Infection Series (Book 1): Preservation

by Nelson, S. L.

  Dana followed Samuel’s direction, hopping a curb and pushing through the plastic picket fence, relief filling her as she spotted them.

  Colby swiveled his head toward the east side of the van, “Was that gun fire? Where is that coming from?”

  Matt looked expectantly at Caleb, “Do you think we’re getting help?”

  “Who’s that!” Colby yelled, watching as a black truck pulled up in front of their friends.

  “Is that a gun on the roof of that truck?” Samuel asked, “Oh no, those men have guns too, they’re pointing them at Cody!”

  Dana was eating up the distance between the two vehicles, “What do I do? Are they in trouble?”

  Caleb saw Cody drop is weapon and raise his hands as one of the men aimed their gun at him. The other man pointed at Veronica and Bethann, motioning them to get into the truck. They were close enough now that he could see them shake their heads no.

  “Slam into the side of the truck!” Caleb decided. Turning to Dana he instructed, “When I yell now, I want you to pull the wheel hard to the left. We’ll slide into the truck on my side, knocking them off their feet.”

  Dana had just enough time to nod her head before Caleb yelled, “NOW!”

  Chapter 31

  “I wish we paid better attention to the street names. I’m not sure if we’re heading in the right direction.” Bethann commented.

  “Do you think we are almost out of here?” Veronica whispered to Lucas.

  “Maybe, but I’m...” Lucas was interrupted by the rapid staccato of gunfire and the squeal of tires.

  The group froze, trying to decide what to do. The decision was taken from them when a large truck with an AK-47 mounted to the roof of the cab barreled down the street toward them.

  “What do we do?” Bethann asked.

  “If we run, they may follow us. The noise of the truck will attract infected. We’ll stay here, see what they do.” Jake replied, stepping in front of Daisy to try to hide her.

  The truck rolled to a stop, two men stood in the back of the truck bed. Three shadows sat in the cab, but it was hard to see who they were through the tint of the windows.

  “Well, Well, Well, what do we have here!” exclaimed a skinny, oily man holding the machine gun, “Look at these pretty little girls!” he chortled, “Think they’ll share?”

  Lucas and Cody stepped forward, creating a barrier.

  “We don’t want any trouble, just go on your way and everything will be fine.” Cody addressed the men.

  The man holding the machine gun pulled a revolver from his belt, “Just put your weapons down, we don’t want any trouble either” he snickered.

  Cody watched as the man pulled the hammer back on the revolver. Looking over at Lucas, Cody made a slight shake of his head as he pulled his knife from the sheath, keeping his gun concealed at the small of his back.

  “Now Walt, that’s no way to treat our new friends.” The larger man standing at the back of the truck bed tsked, “Lookie there, they have a pretty little thing hiding behind that big ol’ guy there.”

  The large man cackled, pulling his own pistol and pointing it at Lucas, “Now you pretty girls just climb up on here and we’ll go have some fun.”

  Veronica and Bethann both shook their heads at the same time. Veronica was about to speak when she noticed the van barreling through the yard in front of them.

  The men in the back of the truck bed turned at the sound of a revving engine.

  Veronica’s eyes widened when she saw the fierce looks on Caleb and Dana’s faces, just before Dana yanked the wheel causing the van to skid the tires and slam into the side of the black truck.

  The men weren’t prepared for the impact, they lost their balance, the revolver firing into the air as Walt fell to the blacktop in front of the Cody and Lucas. The bigger man tipped to the side, falling over the tailgate and hitting his head.

  Jake pushed Daisy, Veronica, and Bethann toward the back of the truck as Dana squealed the tires in a quick reverse of the van. Cody crouched down and picked up his knife, pulling his Glock from his belt when the passenger window started to roll down.

  “Not worth it! Let’s go!” Lucas growled, pulling Cody toward the sliding door.

  Cody was about to argue when the stench of death was immediately followed by the sound of pounding feet.

  Veronica and Bethann reached the van first, both yanking on the access door to pull it open. Samuel was on the other side, pulling and kicking the door, trying to make the lever work.

