is this supposed to be you trying to help? Because if it is, no offense, but don’t,” Marisha snapped, glaring at her, and turned back to look into nothingness.

  “None taken.” Colleen retorted and raised her eyebrows. Her face fell as the awkward silence settled in. “Actually, I will take all the offense,” Colleen said, clutching her chest like she had been shot.

  “Hilarious Blakey, I’m trying to be serious here. If you had gotten hurt, or god forbid,” Marisha suddenly got quiet, “the baby. I don’t know if I’d be able to live with myself. You all don’t need me. I'm dead weight.”

  “Quit that. We’ve been through far worse, and we’ve always come out on top. I don’t expect any less from you. This is just a hiccup.” Colleen reached out and brushed away a tear that had begun to form at the corner of Marisha’s eye, looking at her with a soulful expression. “Don’t you go breaking down on me. Little Mortimer and I still need you,” she continued.

  Colleen saw Marisha's eyes look from her stomach and slowly scanning up to her face. She turned her nose up and grimaced, sticking her tongue out and pointing a finger inside, as if trying to gag herself, “Mortimer? You can’t be serious.”

  “Shh!” she said, putting her index finger up to her lips, “It's a good name and he might hear you. The last thing he needs is to come into this world with wounded self-esteem.”

  Marisha playfully rolled her eyes and nudged her arm.

  Colleen looked down and cupped her hands around her stomach. “Don’t you worry, little Morty. I won't let them make fun of you.”

  “What makes you so sure it’s a—”

  “Definitely a boy? It’s the awful indigestion,” Colleen said.

  “Gross,” Marisha grimaced, “I love you, but I’m going to bed.” She got up and took her new place by the fire and pulled her blanket up to her chin. Marisha fluffed the bag full of insulation that she was using as a pillow.

  “You what?” Colleen said, cupping her ear and leaning closer.

  “You heard me,” A devilish smile cracked across Marisha’s face as she closed her eyes.

  “It sounds like you said you loved me?” Colleen couldn't resist the urge to smile and felt one spread wide across her face.

  “Yes, do you want me to take it back?” Marisha muttered quietly.

  “No, no, no. Just checking. Good night gorgeous.”

  Colleen’s heart swelled up as if it was going to burst. Her complexion turned an almost unnatural shade of red; all the while, her stomach did somersaults over and over. In all the banter, she had forgotten to ask Marisha about something she has said earlier, in the heat of it all, but hadn’t wanted to be the one to ruin the moment. She would ask her in time, but right now, she would sit here and enjoy this moment for all it was worth.

  I wish we could have done more to stop all of this from happening. Who would have thought that something so innocuous could’ve been so dangerous? It was supposed to have fixed the mistakes humans made, not turned the world into a lifeless death heap. Who would have thought responsible science in the hands of the crazy would be so disastrous? Mis padres told me that the world was fine one day; the next, people were dropping dead where they stood. “From the dust whence you came, to dust, you shall return,” my dad always said. I miss them more than words can tell.

  How could Killian have done that? Killed everyone with the flick of a plastic switch. It doesn’t make any sense. They should’ve seen it all coming; it was Doctor Blakey’s project, after all. How out of touch does someone have to be to miss this, to miss someone this evil festering right under their nose? I have a feeling the remaining scraps of humanity aren’t going to survive this last chapter. May God—

  “What ‘cha reading there, hun?” Marisha said, propping herself up on her hands and arching her back. A faint pop sound came from her neck, startling her. “Ouch, I wasn’t expecting a sound like a gunshot going off in my head.”

  “Nothing really. Just Doc’s old journal.”

  Marisha frowned, “I didn’t know you brought it with you. Anything good?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know. I thought I could get some information about what the world was like before all of this. You know, see if he said anymore about my mom,” she got quiet and looked away, then whispered, “or my dad.”

  “And?” Marisha said, her eyes wide with both compassion and genuine inquiry.

  Colleen paused, tearing her gaze away from the old pages to look her in the eye. She was desperately trying to not give away all the emotions barrelling through her psyche, “No, nothing, unfortunately.”

  Marisha looked at Colleen, studying her face. Convinced, she spoke again, “Let’s get going then. We’ve got a city to conquer today.”

  Thirty-Two

  Colleen

  Colleen knew she should’ve been honest with her. The only problem was trying to figure out how to tell the woman you loved you just found out your dad might have been, at least partly, respo
nsible for the end of the known world. Indirectly, also the reason Marisha's parents were dead. It was a conversation she wasn’t willing to have right now, but in time she would.

  They packed up everything they had gathered from the night before and made the laborious trip down the elevator shaft. Marisha was able to at least find some food in the rooms that Lito had supposedly checked.

  “What? You don’t believe me,” Lito said, “I checked them several times. I wouldn’t do that to you. You’re eating for two now. If I can help it, I don't plan to starve a pregnant person.”

  “Oh, I believe you checked. With as much as you eat…” Marisha said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he glared, his ears reddening by the second.

  “Calm down; it was just a joke,” Marisha sneered. Colleen shook her head. The two of them fought like siblings.

  With Jackson loaded and the horses watered, the group set out to make it to Seattle by dusk. The weather had been perfect that morning, and their horses were unscathed from the previous night's visitors. If they kept to the road and had no more distractions, they just might make it before nightfall.

  Lito took the lead as the horses trudged through the muddy, uneven roads. The rain, which had started 30 minutes prior, started coming down in sheets and made it impossible to see beyond their horses’ muzzles. Their slick, wet hair hung down as it glued to their scalps. The only one who didn’t seem completely miserable was Jackson. The rain just bounced off his thin coat of hair. Their wet clothes clung to their bodies, weighing them down. The trio took shelter in the first building they stumbled upon once reaching downtown—an old cavernous warehouse. They tied the horses up under an awning and the three climbed up and through a delivery entrance.

  There would be no fire; with only wet wood and plastic chairs lining the walls, the fumes inside the building would be deadly.