The train was crawling along now.
“Some people must’ve realized what was happening and rushed down into the safety of the tunnels,” Emma guessed.
“And it looks like they were trapped down here,” Ralph stated as the train exited the tunnel onto the platform. The station is full of thrashing creatures that now lunged at the train as it slowed to a halt.
With a jolt, the train stopped as tentacles and spindly legs started to attack the side of the train.
Ralph quickly slammed a hand onto a switch. “That will stop the doors from automatically opening,” he stated.
However, with the force the creatures were smashing into the windows and doors that wasn’t going to be an issue for very long.
245
Stu
On a beach
Somewhere on the shore in New York State
“Are you just going to stand there?” a voice asked from over to one side.
The loud sound echoed around Stu. He thought the sound was the creature slamming into him. He was confused. One moment he was seeing images of his wife and family, then a blast brought him back down to earth.
He opened his eyes and saw the creature just a meter away with most of its head missing. Confusion clouded his mind. If the creature was dead, who was talking. Then again, apart from guttural screams, he had never heard an infected talk. But it has been a stressful few days. Fuck, a stressful month.
Stu turned his head to the right.
“Soozie?” He rubbed the tears away. “I thought you were dead. You fell from the bridge, with the creature…”
“Yeah, and thanks for leaving me behind, asshole!”
“B-but we thought you were dead!”
Soozie stood to one side holding the shotgun pointed at the ground. The barrels were smoking.
“Don’t worry, I’m just fucking with ya, I know you had no choice. Luckily, the creature didn’t bite me, and due to all the water having left the inlet, I landed in soft mud. I was knocked unconscious.”
Her motorbike leathers were torn on the shoulder. An eagle tattoo peeked out the gap.
“I take it the others are on Big Bertha?”
“I always prefer Big Betty, but yes, they’re all out there.” Stu slumped onto the seat.
“Do I want to know why you’re out here alone on a beach, standing like a statue ready to die?”
Stu thought about telling her why he was here, about seeing Hanna, or a child that looked enough like her to cause a meltdown. How he tried to run to her and was knocked out. Then how he stole a boat and raced away from the others. But he was too tired to go through it all.
“Not really,” he muttered.
“Does the boat still work?
“I hope so.”
“Then we best get it back in the water before her friends arrive.” Soozie holstered the weapon in a pocket on the side of her leathers and started to try and push the boat back into the water.
“Well, are you going to get out and fucking help?”
“Sorry. Sure.” Stu stumbled over the side and onto the pebbles. His foot landed inches from the creatures mangled head.
“Thanks, by the way,” he muttered.
“Don’t thank me just yet.”
“Why not?”
Just as he said that he heard the other creatures charging through the woods towards them.
“Jesus! Why the fuck didn’t you say something?” Stu shouted as he put all his weight into getting the boat back into the water.
“I would’ve, but you seemed to be having a moment.”
246
Alex and the others
On a walkway on the superstructure of the cargo ship
Somewhere off the shore in New York State
Alex slumped into a seat while the others gathered around Lindell as he explained what happened in detail.
“This changes everything,” Terrance stated. “We can’t just race after him if he has Naomi. He could kill her the moment he sees one of us.”
Smokie nodded in agreement.
There were a few muttered comments about it only being Naomi, and if it was one of them, she wouldn’t give a shit.
“I think only a few of us should go, make it less obvious,” Smokie announced.
People were milling around with the weapons that were handed out. They wanted to shoot something, get some blood on their hands.
“Everyone else should stay here and keep out of sight, in case we antagonize him by milling around.”
This caused a murmuring.
“Yes, Naomi is a pain in the butt, but she’s still one of us,” Smokie rebuked.
Everyone quietened down, embarrassed by their comments.
“Just Lindell, Terrance, Mollie and Alex will head out. I will keep in contact with them via radio.”
“Why me?” Alex blurted before he realized what he was saying.
“He’s already seen you. He may not feel so threatened if he sees you again,” Smokie stated.
Alex’s shoulders slumped. The last thing he wanted to do was go looking for the infected madman. The fact he held the rudest person left on the planet as a hostage was a bonus as far as he was concerned – not that he would ever say it out loud.
Mollie stepped forward. She said nothing, just nodded to say she understood. Kate offered her the handgun she was holding. Mollie simply grunted and didn’t take the weapon. It was obvious she preferred her two knives.
“Let’s get going,” Terrance stated as everyone parted out of the way to let them through.
Lindell took an assault rifle from Sue.
“I prefer my magnum anyway,” she stated while patting Tia.
Alex was handed a berretta by Smokie. She patted his shoulder as he walked past.
Terrance hoisted the pump-action shotgun over his shoulder.
