“Leon,” she corrected, “Turns out he was in Stone’s truck. We find one, we find the other. Win-win. Additionally, Cassino owed me some fuckin’ money... poker...”
“Awesome!” I celebrated, “Where’s Ranger?”
“Dunno,” she replied, “but I’m not gonna wait much longer. I’m ready to go.” She glanced at the others, leaned in and whispered, “You realize he’s only fuckin’ coming along because of you, right? Either that or he has the hots for me,” she joked, nudging me, “He’s a bit young for my taste, but I have to say, I wouldn’t mind tappin’ dat ass, if you know what I mean.”
“That’s great, Beebs,” I retorted annoyed.
She was probably right. There was no good reason for him to risk himself like that. He barely knew Stone or any of the other scavengers. A minute later, he showed up with his bow in one hand and a map in the other. Bibi was right about one thing, he was handsome. Singer didn’t look very happy to see Ranger hopping onto the jeep. But I couldn’t afford to think about either of them. I shook the whole thing off and tried to focus on what I was going out to do.
I kneeled and wrapped my arms tightly around my brother. “Baby,” I said, “I have to be away for a while. Our friend Stone is in trouble. I have to go get him. Will you be a good boy and wait for me with Singer?“
“Is Stone okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied, “but he’s lost and alone out there. He needs us. I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I might be away for a long time.”
“Away like daddy?” he asked.
“No,” I quickly clarified, “not like daddy. I’ll be back for you, I promise. Okay?”
“Okay,” he accepted.
I hugged him again, took a deep breath, then got on the jeep. Bibi went over to talk with the guards at the gate. She was allowed to take her sidearm with her, but that was it. They didn’t let us take any extra guns. Bibi got into an argument with them over it, but I told her it was okay.
“Leave it alone, Bibi,” I said, pulling her by the arm, “With all those demented around, I prefer my bow and arrows anyway. Gunshots will only give us away.”
She glared furiously at the guards, but dropped the discussion. Maybe it was best to have limited firepower, it would force us to be extra careful. Bibi started the engine and they opened the gates. I didn’t look back at Xandy. He always waited for me to look back, but... if I looked at him, I was afraid I might lose my nerve. Bibi, still angry, screeched out, shifting gears as fast as she could. Ranger took out the map and showed us where we were headed. It was about ten miles east of town. If we had gone on bikes, without stopping, we’d take over an hour getting there. With the jeep, even stopping once every few miles to listen for demented, it took us half the time.
Finally, when we got within a mile of the place, we stopped and heard them in the distance. We parked the jeep on a hill top. From there we could see the condominium, several buildings with a tall wall around them. There were demented everywhere.
“Jesus,” Ranger commented bewildered.
I gapped at them myself for a while. The demented, with their white skins and darkened extremities, were truly the stuff of nightmares. The way they moved, when they weren’t hunting, it always gave me the impression that they were tormented by their affliction. They kept jerking their heads and arms around, and it looked like they couldn’t really walk straight.
“You okay, Doll?” Bibi asked me.
I glanced at her, pulling myself together. “Yeah,” I replied, “It’s just been a while... I kinda forgot how freaky they were. But I’m good to go.”
Ranger observed, “It’s some kind of high luxury hotel complex. Must of been really nice, back in the day.”
“Yeah, well, it looks more like a fuckin’ death trap now,” Bibi pointed out, “Only two entrances, from what I can see, front and back. If the demented block the exits with you in there, you’re fucked.”
“And just look down there,” I added, “there’re demented crawling all over the place. If anyone’s in there, they’re not getting out alive. Bibi, you said they told you Stone headed into some woods, right? Look around for broken trees or skid marks around the place.”
“Look!” Ranger suddenly said, pointing down at the road, “Isn’t that one of the scavenger’s trucks?”
There was an old truck, flipped on it’s side, among other, more rusted vehicles. There was no one there.
Bibi noted grimly, “The men who were in that either ran away... or were dragged away.”