  “Open it now!” Jake had scooped Daisy into his arms and ran toward the van.

  “HURRY!” Dana and Matt exclaimed at the same time.

  Colby and Samuel pulled at the sliding door but it wouldn’t budge. The lock had smashed in when they crashed into the pickup truck.

  Caleb watched as Lucas and Cody retrieved weapons and dashed toward the van.

  “Watch out!” Caleb screamed as the man that had fallen from the back of the truck raised his gun. Caleb tried to push open his door, his Glock raised.

  A shot rang out from the large man, the bullet arching wide as an infected woman pierced his fleshy forearm with ragged broken teeth. The truck rocked as the infected rammed into the blockade, trying to get to the fresh bodies on the other side. The people inside of the truck didn’t hesitate, the driver put the truck into gear and peeled out, leaving the two men to fend for themselves.

  “There’s no time, Run!” Lucas bellowed, pushing Veronica and Bethann as the screams from the two men were quickly replaced by growls and snapping jaws.

  Colby gave up on the sliding door and ran to the back, swinging the back doors open. Bethann, Daisy, and Veronica didn’t look back when Lucas told them to run . They had no idea that Colby opened the back and yelled for them to hurry. The growing number of infected drowned out his voice as they ran as fast as they could, heading back toward the direction they had come from.

  “Wait!” Colby yelled, hanging onto the back doors as Dana shifted gears again. She pressed the gas, bucking the van forward and cranking the wheel hard to turn the van around. The motion causing Colby to lose his balance and fall to the blacktop.

  Colby scrambled to his feet and watched as Dana straightened the van and took off. Colby’s heart started pounding, fear rooting him to the spot as he watched the tail end of the van disappear around the corner. “No” he whispered just as a hand grabbed him on the arm.

  Spinning around, Colby growled, ready to fight of the crazy person.

  “Come on buddy, we have to get out of here!” Lucas’s grip tightened as he pulled Colby along the same path the van went.

  ***********

  Dana grabbed the stick and shifted the van into drive just as Colby opened the back doors. Punching the gas, she jerked the van into motion. From the rear view mirror she watched as Colby tumbled to the ground. She was about to slam on the breaks when Caleb yelled, “Don’t stop! He’ll be ok.”

  Dana watched as Matt ran to the back of the van just as Samuel pulled the doors closed, “We can’t leave my brother!” Matt started to cry as the distance between them grew.

  “Look!” Samuel pointed, “Lucas has him!”

  Relief filled the van as they watched Colby run off with Lucas, Cody, and Jake.

  “I would have never forgiven myself if anything happened to him” Dana stammered as the tears ran down her face.

  “I wouldn’t have told you go if I didn’t think it would be ok.” Caleb squeezed Dana’s shoulder, “Trust me.”

  Dana nodded and tightened her hand on the wheel, “Where do we go?”

  Matt returned to his seat, staring at Caleb, “I better get my brother back.”

  Caleb fought the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth, “Matt, I promise you, we will never leave either of you alone. Caleb will be back with us in no time. They all will”

  Matt’s only response was a quick nod of his head.

  “We need to get out of this subdivision. It’s a giant circle of de
ath.” Samuel offered. “Do we head toward Eau Claire like we planned and hope they find us there?”

  Caleb thought for a moment, then nodded his head, “I’ll text them, they know where we are headed, we will meet as soon as possible.”

  Chapter 32

  Jake and Cody followed Lucas and Colby as they ran down the street. Colby was a good runner, enabling them to put a good distance between them and the mob of infected that were fighting over the remains of those men.

  Cody couldn’t believe their luck, again, at being saved. He had no doubt that those men would have killed all of them and taken the girls. Dread filled him at the thought of Daisy in the hands of such vial men. He didn’t much like the thought of Veronica and Bethann in their hands either but knew without a doubt that they would be able to survive. It was just too bad that the shadows in the truck got away. Cody wondered if they had seen the last of them or if trouble was just beginning.