As they filed out and everyone else started to settle into groups to talk about the new development, Smokie looked around the room. Then she said to everyone present, “Has anyone seen Troy?”
247
Troy and the others
Inside the superstructure of the cargo ship
Somewhere off the shore in New York State
Troy was heading through a hatch into the dark depths of the ship. He had a feeling Smokie would stop everyone from heading out after she heard Naomi was held captive.
The creaking of the metal reverberated around him, along with the sound of dripping water.
The corridors felt too constrictive inside the vessel. It made it feel like the walls were closing in.
Troy passed the gun from hand to hand. The safety was off, and it was loaded and ready.
He could hear whispering murmurs running along the corridor – whispers of pleasure and promises of future happiness. He knew if was Sophie talking to him, encouraging her husband.
He would not disappoint her again.
Troy took confident long strides down the corridors, searching its length. He was on a mission, and regardless of who got hurt, he was going to accomplish it. If Naomi had to die to accomplish the task God and his angelic wife had set for him, then so be it.
248
Stu and Soozie
On a beach
Somewhere on the shore in New York State
The guttural cries echoed through the trees as Stu and Soozie tried to get the boat back into the water.
“So, when you decided to steal the boat and go on your little outing, you didn’t think to stop and pick up a weapon?”
“I was kind of preoccupied at the time,” Stu said through clenched teeth as they tried to push the boat back down the pebbled beach into the water.
Stu was amazed at how heavy the dam thing was. It glided up the beach with ease from the water, yet now it seemed like it was made from concrete.
They could hear cracking branches and the sound of bodies forcing their way through the trees and undergrowth.
The boat grinded on the stones.
“Help us!” came a shout from beh
ind them.
“What the fuck?” Soozie said as she turned to the sound of someone shouting.
The boat started to get buoyancy from the water, and the weight seemed to vanish as it started to get picked up by the waves.
“There’s someone back there,” Soozie stated.
“There’s also a horde of creatures heading this way,” Stu pointed out. “Let’s at least get the boat into the water before we start feeling heroic.”
“Ay, I’ve already been heroic once today,” Soozie pointed out as Stu jumped into the boat and raced to the back to start the outboard motor.
Soozie climbed aboard while still scanning the tree line.
“Wait for us!” a female voice shouted.
Then Soozie could see them – four females and two males were racing through the woods towards the beach – two were young children. Behind them ran a group of creatures, hell-bent on sinking their teeth into warm flesh.
The fastest of the females broke through the tree line first and started heading towards the boat.
Stu had managed to start the engine and was revving it, while spinning the boat around, to point it out to sea.
“We have to wait for them,” Soozie shouted over the noise from the engine.
From the edge of his vision, Stu could see more creatures that was now racing down the beach from both sides, closing in on the six strangers.
249
Naomi and the man
Down inside the hull of the cargo ship
Somewhere off the shore in New York State
Naomi was hyperventilating. At the same time, she was trying not to breathe, in case she inhaled the black spores that she was sure was pouring from the infected mans mouth.
She was being dragged along the corridors, going deeper into the bowels of the cargo ship. Their footsteps echoed around the metal vessel.
The man said nothing, simply tugging on her arm if she lagged behind, or dragging her to her shaking feet if she fell.
Naomi tried to keep her face averted from his putrid breath, while trying to get a glimpse of the man who abducted her.
She expected him to be different, somehow. However, apart from the red-raw eyes, he seemed like all the other men on the boat.
“Why are you doing this?” she breathlessly asked as they rounded another corner.
He ignored her words and wrenched her arm forward harder.
Naomi couldn’t take her eyes off the knife he held.
Is this it, is this how I die? She thought. In the stomach of a rusty ship, being dragged along by an infected man?
She normally wasn’t the kind of person who cried – her life cured her of self-pity and useless tear’s years ago. More so since the end of the world, where she has done things that would warrant an eternity in Hell, if the place existed. But her body sagged from fear.
“If you let me go; I promise no one will hurt you,” she pleaded.
His reply was to grip her arm tighter.
“I can promise you safe passage off the vessel, without any harm.”
He stopped and spun around, while slamming her against the metal hull. Her head hit hard.
“This is my fucking ship; I’m going nowhere bitch! You lot are the ones who are leaving, not me!”
His red eyes bored into her. His dirty pale face mere inches from hers.
Naomi averted her face while holding her breath. She could feel her skin crawling with infection.
Then something clicked, her fear and sense of being a victim poured away. She decided if she was going to die, then she wasn’t going down without a fight – while acting afraid and victimized.
With her free hand she wiped the tears away, and stood a little taller. She then turned her head to stare right into his red eyes.
“Listen to me, mother-fucker, you’re not getting out of this alive; I will make sure of it. When they catch up with you – and they will, I will personally put the bullet in your skull, fuck-face!”