“Yeah,” I said, looking around, “but from that truck’s position it’s safe to say they were coming down that road when the demented hit them. If Stone made it into the woods, then that one wasn’t the truck he was in... He was in front, so he must be further ahead... there!” I spotted a set of tracks leading into the trees. “Let’s go.”
We headed down the hill, on foot, as quietly as we could. As long as the demented were grunting and making noise, we knew we were safe. When we got down to the road, where the scavenging truck had crashed, we stopped. There were demented only a few yards away from us... they were feeding on something. It looked like some kind of macabre ritual, when they ate. I looked away before I could make out any human remains. Bibi and I exchanged a look. We both just focused on the other side of the road.
We’d have to move fast, to make sure those monsters didn’t see us. Thankfully, they were still preoccupied with their meal. We darted across and hid behind the truck, the demented were still grunting. There was blood splattered all over the truck and the floor. Bibi found one of the scavenger’s rifles just laying there.
“Nice,” she celebrated, “Still has ammo. Poor bastards didn’t stand a fuckin’ chance. Come on. Let’s move.”
We made it into the woods and found the place where Ranger had seen the tire tracks.
“This is bad,” I told them, “We can barely see through these trees. We might run right into the demented, if we’re not careful.”
“Then we’ll be careful, Doll,” Bibi argued.
We walked slowly. The tracks led us straight through the woods, almost in a straight line. Stone must have totally floored it, fighting off his pursuers. There were broken branches and blood along the way. Finally, we found the truck, rammed into a tree. There was more blood and several marks of struggle on the floor.
Ranger said what Bibi and I couldn’t, “The demented got at least some of them. Dragged them off in that direction. Look.” He pointed back towards the condominium.
“Fuck! Well,” Bibi considered, “I guess that means we head in the opposite direction. The one’s who were dragged away are fuckin’ dead... and anyone who got away would have fuckin’ run the other way.”
Indeed, we found several sets of footprints in the mud, leading away from the crash. The woods got even thicker and we started to hear more grunting up ahead.
“Hold up,” Bibi said, raising a hand, “Shit! There’re two of those fuckers, heading straight for us.”
We quickly hid behind a tree.
“Just two?” I asked, peeking at them, “Ranger and I got this. You take left, I take right. Aim for the head. They make less noise if we hit the brain first.”
He nodded at me and we both drew our arrows. I waited for them to get closer and then indicated with my fingers, “three, two, one.” Jumping out from behind the tree, we took our shots. Both demented fell dead.
“Perfect,” Ranger commemorated.
I smiled at him and then commented, “We better hide their bodies. There might be more of them. They’re probably returning from the hunt.”
There were plenty of bushes around, hiding them wasn’t a problem, but holy crap did they stink. I almost got sick dragging them around. We retrieved our arrows and were happy to press on, leaving those putrid bodies behind.
On the way, I commented, “If they’re making that much noise, they’re not hunting anymore. They’ve either already gotten everyone, or whoever got away isn’t around anymore. Either
way... I think we’re wasting our time here.”
“Unless they’re hiding,” Bibi suggested, “It’s not like there’s anywhere to go from here and these woods are pretty good for hiding. Remember that time in Alabama, Dollface, when we hid in that building? Where was it? Near Birmingham, right?”
“Yeah, I remember,” I said, “We waited it out there for three days. You think that’s what Stone is doing?” Something suddenly occurred to me. “Hey Beebs, Stone knows us. I mean, he must know we’d come out after him, right?”
She raised her eyebrows at me and agreed, “Of course! Good thinking, Doll! He probably left us some kind of sign... Fuck... But what would it be?”
“Hell if I know,” I lamented, “but let’s keep an eye out for it. I got a feeling we’ll know it when we see it.”
We heard more grunting, but managed to avoid the other demented. There were so many of them. It seemed they were all heading back to the condominium. At least, we knew we were on the right track. Eventually, we got to the end of the tree line. There were some houses there, it looked like a more urban place and that was bad. The demented gathered in and around cities. However, although we heard the grunts and moans in the distance, there were none of them in sight.