  Jake let loose a small grunt as they ran down the street. Curious, Cody looked over as Jake pulled his cell phone from his front pocket. Running and reading should have been difficult but Jake didn’t have any problems.

  “Dana is heading out of the subdivision, they are going to make their way toward Eau Claire.” Jake panted and shoved the phone back into his pocket. “We’ll meet them a….”

  cccccaaaaawwwwww!

  They all stumbled to a halt, whipping heads around to determine the direction of the infected call.

  “Oh man, I thought they weren’t doing that anymore?” Colby stammered.

  “What do you mean?” Cody asked as Jake and Lucas continued to search their surroundings.

  “We were found by a group of infected and they didn’t call out.” Colby craned his neck from side to side hoping not to see anything running toward them again, “Samuel figured that humans must be getting scarce, not calling would be a way to keep what they find to themselves.”

  “Well, I for one, am glad that isn’t one hundred percent true.” Jake mused.

  Jake’s response was answered by another screech, then another.

  “Oh man, it’s coming from two directions.” Lucas pointed toward a row of houses, “Look, it’s one of those retaining walls, maybe we can find an opening to slip through.”

  Without hesitation, they took off toward the houses. Lucas and Matt reached the driveway of a bi-level when the family decided to stagger out of the dark, empty garage.

  “Whoa, hold up buddy.” Lucas caught Colby by the sleeve before he could go any further.

  “What do we do?” Colby murmured.

  Cody and Jake came up behind them, “We have company from behind.”

  Lucas looked back as Jake and Cody looked to the family limping from the mouth of the garage.

  “We have to split up,” Cody didn’t like the idea but their priority had to be Colby. “Jake and I will lead the ones coming from behind up the street. Lucas and Colby will continue to the wall and try to find a way out.”

  Lucas looked back to the family, they were in really bad shape. All of them were missing large parts of their flesh, most from the stomach cavity. The force of the attack bent arms in unnatural directions. Their staggered pace was accompanied by oozing black liquid. Lucas couldn’t tell if it was blood or some kind of side effect from the bacteria. The big question is ‘how did they get back up after being torn apart and eaten?’ Their mangled feet started to shuffle faster, the grunts and groans of the in coming infected spurring them on. Making a quick decision, Lucas nodded and pushed Colby toward the left side of the house, away from the garage.

  Cody and Jake responded instantly, clapping their hands and yelling out to get the attention of the infected. They weren’t disappointed.

  Screeches, grunts, and growls preceded the rumble of slapping feet on pavement. Some moving exceedling faster than others.

  “How many are there?” Jake questioned as he and Colby took off down the street as fast as they could.

  “Don’t know and I don’t want to stop and count.”Cody turned back as watched as Lucas and Colby disappeared behind the house. “Why are some faster than others?” Cody glanced back and could see the bodies pressing closer together, trying to gain momentum as a group.

  “You have any idea where we should go?” Jake asked as they slipped between two houses.

  “Out, definitely out,” Cody looked around them and focused on a Ford Tempo with the doors still open. Pointing at the car, he picked up his speed. Jake reached the driver’s side first, sliding into the seat he reached for the ignition and found…..nothing.

  Cody pulled the passenger side door open and shoved himself in, “Are there keys?”

  Jake didn’t answer, instead he started to search the car then the ground. A few feet away, he saw what he hoped was the owner of the small two door vehicle. Cody watched as Jake hopped out of the car and ran to the bloodied body on the ground. The man on the ground didn’t hold the same stench as the infected. His clothes were torn and there were large chunks of meat missing from his butt and thighs.

  “Hurry Jake, they’re getting closer!” Cody yelled. Cody started to sweat in the seat, whipping his head around to watch Jake and the infected closing in.

  Jake fell to his knees, first searching the pockets. They were crusted shut, requiring Jake to pull hard at the fabric. He found a small cell phone but no keys. Swearing, he turned the body and saw the crack that was oozing brain matter. Damage to the brain is why this man hadn’t turned into one of the infected. Lucky bastard hit his head so hard on the pavement it cracked. Jake quickly searched shirt pockets, again, nothing. He was about to stand and shake his head at Cody when he saw a hint of silver in the man’s right hand. Grasping the man’s hand, he pried the fingers open and pulled the keys out.

