Daisy barked again but I had trouble finding her through the smoke and bodies. Following the sound of her cries, I caught sight of her dancing along a fallen rack with camping supplies scattered about. She squeezed her head between the shelf and the floor then turned to me yelping. I crouched down and peered below the rack to find uncle Andrew pinned underneath and unconscious.
“Leland, over here! You guys move this shelf off him and get him out of here! I’ve got to find Mom and the kids!” I yelled as they fought their way closer through the horde. Leland and Alastor lifted the wooden unit up as I turned to search for the others. A large bloody wound on Andrew’s leg caught my line of vision and panic surged through me. I whispered a prayer it was an injury from the collapsed rack and not a bite wound. Time was of the essence, so I couldn’t check him over. I would have to instill faith in the guys to take care of it once they got him outside to safety.
Jess was on the opposite side of the building already searching for the others when I had just begun my trek further into the store. She had found a clear path behind the service counter and crawled through undetected. A blazing inferno raged in the center where we always sat and ate our MRE’s around the table. Apparently the furnace had been knocked over and caused the fire. The scalding heat permeating from the flames had my flesh soaked in sweat within seconds. Muffled screams emitted from the cargo dock, so I slaughtered everything in my path to find the owner of the spine chilling screech. Jess clutched onto Daisy and hunkered in the corner by the loading dock gate. Surrounded by five biters and out of ammo, her options were fairly nonexistent besides her axe. But she didn’t have sufficient room between the zombies and herself to make a full swing and carry out any sort of impact. The utter despair in her blue eyes was all I needed to make myself set a course of action.
I creeped up behind the flesh eaters and placed a bullet in the brain of a teenage goth chick that would forever embrace the beauty of death. The report did precisely what I meant for it to and turned the few remaining biters toward me, and away from my two best friends. Jess realized I was giving her an opportunity to drive her axe into one of them and hurried to do so. Blood and pus exploded from the force of steel slicing through bone and brain matter. I was impressed with her swift transformation from hopelessness to courage and a timely reflex in our battle against the undead. We finished off the last two, then Jess ran to me and folded her arms around my neck.
She sobbed with relief and said, “Thank God you made it back here in time. I thought we were goners.”
“If we don’t hurry and find Mom and the kids, we will be goners. The fire is spreading fast and the horde up front keeps expanding. We need to leave, now!” I told her as I checked every nook and cranny of the loading dock.
Behind the giant generator was a broom closet with cries erupting from it. I seized the doorknob and jerked the door open to see Mom sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around Benji and Vicki, working to coddle them into staying quiet. She startled when she heard us and glanced up with terrified eyes. Relief flooded my veins and issued a woozy feeling at the sight of them.
“It’s me, Mom. We are okay, but have to hurry though, this place will burn to the ground with or without us. I would rather it be without us,” I clarified as they stood and Mom caught me in a big bear hug, weeping into my hair. “I know you’re scared, Mom, but we have to get out of here. Keep the kids close to you and we will protect you guys. Follow Jess through the front and I’ll be right behind you.”
Her eyes met mine, and it was as if I gazed into my own reflection. The same shimmering emerald stared back at me. She nodded while tears spilled down her face. Benji and Vicki cried as well, but they understood the urgency of the situation and followed Jess to the safe passage behind the counter. Daisy stayed right on their heels. Crackling noises resonated as I bent down to crawl in behind them. A wooden shelf full of bird seed, and engulfed in flames, crashed directly in front of me. It blocked my entrance behind the service counter where my family waited for me. I tumbled backward in the nick of time and the blazing shelf missed me by a centimeter. In the process of avoiding the shelf, I smacked my head against a barrel of garden rakes. I lay on the floor dazed by the impact and encircled by burning debris for a long moment. My eyes squeezed shut from the pain as I struggled to get all of my marbles in order.
While I attempted to reason through the throbbing agony in my skull and plan my escape before the fire swallowed me whole, muscular arms slid under my body and scooped me up. I peeked up to see Alastor, my savior, for the second time today. He looked like an angel with his shimmering golden hair in the brilliant light of fire behind us. He carried me through the smoking rubble and bodies. The scene looked so surreal, for a moment I thought to myself, ‘I must be dreaming’. I acknowledged we were in the back of the store near the loading dock. Confusion etched my features as I wondered why weren’t moving toward the main entrance out front.
I asked him, “What are you doing? Shouldn’t we be leaving out the front?”