“What now?” Bibi asked, “The trail leads into this town-like place. Do we go in?”
Before I could answer, I saw something that made me say confidently, “We go in. Look!”
On the side of one of the houses, there was a carving, made probably by a knife. It read, “Bibi - Dana,” with an arrow pointing towards another house.
“He’s alive!” Bibi celebrated.
“Told you,” I said proudly.
“What?” she argued, “Bitch, don’t give me that. I knew he was fuckin’ alive all along, okay?”
“Sure,” I taunted, “but let’s not waste time arguing, he might still be hurt or something.”
We moved out into the open and started looking for more signs. There was another carving on another house, with another arrow. Then another carving, and another.
“It’s a good thing demented can’t read,” Ranger mentioned as we moved along.
I chuckled, looking back at him, but then suddenly bumped into Bibi ahead of me. She had stopped dead in her track, and following her gaze we saw why. A group of demented were crossing the street just up ahead. Luckily, they hadn’t seen us. Bibi, grabbed our arms and pulled us both behind a broken down van.
“Jesus-fuckin’-Christ!” she said, between her teeth, “That was fuckin’ close. You thought the woods was a bad idea, Dollface? This here is a fuckin’ bad idea. Are they coming over here?”
We all got on our bellies and peeked out from under the van.
“I don’t think so,” I said, looking around, “They’re just walking... Oh, shit! There’s more of them coming from the side here.”
They were popping out from between the houses. Most of them were just walking aimlessly it seemed, but some were slowly moving towards us. We huddled up together, trying desperately to keep out of sight.
“Can we make a run for that house?” Ranger asked, nodding at the closest one, “They’re supposed to be kind of blind, aren’t they?”
“Not that blind,” I answered, “plus keep your voice down, they might hear you.”
“Get under the van!” Bibi whispered, “Quick!”
We slid under the van as silently as we could and waited. None of us dared to speak. We saw three pairs of black demented feet walking only a few feet away from us. We could be stuck there for hours... if we were lucky. It was strange, these demented weren’t making much noise at all, probably why we hadn’t heard them coming up on us. But what were they doing? Looking for the remaining scavengers? Minutes felt like hours. I tried counting them, but lost count around forty... three times... it felt like hundreds. I had seen plenty of demented before, I had already seen them moving in hordes like that, hordes bigger than that... but it still chilled me to the bone. Finally, we heard one of them cry out, a kind of order call. The others grumbled in response and started moving away.
When the last few were just going out of sight, Bibi started tapping my shoulder. “Let’s go, let’s go,” she said.
We got out from under the van, made sure the coast was clear and darted to the house Ranger had indicated before. We went to the kitchen, at the back end of the house and watched the horde move away.
“What do you think they’re doing?” I asked
“Searching for survivors maybe?” Ranger suggested.
“That’s what I was thinking,“ I commented, “And did you see how they all followed some kind of call? I’m telling you, they definitely have social order. They’re smarter than we think...”
“What does it fuckin’ matter?” Bibi argued, “Let’s go find Stone and get the fuck out of this hellhole!”
We went back out, much more carefully, and continued following the carving on the houses. They led us to a big two floor house, at the end of the street. There was a window in the attic, busted opened. It was a perfect lookout post. Stone would have seen that and chosen that house because of it. We went in and started making our way up. Bibi went in front. As she stepped on the last step, it creaked loudly, she froze and flinched at it.
I pulled Bibi’s arm and said, “Stone would have noted that step and listened for it, in case anyone or anything came up.”
“I know,” she agreed. She took a moment and then said, in a low voice, “Stone?”
From the next flight of stairs we heard his voice reply, also in a semi-whisper, “Beebs?”
“Fuckin’ hell!” she exhaled with relief, “Don’t shoot old man, we’re coming up!”
We went up and found him and two other men, hiding up there. Bibi and I ran to Stone and hugged him. Ranger went to check up on the others. They all watch us as we reunited with our old friend.
“Told you they’d come,” Stone said to the others, “Stubborn little girls, these two. You know you shouldn’t have, especially you Dana. What would Xander do without you?”
