Mace of the Apocalypse

by Daniel J. Williams

  Mace was growing tired of Rob’s enthusiasm for killing. “We need to create more antidote to distribute. We need to keep this area safe and have a way of drawing people here.” He looked from John to Maria and Gilbert, hoping to get their reactions. So far, they had remained very quiet and he was hoping to determine the reason. “We have a very limited supply of antidote. The only way we’ve figured to create more is to inject ourselves and then draw down our blood, label it according to blood type, and then distribute it to others. We need to keep this area safe and have a way of letting people know it’s here. Do you have any suggestions?”

  Maria raised her hand slightly, casting a nervous glance at John. “I’m a nurse. I could help you draw blood and package it safely.”

  Mace noticed the glance towards John and realized he would need to get the whole story of how they met and what they’d been up to. “Okay.” He turned his attention towards Gilbert. “Any ideas?”

  Before Gilbert could answer John broke in. “I’ve already planned on staking this place out as my own. We get a bunch of people in here and resources are going to run short. What are we going to do, open it up as a friggin’ hotel?”

  Father McCann moved forward and spoke. “There is devastation, pain and death out there and people need a place to come for refuge. Right now, we are the only hope they have. We could help save scores of people if we pull together and offer up assistance.”

  John dismissed Father McCann again. “I’m no Mother Theresa and I’m not interested in becoming one. If you want to preach to people do it somewhere else. I was here first and I’m just interested in keeping myself alive. Who knows what will happen if you start calling people here. Those damn things could look at this place like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Did you stop to think about that?”

  Mace’s opinion of John Cole was rapidly changing. “Just what happened upstairs? Were there any up there when you arrived?” He could see Maria shrink back as John glanced at her. Gilbert wouldn’t make eye contact with him. John shot him a hard look and turned back towards Mace.

  “There were a few running around tearing up the place so I took them out with a piece of pipe. They die just like anybody else. They’re just meaner.”

  Mace looked at Maria and Gilbert, who were both eyeballing the floor. John took a step towards Mace. “What are you, some type of law enforcement or something?”

  Mace felt the tension start to mount in the hallway. “Or something. I work as a bounty hunter.” He wanted to try to diffuse the situation. “Look, why don’t we go check that generator. Oh, and how big is the freezer upstairs? We’ve got some bodies that are going to start reeking if we don’t put them somewhere.”

  John looked at him strangely. “Why not just throw them outside? Let em rot right out there.”

  Maria raised her hand a little again. “The freezer’s pretty big. We just got a shipment of food in but there’s plenty of room where you could place them.”

  Mace nodded. “Thanks.”

  There was something going on here, but he had the impression that he could count on her. “There’s more of our party that are sleeping right now. One of them was shot in the shoulder. It’s pretty clean, but it would be great if you could look at it once she woke up.”

  Maria smiled back uneasily. “I’d be happy to. I need to find something to keep me busy.”

  Mace looked back at Gilbert. “I’m sorry, I never found out what you do?”

  Gilbert smiled nervously, shooting another glance towards John. “I’m the principal at Thunder Oaks Elementary school in Belmont.”

  Gilbert also had a penchant for child porn and bondage, but didn’t think it would be the best time to bring that up.

  “If you need any help moving bodies, I think I could help. It’s not in my job description, but I think I could do it alright.”

  His attempt at humor fell flat, and Mace just nodded back. “That would be great. Thanks.”

  Rob started shaking his head. “We got to move bodies again? I’m with John; I say we just dump them outside.”

  Mace put a hand on Rob’s shoulder. “Sorry buddy, but that’s just not gonna work. We’ve got to get this place cleaned up. I want to get those others off the bus as well.”

  Robby pulled his shoulder away from Mace’s hand. “Whatever.”

  “We’ll get some rest soon, okay? If you could just help clean up the bodies, I would really appreciate it. After that, I’m going to head out for a generator and some floodlights. There’s a Lowe’s not far from here that should have everything we need. You can come if you want but it’s up to you.”

  “I’d rather go hunting for provisions than moving dead bodies. Let’s just get the body dumping over with.”

  Mace gave him a soft slap on the back. “You got it. It’s not my favorite job either.”

  John, who had been watching the scene with a keen interest in Maria and Gilbert’s reaction, jumped all over Mace. “We don’t need another generator. Do you really know what you’re doing? I can hook up as many lights as you want. Go to Lowe’s and pick up as many 1000-Watt quartz halogen floodlights as you think we’ll need. They come two to a horse. And get plenty of industrial extension cords and power strips. I’ll do whatever you think we need. But once people start coming in, I’m heading for the third floor and making it my own. I’m letting you know right now that I’ll help however you want, but when the time comes, the third floor is mine.”

  Mace thought it over, realizing that John had him over a barrel. He didn’t have his mechanical aptitude and needed everything set up as quickly as possible. “Okay. You got a deal.”

  John wasn’t finished. “I saw an abandoned tanker truck about a mile north down El Camino. If it’s full, it should be holding a minimum of 3,000 gallons. That should last you at least a month running at full capacity. If it’s empty, you better start puckering your lips cause you’re gonna be suckin’ on a lot of siphon hose. What we got right now won’t last more than a couple of days.” He looked at Mace and smiled; a smile that Mace thought was eerily similar to the one that Rob displayed on occasion. “Either way, the third floor is mine.”