The man slowly turned his head, as if seeing her for the first time.
“That’s the spirit,” he muttered, as blood dribbled from one eye. “Also, I’m hoping they are going to follow us down here, because I have a little surprise waiting for your friends…”
250
Bachman, Emma, Ralph and Pete
Zone 4
The underground bunker
Quirauk Mountain, Pennsylvania
Cracks started creeping up the glass as the creatures continued to pound on the windows and doors.
The sound of the tentacles slapping the thick glass reverberated throughout the train. The sound of metal twisting and glass cracking was ominous. Something was on the roof, with dents appearing as something heavy stomped along.
“We have to get out of here,” Emma shouted to be heard over the sound of the attacking creatures.
The glass was smeared in dark blood and oily black sludge.
Bachman stood in the centre of the car, while looking all around, trying to get some inspiration. They had their weapons, but against such a large number, they were as good as useless. They would kill a few, but it would only be a matter of time before they were overrun.
Ralph was sat on a plastic seat, with his hands on his knees and his head leaning back against the metal wall. He knew it would be only a matter of time before the creatures caught up with him. However, he was glad to have met the others and to be reunited with Pete, even if it was only to die by their sides. But it beat dying alone.
Pete was racing back and forth. But there is nowhere to go, and nowhere to hide. The train was only four cars long and apart from the driver’s section, there was nothing else. They were trapped in a metal and glass tube that was slowly being battered to pieces.
PART TEN
Don’t Look Back
251
Bachman, Emma, Ralph and Pete
The train platform in Zone 7
The underground bunker
Quirauk Mountain, Pennsylvania
“There’s only one option left open,” Bachman states.
“Anything, please,” Pete shouts as another tentacle slaps the train car, causing a spider web of cracks to run up the thick glass.
Bachman slowly moved down to the end of the train. The others follow, wincing as the enclosed space echoes with the sound of slapping creatures, cracking glass and the ringing of metal.
A few are on the top of the train car. The metal starts to buckle as the hooked legs slam into the curved roof trying to rip the metal open.
Bachman points down the dark tunnel. “The back of the train is still sitting down the tunnel, blocking the way we came. If we exit the train we can hopefully run down the tunnel to the last platform.”
“Hopefully?” Ralph says.
“It’s not failsafe. There could be some in the tunnel by now. But we did just come from that direction, and we did run a few over.”
“Then what the hell are we waiting for?” Emma announces as she grips the handle and forces open the tail door. It swings against the back of the train with a thud.
The four stand with their weapons raised.
The sound of the thrashing creatures intensifies now the door is open.
Emma risks a glance outside.
“It’s clear; they cannot get through the gap.
A long tentacle lashes towards them but stops just short as the bulk of the creatures holds it back.
“What are we waiting for?” Emma asks. She jumps down onto the gravel between the tracks. The stones crunch beneath her boots and her wetsuit squeaks as she holds the broken mop handle out, ready for anything that might charge at her from down the tunnel.
The others follow.
The creatures continue to pummel the train, which starts to rock from side to side while the four of them race down the tracks back to Zone 6 – the military barracks.
The train cars behind them now start to slowly inch forward. The creatures are no longer trying to get inside; they are trying to move the train, so th
ey can charge after the warm meat that’s escaping.
252
Troy
Down inside the hull of the cargo ship
Somewhere off the shore in New York State
Troy’s determination boils off him. He will make sure the stranger dies, regardless of the consequences.
This person has brought danger onto the ship that God has deemed the New Ark. The apostate needs to be eradicated, whatever the cost.
Bulkheads flash past due to his brisk pace. He grips the handgun firmly. It’s cocked with the safety off, ready to fire. He would empty the clip into the man with the red eyes and no shoes.
Troy could visualize his wife looking down at him, with a wide smile on her angelic face.
“That’s right, my love; you’re doing the right thing. Doing Gods work. We will soon be together, with God smiling upon us both, because of your devotion to Him.”
“I miss you baby,” he mutters as he strides along the metal deck, going deeper with each step.
He can feel the engines of the ship humming beneath his feet. They are working full throttle. He has no idea where they are heading.
God will guide the way. God will make everything right. His hand protects us.
Troy could feel the energy pumping through his muscles. Before he felt lethargic. Now he could feel the raw power of God surging through his veins, strengthening his muscles and bones.
Why does Frank look so forlorn and exhausted all the time, if he believes in God, surely he should be brimming with energy, just like me?
The lights were spaced out along the long corridor, which encircled the whole vessel.
Troy strains his hearing. Nothing. He expected Naomi to be putting up a fight – if anyone would, it would be her. He couldn’t imagine her going quietly.
The Sixth Extinction America Omnibus [Books 1-12] Page 53