“Xander wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you,” I reminded him, “None of us would.”
“Besides,” Bibi added happily, “You’ll have plenty of other fuckin’ opportunities to disappear into legend. Today, you’re coming back home with us.”
“How are you?” I asked, “Injuries? Infections?”
“Nothing,” he reported, “the injured didn’t make it this far. Of the eighteen, I think we’re all that’s left.”
“Actually,” I informed him, “seven made it back to town... two were infected, but...”
“I see,” he considered, “so, that’s why you came so quickly. We were ready to spend the night out here. We figured the town wouldn’t miss us until sundown. So, what’s the escape plan?”
“We need to get back to the jeep,” Bibi answered, “It’s pretty far off, but I think we can make it.”
“Yeah,” he said, “sorry, for making it so hard to find us. We were on the run, until we came up on these houses. Managed to lose them out here. They’re still searching for us I think. Did you see that horde passing through just now?”
“Yes,” I told him, “up close and more personal than I ever want to see them again...”
Bibi cut me short, “We’ll tell you all about it once we get back. For now, we better fuckin' move before those fuckers come back around.”
“She’s right,” I agreed, “Let’s get out of here. You guys ready to go?” I asked the others. Suddenly, I remembered, Dr. Cassino’s brother. I pulled Bibi aside and whispered, “Bibi, Leon isn’t here.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” she replied, “Nothing we can do... except... Stone,” she turned to him and asked, “you sure there aren’t any other scavengers who might still be fuckin’ alive out there somewhere?”
He glanced back at his two companions and replied regretfully, “Well, I can’t say for sure, but... I think everyone in my truck who lived is here. We saw one of the trucks hit a ditch and r
oll on it’s side... I highly doubt anyone made it out of that mess. They didn’t even have time to run. The only doubt really was the last truck, we didn’t see what happened to those guys. I’m happy to hear they made it, surprised, for sure, but happy. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” she said casually, “Just making sure it’s not fuckin’ worth risking my neck any further, looking for more losers like you.”
“That’s sweet of you,” he joked.
We headed down stairs and outside. The streets were empty again. We moved fast and found our way back to the woods. It had gotten creepy quiet there. We couldn’t hear anything, no grunts, no birds... Either the demented had all gone away and the birds were still scared shitless... or we were being hunted. My hunting instincts kicked in and I guided everyone through the trees.
Eventually, I stopped and informed the others, “Fuck. It’s too damn quiet. We’re being hunted for sure. Everyone, get ready to make a run for it.”
“You’re right,” Stone agreed, “We have to move fast, the demented will attack when they think they have us surrounded. They’re probably trying to circle around us as we speak. Let’s keep moving. Dana, you better lead us to the jeep. I’m right behind you.”
“And whatever you do,” Bibi added, “stay together, there’s only that one fuckin’ jeep.”
There was no point in going quietly, so I basically ran out ahead of the others. The second we started running, we heard them crying out. I tried to focus on the tracks, it was all for nothing if we got lost in those woods. Thankfully, my instincts were sharper than even I expected. Hunting all those years really served me well. I didn’t look back, but I could hear the demented closing in on us, as we found the road and crossed it. All the noise was surely going to alert all the other demented at the condominium. We raced up the hill and jumped onto the jeep just as the demented got to us. From the back seat, I started releasing arrows.
I got one just as it was getting to Ranger at the back of the group, then another that tried to jump in front of the jeep. Bibi started it up and we blasted off in full acceleration. But there were demented everywhere, jumping into us. I literally had to kick one off of me. Stone and the others were picking them off with their rifles, as we went along. The road was swarming with white bodies, Bibi was forced to head into the trees. It was too bumpy to shoot anymore, so we all just hung on. We were running them over one after the other. For a moment there, it looked like we weren’t going to make it... it was going to be a failed rescue mission... but then we made it. We cleared the horde, leaving them behind and found our way back to the road.
Dead End Chronicles (Book 1): Dead End Journal Page 10