  Mace looked him over and thought of all the ways he could inflict pain on him, then turned away in disgust towards Father McCann. Father McCann was sitting against the hallway wall, looking thoroughly exhausted. Mace moved towards him. “You need to go get some rest.”

  “To be honest with you I’m ready to collapse right now. I’m so tired I could sleep through the Second Coming. You’ve got to be exhausted yourself.”

  Mace winked. “The last time I was this tired I was listening to one of your sermons.”

  A tired smile spread across Father McCann’s face. “I pray you get bit in the ass by one of them.”

  They exchanged a brief smile before Mace helped him up and they started heading their separate ways: John to examine the generator, Maria led by Father McCann to the room where Yvette and Jade were resting, and Mace, Rob and Gilbert to collect bodies for the freezer. Once the others were out of earshot, Mace turned to Gilbert and asked, “What the hell happened up there?”

  Gilbert was quiet for a few seconds as he reflected on the situation, and as he opened his mouth his eyes began darting around with paranoia. “That guy is totally crazy. I’d brought a student here because his mother had been in an auto accident early yesterday morning. His dad called from the hospital. I was in the room with them and Maria, who was her nurse, when all hell broke loose. You could hear it coming from down the hall. It was like something surreal.

  Mace thought about the scene on the BART platform and nodded his head. “Go on.”

  “Maria left the room to see what was happening but ran back in a moment later, totally hysterical, and she slammed the door shut. It scared the hell out of me. Anyway, she ran to the corner of the room and just broke down, screaming about monsters in the hallway. I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about so I ran and looked out the window and this thing, this guy, stopped and
stared at me. I think that moment, that face, will forever be locked in my memory. I froze, and Maria told me later that I screamed. I don’t remember. All I remember is that I ended up hiding behind the door while that guy tried to break it down. He was making all kinds of freaky noise until a woman screamed down the hall and the door quit shaking. We sat there all night and heard things I don’t even want to talk about until Superpyscho showed up in the morning.”

  Mace could see the paranoid look cross his face again as he looked around nervously.

  “We heard him yell out and a few of those things answered him with this weird, shrieking sound and the next thing I knew I could hear him screaming like crazy and then we could hear the sound of his pipe hitting them over and over again. He just kept going until we could hear it turn into this wet slurping sound and then we could hear him laughing like hell.”

  He stopped, looking out wide-eyed into nothingness as he relived the moment. He shivered slightly and continued. “He eventually made it to this door and saw Maria sitting in the corner. He started yelling for her to open up the door until Tim’s dad went up and answered it. He came in the room yelling this crazy gibberish about letting him die and he started hitting Tim’s dad over the head with the pipe. He tried to cover up but he couldn’t stop the barrage and when he fell on the floor, I could see his head split open. Tim ran over to try to stop him but John swung the pipe back and caught him across the face and he flew across the room. He left this blood spot on the wall. It was shaped like a triangle. I remember I kept thinking that it shouldn’t be shaped that way, and before I knew it, John went over and clubbed him again. I can still hear the thud of the pipe as it hit his head.”

  Mace got a flash of the dark crawlspace and the moment he was forced to shoot Jason. The anger he was feeling at the story turned to bile in his stomach.

  “Tim’s mom, who was barely even conscious, started crying and making this whelping sound, and John just walked right over to the bed and bashed her over the head. She convulsed for a second and then everything went quiet. I was sitting in the corner of the room behind the door and I just covered my eyes. I was sure he was going to kill me next. He walked over and started laughing at me, then walked over to Maria and just stared at her. He told her he could rape her if he wanted and nobody would ever know. She started to cry and he spit on her before walking to the bed and sitting down. He sat there and just stared at the wall for the longest time. It was freaky.”

  Mace’s hands were clenching and unclenching, and he was trying to control the fire that was burning through his gut. He wanted to hurt someone. Rob stood behind him picturing Maria naked, wondering what it would be like to see her that way. He thought about the things he could do without anybody knowing or without any consequences and the thought excited him. For the first time he thought to himself, I could be like a God.

  He looked at Mace and said, “I think we should just kill him.”

  Mace closed his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nose, exhaling slowly through his mouth. He opened his eyes, feeling a twist in his stomach. “We’re not going to kill anybody. He’s going to finish helping us and then he’s going to disappear to the third floor.” He looked at Gilbert. “What happened after that?”

  Gilbert lowered his head and continued slowly. “After a while he started crying, telling us he was sorry and that his wife had been murdered and he didn’t know how to deal with it. He got up and I thought he was going to explode again but he just paced around the room ranting about the end of the world. When he finally calmed down, he told us he’d kill us if we told anyone.”

  Mace tried to take it all in before shaking his head and remembering the task at hand. “Let’s get to the bodies. The sooner we start the sooner we finish.”

