Contamination Box Set [Books 0-7]

by Piperbrook, T. W.

  The motel looked clean—or at least had the appearance of tidiness. Sam had definitely stayed in worse places in his younger years. He left Karen and Chloe in the minivan and paid the front clerk in cash.

  “Checkout is at 11AM. The pool is in the back. You’ll need to sign in and use your key card to get inside,” the front desk clerk instructed.

  The clerk was clean cut. His hair was parted to the side, and he was wearing a tucked in shirt and black pants. Behind him, a row of wooden knobs lined the wall with numbered key cards for each of the rooms. Sam noticed that only a few slots were empty.

  “Thank you, sir!” Sam said. He replaced his wallet and tucked the key cards in his pocket.

  “Excuse me,” a voice piped up from behind him. “You dropped your spare key.”

  “Oh, damn—I can’t lose that! I appreciate it!”

  Sam bent down to pick it up.

  Behind him, the Good Samaritan smiled. His bottom teeth were crooked, and his lips curved upwards over them, catching some of the flesh in his gums. A patch of freckles adorned his cheeks, and his hair was a mop of blond. His eyes seemed to protrude from their sockets.

  Sam thanked him again and headed out the door to where his wife and daughter were waiting. A rusty Ford Bronco sat behind them in the waiting area. It was dark outside, but the vehicle sat directly underneath the hotel’s overhead lights. He noticed the license plate: DMONROE. He supposed it belonged to the peculiar man inside.

  David Monroe.

  The man who would alter Sam’s life forever.

  The hotel room smelled of cleaning products and stale cigarettes, but everything seemed to be intact. Sam had secured a room with two double beds—one for him and his wife, and one for his daughter. He felt one of the mattresses, which seemed stiff and unyielding. They would only be there for one night. He supposed they could make do.

  Chloe threw her suitcase on the bed closest to the window.

  “I’ll take this one,” she said. “That way I can keep watch on the car.”

  Sam laughed. “Come on, it’s not that bad, is it?”

  “Nah, I’m just kidding, Dad. It’s fine! Once we get to Memphis, I’m sure I’ll forget all about it!”

  The bulk of their vacation fund would be used on a hotel in downtown Tennessee. An avid Elvis Presley fan, his daughter had talked about visiting Graceland since she was a little girl. Although Sam had never been able to afford it during her childhood, he was glad they could finally fulfill her wish.

  He looked at Chloe, who was still grinning. She had been looking forward to the trip for almost a year.

  Karen walked in from outside. She was carrying a small cooler.

  “Anyone want a drink?” she asked.

  Sam accepted her offer, and retrieved a bottle of water from the cooler.

  “So what should we do for dinner?”

  Sam looked at the digital clock between the beds. 9:00 PM. It had been a long day. Chloe was already lying in bed. She had put her headphones in and was shaking her feet along to the music.

  “Listen, I can run and pick something up. We should probably save our money. I’m sure we’ll be eating out a lot in Memphis,” Sam suggested.

  “Are you sure?” His wife’s eyes beamed at him from across the room. “You’ve been driving this whole trip.”

  “I’m sure,” he said. “Make sure you latch the door behind me. I’ll be back soon.”

  Karen blew him a kiss, and he stared into her brown eyes for a few seconds before exiting. He felt a warm feeling come over him, as if all was right in the world.

  When he returned, the hotel was engulfed in black smoke.

  17

  Sam awoke to the feeling of his body being thrown to the side.

  “What the—?” he yelled.

  “Sorry, Sam. Potholes. This stretch of road has been awful,” Noah explained from the front. “Were you asleep?”

  “I must have been. Dammit. Not sure how I could’ve slept after all this.”

  “Well, you definitely deserve some rest. You know, it’s the strangest thing. I don’t think I’ve seen a single car since the Visitor’s Center. I’ve been watching. It looks like the next exit is in eight miles.”

  Sam rubbed his eyes. Ahead, I-40 offered more of the same Arizona scenery. Short, green shrubs flecked the brown landscape, with miles of straight road serving as a backdrop. He had been to the coasts before, and the highways were very different. There, one could find curves, hills, and a variety of settings. Here everything was flat.

  Kendall sat in the front passenger seat. He held the baseball bat between his legs, wiping down the wood with a used napkin he must have found on the floor. Although Sam couldn’t see the results, he imagined the thin napkin was stained with pieces of the creature.

  Lying next to Sam was the pistol he had taken from the dead businessman. He grabbed hold of it in the dark and twisted it in his hands. There were only two bullets left. He’d checked once they were clear of the Visitor’s Center. He wished they’d had time to search the former owner’s pockets, or even the SUV that had been sitting in the parking lot, but the area hadn’t been safe.

  The pistol was a Glock G23. At only a few pounds, it was easily concealed in a pair of pants or suit jacket. Sam wondered what the man in the SUV had been doing before stopping at the rest area. Given that the man had been armed and in a vehicle sporting government plates, he could only imagine that he had been on some kind of official business. He pictured the black briefcases that had been stowed on the seats. Presumably, the men had all arrived in the same vehicle.