“The main entrance is blocked by debris. Do not worry though, everyone else has made it out alive. But I came back to find you, Autumn. Which I might add is fortunate for you,” Alastor replied in a confident tone.
We arrived at the dock, and he sat me on my feet to pull the chain that would raise the gate. The metallic rattling noise caused shooting pains through my head and I nearly vomited from the torment. He got the screeching gate up and hopped down from the platform to the alleyway behind the warehouse. He turned around and placed his powerful hands around my waist, lifting me with total ease, then sat me on the slushy ground beside him. I began my course around the bend toward the front of the building where everyone else would certainly be awaiting us.
Alastor grabbed my sleeve, tugging me backward, and said, “No, Autumn. We must take Andrew’s truck; I have his keys. There is not enough room for everyone in Leland’s car. We will join them out on the main road. Now come. Hurry.”
I gawked at him for a moment, still in a haze from the collision with the barrel, then shrugged and mumbled an, “Okay.” As I followed him to Andrew’s pickup truck, I vaguely noticed zombies all around us, but none of them were approaching. I paused and stood outside the passenger door peering at them through my disorientation.
“We must be quick, Autumn, please,” Alastor declared, snapping me out of my confusion. I sat down in the seat and pulled the door shut. The old truck rumbled to life, and we glided forward.
“Why didn’t those biters attack us just now?” I questioned, glancing at the intimidating man beside me.
“I am not certain. Perhaps they failed to notice us,” he responded.
“Highly doubtful,” I told him. He pulled out onto Pineview Street that ran beside the hardware store, but turned left when he should have swung right. “Um... Alastor, aren’t we supposed to meet the others on the main street?”
“Yes, but I am taking an alternate route around so we do not draw the… biters, as you like to say, to your friends. They should follow us this way and leave them alone. We will circle back around to meet up.”
“Yeah, that’s probably the clever thing to do. Sorry.”
“No need for apologies.”
Uncertain of what else to add, I kept quiet while he drove Andrew’s truck through the side roads. Strangely enough, he appeared to know his way around for an out-of-towner, but I brushed aside the thought as me being paranoid. The biter’s shadowed our trail through town, stumbling over one another in the slippery snow. I shrieked as the hardware store in my side mirror explode into flames. The shock waves vibrated the ground underneath the truck. My childhood memories disintegrated right before my eyes. Our haven gone, demolished. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as I mourned the loss of it. I hardly noted that Alastor had placed one of his large hands on mine, in an effort to comfort me.
“I am sorry this has happened, Autumn. I understand that place was your home. But I am confident we will push forward and find ano
ther shelter,” he assured me. But I remained doubtful while gazing forlornly at the smoldering remains of the store. In that instant, all confidence seemed lost.
“Thanks, but that place has been in my family for generations. It was my second home. I’m not positive we can run into another place so equipped to outlast this plague,” I admitted.
“I will find a home for us. You must trust me,” he claimed. Trust him? I met this strange man only a short while ago. It takes a long time for me to trust someone and he sat nowhere near the top of my list of trustworthy people.
I dragged my eyes away from the wreckage behind and looked ahead to see us driving towards the freeway entrance ramp. In an instant, my heart raced and a bead of sweat popped out on my top lip. A wave of panic washed over me. Something was wrong here. We should have already circled back around to join the others, but we traveled in the opposite direction.
“Alastor, you’re going the wrong way. We should be…” I started saying when his fist jolted out, quicker than lightning, and connected with my temple. My head bounced off the window and I heard cracking glass. I didn’t even have a chance to react it occurred so fast. My vision exploded into star bursts then faded to darkness.
Chapter 7
In the initial point of awareness, I floated amidst a haze of blurry scenes and indistinct sounds. The rumble of a car engine vibrated underneath me. I caught flashes of light in between lengthy periods of darkness. In the following semi-conscious moment, I sensed someone carried me. My body shifted with each step they took. Then I sank once again inside an abyss. A deep voice spoke each time I drifted in and out, but it was difficult to understand anything they said. My head spun through a whirlwind of vague perception. I yearned to go back to sleep every moment I woke since my mind couldn’t develop coherent thoughts. But my willpower latched onto cognizance and I fought my way through the fog. My eyes fluttered open, blinking to clear my focus. Whatever surrounded me remained cast in the shadows, which my sensitive sight was grateful for. A sickening pain instantly seared through my skull and I vomited before I knew my stomach had reacted. The shrill ringing of blood gushing through my veins offended my hearing and disoriented me once again. I struggled to regain my composure, calm down and breathe deep. Warm liquid seeped into the skin of my lap and I hesitantly opened my eyes again. I sat on a cold and dirty stone floor, in nothing but my underwear and bra, as my steamy vomit oozed down my thighs. My hands moved forward to wipe away the disgusting contents of my unforgiving stomach, but stopped just inches short of reach. Metallic chains rattled as shackles pinched my wrists, holding me firmly in place.