  Clutching the keys tightly, Jake dashed back to the car, shoving the key in the ignition and slamming the door closed at the same time. The car roared to life as the first of the infected rocked the car as she slammed into it. Jake pushed the gas pedal, hitting the floor, and peeled out from under her.

  “That was close.” Jake laughed as they sped away, the crowd of infected racing after the noise of the engine.

  “Should we try to find Veronica and Bethann?” Cody asked

  Jake reached into his front pocket searching for his phone, “Give them a text?” Tossing the phone over.

  Cody looked at the phone and tapped the screen, “I don’t know her number.” Cody moaned, “I have it in my phone but it’s dead.”

  Jake nodded his head, “It’s ok, we can drive around a bit and see if we can find them.”

  Cody thought for a moment then shook his head, “We need to find Lucas and Colby. Veronica and Bethann can take care of themselves and Daisy, we’ll just have to trust them and hope they found a car just like us and got out of here.”

  “Alright, we’ll find Lucas and Colby and head to Eau Claire.” Jake agreed.

  Chapter 33

  Veronica and Bethann each held a hand, pulling Daisy so fast that her feet were swinging in the air between them. Daisy didn’t mind, actually she wasn’t thinking at all.

  “Bethann, I’m scared.” Daisy’s admission was just a whisper but it rang loud in Bethann’s ears.

  “We’re going to be ok. See that wall over there?” Veronica used her free hand to point to the retaining wall that surrounded the subdivision, “There should be a break along the wall that we can slip through. Then we will be on the other side and we will find our friends.” Veronica’s voice was steady but she was shaking inside. She wasn’t afraid for herself or even Bethann for that matter, but Daisy needed to be protected and she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep her promise to Daisy’s mother.

  “We have to get through that park, then we will reach that row of houses.” Bethann explained. “It shouldn’t be more then ten minutes and we are out of here.”

  The girls reached the curb that separates the roadway from the manicured grass. Lifting Daisy as they jumped into the grass,
they pushed to race faster. Veronica didn’t hear any noise behind them but she didn’t want to take any chances. Infected people could come out of anywhere. They were making their way through the playground, strangely it was empty. There was no sign of an assault or bodies laying on the ground. Veronica started to think luck was on their side once more when the squeal of tires ripped that thought away.

  “Veronica! It’s that truck!” Bethann yelled when she saw the black pickup with blood spattered grill turn the corner and start right toward them.

  “Keep going!” Veronica hollard. She was betting on their ability to make it across the street and between the housed before the truck could stop them.

  Their muscles were straining. Veronica felt the burn in her legs and chest. She knew Bethann felt the same and could only imagine the pain Daisy felt in her ams at being dragged through the streets. They were almost to the edge of the field, they were just feet from the light pole that marked the line between the park and the blacktop.

  Looking down the street, Veronica could see the flashing lights of the headlamps. Dread filled her because she knew that they had been spotted. She shouldn’t have looked back, breaking her focus caused her to trip over a divot in the grass. The tip of Veronica’s shoe slid into the small hole, pulling her down to her knees. She let go of Daisy’s hand as she fell onto her belly.

  “Keep going!” Veronica ordered but it was too late. The truck came to a sliding stop and idled four feet from Veronica’s prone body.

  Bethann shoved Daisy behind her, slowly backing up. Veronica pushed herself up off of the ground, keeping an eye on the rumbling truck.

  “What are they doing?” Bethann whispered, “Why isn’t anyone coming out?”

  Veronica stared at the truck but couldn’t see anyone through the tinted windows.

  “I don’t know,” Veronica respond. She hesitated for just a moment, then decided to take a step forward.

  The driver punched the gas, rocking the truck forward but not moving an inch. It was indication enough that Veronica wasn’t to move.