  But what could have happened to them?

  He glanced behind them, expecting to see a vehicle on their tail, but the road was empty.

  Sam knew they had been lucky enough to escape death twice in one night. It would be unwise to assume that their luck would continue. If they wanted to survive, they’d need to tread even more carefully than before.

  “Those things must have all shown up in the same SUV,” Kendall piped up, as if reading his train of thought. “There were three briefcases inside it. But somehow, the guy in the stall was the only normal one. Those fuckers killed him.”

  Kendall wiped his nose. Sam wondered if the kid’s initial bravery was starting to wear off.

  “What troubles me most is how deserted everything seems,” Sam said quietly. “It’s as if everyone has disappeared.”

  The three hung on that note in silence for a few minutes.

  “All I know is that we need some heavy duty firepower. I’m not fucking around with bats anymore,” Kendall shook his head. “I don’t want to get close enough to fuck around with bats.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled for the next stop,” Sam said.

  The road conditions worsened, and the trailer took a few hard bumps. Sam hoped the thin trailer tires didn’t give out. He wasn’t sure if his companions were carrying a spare. He was afraid to ask.

  Noah rubbed his eyes.

  “Are you still ok to drive?” Sam asked him.

  “Yea, I’m doing ok.”

  “Just wanted to make sure. If you want, I can take over.”

  “I’m used to driving long distances,” Noah said. “This is nothing.”

  Kendall sat forward in the seat. “I’ve been trying to convince him the whole trip. He’s a road warrior.”

  Noah opened his mouth, but then stopped short. His right foot flew upwards, transferring from gas pedal to brake, and the tires screeched with resistance. Sam heard the couch sliding around in the trailer.

  The van groaned with the pressure.

  “Noah, what’s going on?” Kendall shouted.

  Sam looked up. About fifty feet ahead of them, a car was parked sideways across the two lanes of the highway. Its headlights beamed across the m
edian and into the opposite lane of traffic. Two figures were on the ground next to it.

  “Holy shit! Holy shit!” Kendall screamed. The baseball bat flew to the floor, and he threw his arms on the dash.

  Without warning, the van went into a full skid, fumes of burnt rubber seeping through the vents. Noah struggled to control the wheel, but it rotated on its own, skidding back and forth in his hands. The van barreled toward the white car in front of them at sixty miles an hour.

  “I can’t stop!” he yelled.

  18

  Delta sat still on the pavement, hugging her knees to her chest. The rifle lay next to her, smeared with human tissue. A hissing noise filled the night air as smoke billowed from the hood of the Chevy.

  Her neck stung from where the man had grabbed her, and her arm had been cut open by his nails. She let her brown hair fall in front of her face, hoping it would erase the reality that had befallen her. She closed her eyes, and opened them again. The dead man had neither moved nor disappeared. She tried to convince herself that she was nothing like her father.

  She had been struggling for her life. She had done what she needed to do in order to survive. Hadn’t she? Delta envisioned the man’s face as she had bludgeoned him, his features melting into the highway. Her stomach recoiled, and she turned her head to the side and dry heaved.

  Pull yourself together, she thought.

  Delta looked up at the Chevy, wondering if it was drivable. From the looks of the fumes it was emitting, she didn’t think so. Her cell phone had fallen out of her pocket, and she reached over and picked it up from the ground. The screen had been shattered. She doubted she would’ve had service, anyhow.

  She hugged her knees and tried to think. She remembered seeing a building on the side of the road—as the car was spinning.

  The Arizona Visitor’s Center.

  The Chevy had sped past it during the attack. The memory popped into her head with remarkable clarity. She glanced back, but it was out of sight. It couldn’t be far—maybe a mile or so. If the car didn’t work, she was sure she could make it on foot. She sat on the pavement, summoning the will to stand.

  A pair of headlights suddenly blinded her. She raised her arms to her face to signal the driver, and then screamed as she realized that the vehicle wasn’t stopping.

  19

  Noah felt the wheel turn begrudgingly in his hands, fighting against the locked tires. He poured his whole body into it, wrenching it to the side. The van’s path altered slightly, but it continued to careen towards the vehicle parked across the highway.

  The car was a brilliant white. It seemed to glow in the night, as if to warn them of the impending danger. He braced himself for impact. He was shocked when none came.

  The van came squealing to a halt, just a few feet away from collision. He threw it into Park and released his grip on the steering wheel.

  Noah clenched his eyes shut. A tear rolled down his cheek, brushing against the inside of his glasses.

  “Holy shit.”

  One of the figures in the road was standing now. It appeared to be a young woman, and she shielded her eyes from the van’s headlights. The other lay still on the pavement, its face crushed inwards. Pieces of flesh lined the highway next to it. It was impossible to tell if it had been male or female. Noah covered his mouth.

  “What the fuck?” Kendall yelled.

  The girl had dropped her arms, and was squinting to see inside the van. She was holding a rifle—one that was strangely similar to the one Sam had dropped in White Mist.

  “That’s my gun!” Sam cried out from the backseat.

  Hearing them, the girl aimed it at the windshield.