  Chapter 27

  They unlocked the elevators and had the bodies moved within a half-an-hour. They used a laundry cart and piled them in, rigamortis making the job more difficult. Gilbert was shaking by the time they were done; the frozen, grimaced faces and torn flesh of the infected looking like something out of the horror section of a wax museum. He stayed out in the hall as Mace and Rob gathered the bodies of his student and parents. Mace wiped his brow when the job was done and said to no one in particular, “Let’s just get the ones off the bus and be finished with this.”

  Before they left the hospital, Mace didn’t see any other choice but to wake up Jade. He crept into the room and jostled her slightly. “I’m sorry. Something’s come up. We’re going to need you.” He could see the deep circles under her eyes and knew she was exhausted. “There are some more people here. One could be dangerous. We’re going to have to keep an eye on him.”

  Jade kept blinking, trying to wake up. “I want a raise. You’re a slave driver.” She shook her head, propping herself up on one elbow, and then stared at the floor. “God, I wish we had some coffee. I’m fried.”

  Mace kissed her on the forehead. “The second floor’s clear. There’s gotta be some in the cafeteria. If you make some, make a big pot. We’re all going to need it.” He turned to leave and stopped. “There’s a guy working on the generator outside. His name is John Cole. Keep an eye out for him. He’s unstable.”

  She looked at him with a ‘you-got-to-be-kidding’ face. “Anymore than what we’ve got now?”

  Mace nodded seriously. “This guy could be real trouble. Unfortunately, we need him. He’ll be out there for a while. I’m taking Rob and another guy with me to Lowe’s. We’re going to pick up some lights. I’ve got an idea.”

  Jade slowly swung her legs over and paused before getting up, staring at the floor again. “Stop at Starbucks on the way back. I could use a no whip skinny latte.”

  Mace winked at her. “You got it. I’ll bring back a lemon poppy seed muffin too. I know you love those.”

  She reached over and grabbed her pillow, throwing it at him playfully. “God, you’re an asshole sometimes. What did I ever see in you?”

  Mace shrugged. “Got me. You just couldn’t resist my manly charms.”

  She looked at him with a tired smile. “Now I remember. You were good in bed. A little quick, but you had enough to work with.”

  Mace laughed softly and shook his head, looking at Yvette who was in the next bed snoring softly. “Be careful, impressionable minds are near. We don’t want any more scarring than necessary.”

  She continued to look at him with the tired smile. “I should warn her about troubled man-hunters with religious fixations. It might save her some hurt later.”

  Mace walked over and kissed her on the forehead again. “Just be careful. There’s a woman in the hallway who’s a nurse. Once Yvette wakes up, she’ll take care of her. You might want to talk to her and get some information on the hospital. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Jade smiled wearily back. “Be careful. I’ll take care of everything on this end. Just get back here in one piece.”

  “I will. I don’t want you chasing after any other man-hunters.”

  She yawned and shook her head. “Don’t worry. One is enough.”

  Chapter 28

  Back with Rob and Gilbert, Mace decided to use another laundry cart to move the bodies off the bus, and they moved quickly once they were outside the hospital. Mace wanted it finished as quickly as possible, especially since they only had a few hours of daylight left and he wanted the floodlights in place before nightfall.

  The street was eerily quiet as they made their way down it, with ash and smoke looming overhead like an apocalyptic dream. They could still hear the sound of various alarms, although their volume was now lower; their droning a different pitch, as if they were tired of not being listened to and were running out of steam.

  Their world had become a wasteland in a few hours and their brains were still having a hard time coping. It was like suffering jet lag from a horror trip to hell.

  As they approached the bus, Mace thought he saw movement inside, so he slowed their pace, trying to determine if there was indeed
someone or something inside. He couldn’t be certain, so he whispered to the others to stay back while he went to look. Gilbert was shaking and Mace had a feeling that the shotgun he held wouldn’t be much use if something came down. He didn’t think he had the stomach for what would have to be done.

  Mace drew his 9mm and carefully stepped onto the open door of the bus. He took one more step up and peered around the corner to the back, where he could see several infected with their backs turned. His heart thumped at the sight and he turned around quickly, ready to leave, not wanting to be noticed, scared that if he had to use the gun the noise would quickly stir up a crowd.

  Their low murmuring caught his attention though, and he turned back, catching a glimpse of a horror so awful it made his head spin. The hair on his body stood up and his stomach churned. They were gorging themselves on the intestines of one of the bodies they’d left behind.

  His mouth dropped and his eyes blurred. He slowly backed out of the bus, wanting to run as claustrophobia enveloped him in a cold rag of sweat. He stepped off and coughed out bile, dropping to his knees, throwing up as quietly as possible. He spit a few times to try to clear his mouth, and then motioned the others back as he wiped his eyes with the palms of his hand.

  Rob moved forward with the shotgun but Mace blocked him, mouthing “No” as Rob tried to brush past him. “It could bring them all out,” he whispered, as he gently pushed him back by the shoulder. Rob stared at him briefly before giving in and backing away.

  Gilbert looked whiter than Mace, with tears rimming the corners of his eyes. “What was it?”

  Mace thought about telling him something different, anything different, but decided the truth would eventually come out. “They were eating the bodies.”