  “Stay back!” she screamed. “Or I will fucking shoot!”

  “We’re going to get out slowly,” Sam said out the window.

  “No, you’re not! Stay where you are!”

  “Look, we’re in the same boat as you,” he said calmly.

  She lowered the gun, and Noah saw that she was sobbing. Sam took the opportunity to open the door.

  “We’re not here to hurt you—we’re looking for help, just like you.”

  She let the rifle fall to her side.

  “Where’d you get that gun?”

  The girl stepped backwards as she looked at Sam, seemingly in disbelief. Her eyes narrowed, and she’d stopped crying.

  “From your store—from White Mist. There was a dead body in the parking lot, and the place was torn apart. What the hell is happening?”

  Noah’s brow creased. How had she known it was Sam’s store? Did he know her? It certainly didn’t seem so.

  “Is your car drivable?” Sam asked.

  “I-I don’t think so,” she stammered.

  “Let’s get it off the road. We don’t need another accident to deal with,” he said, motioning for Noah and Kendall to get out of the vehicle.

  Noah was immediately struck by the girl’s beauty, and his demeanor softened. Her eyes were blue, similar to his, but she had a strange intensity that seemed to radiate throughout her whole persona.

  Her shoulder-length hair was dark, perfectly complementing her olive skin. She wore a gray tank top and a pair of skinny jeans. Her lips were full and curved, and they wavered as she surveyed the scene. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. Noah noticed that her neck was red and bruised, and she had a cut on her arm.

  The body on the ground drew his attention. He covered his mouth.

  “We should move him, as well,” Sam said.

  Noah held his breath, and they each took a leg, gently tugging the body onto the gravel beside the highway. The road was still stained with pieces of the victim’s face.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” the girl whispered.

  Noah moved towards her, holding up his hands. “Listen, it’s ok. What’s your name?”

  “Marie,” she said, after a pause.

  Noah’s glasses slid down his nose, and he gently propped them up. He introduced his companions.

  “Did you already call the police, Marie?”

  She motioned towards the broken cellphone on the ground, throwing her hands up in despair. Noah and Kendall looked at each other, shaking their heads. It was as if they’d been cut off from the whole world.

  “We’d better get moving,” Noah warned.

  He watched the others jump into the backseat, and then helped the girl inside.

  20

  Delta sat quiet in the passenger seat of the van, chewing her nails. She couldn’t believe she had finally found him. Sam was alive.

  She glanced back at him in amazement, and her hand went automatically to her pocket. The picture was still there. She had lied about her name. Given the events of the evening, she wasn’t sure how he would take the news. It wasn’t time yet. Things were just too…horrific.

  She noticed that Noah was watching her. His eyes darted sideways behind his black-rimmed glasses, and he seemed nervous. She couldn’t blame him. She watched the Chevy disappear in the passenger mirror, trying to dispel the memories that went with it. Despite the late hour, she was still intensely awake.

  She doubted she would ever sleep again.

  “How do you guys know each other?” she asked.

  “That’s a long fucking story.” Kendall grinned from the backseat, doing his best to lighten the mood.

  Sam narrated the events of the evening, and she listened with horror. It was as if the whole world had gone insane, save for those in the van. And even then, she wasn’t so sure. She looked at herself in the mirror, inspecting her own blue eyes. They seemed darker than she remembered, as if they had been tainted forever with unspeakable events.

  Things were different now, indeed.

  When Sam finished, Delta described her own discoveries at White Mist, which fell in l
ine with the story she had just heard. She continued on, reaching her struggle on the highway, and then her voice trailed off. She bit her lip and looked away.

  Noticing her discomfort, the driver changed the subject.

  “How’d you end up in White Mist, Sam?” Noah asked.

  Sam leaned forward in his seat. He paused for a minute, as if reluctant to share.

  “I’m actually from New York, believe it or not,” he said. “I didn’t move to New Mexico until I was a teenager. I hated the desert at first…but then it sort of grew on me. I’d never liked the snow or cold, anyhow, so that was probably my saving grace.”

  “I agree with you on that one.” Noah made a face.

  “My dad owned a small bookstore in Albuquerque. I worked alongside him for years, learning the business while I went to college. I think he expected me to take over for him. But my heart just wasn’t in it. I wanted to make my own way. I was stubborn. When I was twenty-two, I met my wife...” He paused, trying to compose himself.

  “I’m sorry,” Noah said, sensing his pain.

  Delta turned toward the window, trying to suppress her own emotions. It was painful to hear the story from the other side. Sam continued.

  “My wife and I got married, and we had a daughter. I worked at an insurance agency. My wife worked second shift as a nurse. One day we saw a listing online for White Mist. It was sort of a joke between us at first—we could own an entire town! Besides that, we could quit our day jobs. We used to talk about it every night before bed, how we wouldn’t have to answer to our bosses.” He smiled at the memory.

  “Well, I got my wish. A few weeks later I was laid off from the insurance company. We took it as a sign. Why not make our dream a reality? Before we knew it, we were setting up shop in White Mist. A few years ago, my wife and daughter passed away unexpectedly.”