“What the hell?” I thought to myself, then cleared my burning throat and tried to speak.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” I whispered in a strangled voice, tugging at the restraints to test their strength. I wasn’t escaping without the key or some kind of tool. Reality slapped me in the face and scalding tears rolled down my cheeks.
“I am here, my sweet Autumn,” a rumbling voice replied. It was the tone of a king or a very powerful man. I recognized it at once.
“Alastor? Is that you? What’s going on?” I asked him in a weak voice. Why was I shackled in a dark place with only my underwear covering my body? What happened?
“Yes, darling, it is me. I found us a sanctuary. As I told you I would do so,” he answered.
“But why the hell am I tied up in my damn underwear? And why do you keep talking like that? Where is everybody?” I demanded as my fear rapidly switched to outrage. I wanted answers.
“Hush now, my queen. I restrained you from harming yourself. You bumped your head and I fear you may fall or damage another part of that glorious body,” he told me in an amused tone. “Are you thirsty? I have some water here…”
He advanced closer and I could make out his silhouette against the moonlight peeping through the solitary window in this dark and terrifying room. He perched in front of me and offered a glass of water. I didn’t prefer to accept but the taste of bile clung to my tongue and I needed to wash it down. Leaning forward, I pursed my lips around the edge of the glass and welcomed the cold liquid as it seeped into my sour mouth.
“There, that should make you feel better. Let me see what I can find to clean this mess up,” Alastor said, referring to the pungent liquid dribbling from my lap onto the stone beneath me. He rose and vanished in the shadows to fetch a towel I assumed. The area appeared so gloomy, and impossible to judge in size, but it seemed rather large. The atmosphere gave me the impression of a basement or cellar, with the clammy moisture that hung in the air. Confusion arose about how I ended up here. The last thing I remember occurring was us driving away from the hardware store and leading the zombies astray so the rest of the group would be free from danger. Now I wake up here in my underwear, tossing my cookies, and not sure what has taken place. The peculiar way Alastor spoke left me frightened of who he truly is.
He returned with an old torn hand-towel and began sopping up the puddle of vomit. I froze when we ran his hand across my thighs to wipe the vile liquid away. My pulse accelerated. He took his time brushing my skin with the cloth, pausing at the crease where my leg met my pelvic bone. I lost control of my fear and started to tremble all over. The issue of me being practically naked, plus the temperature dipping below freezing, didn’t help the situation. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying this was another nightmare and I would wake up beside Leland any minute now, safe and sound. But when I sensed his large fingers graze the edge of my panties, I knew it was real.
“Please, Alastor. Don’t do this,” I begged him, hoping he would back off and find it in his heart to let me go.
My intuition told me when I first met him that something was wrong that he couldn’t be trusted. Now I wish I would have listened to what my gut tried to tell me. I couldn't help but wonder in terror what would become of me. Would he rape and murder me? Leave my cold body chained to this wall for all eternity until I turned to dust? My thoughts ran wild with all the possibilities and a lump of fear wedged itself in my throat. I struggled to swallow past it and control my emotions. I didn’t come this far in the zombie apocalypse, fight this hard to survive, just to have some lumbering brute kidnap and torture me to death. If I was going down, I would go down swinging, not shackled. This wasn’t how it all ended… I needed a plan.
“Do what, sweet Autumn? I am only cleaning you up. You should learn to be more appreciative,” he chided. “You know… I saved your life twice and found us a safe place when your home went up in flames. I would imagine that calls for a gesture of gratitude, right?”
“Thank you for rescuing me from the fire, I am grateful, but I didn’t ask for this. I am chained to a wall in my underwear, Alastor. This doesn’t seem “safe” to me. It feels like I am your prisoner.”
“Nonsense, my love. I am only deterring you from injuring yourself further. As for your clothes…” he hesitated. Like he wasn’t certain how to explain, then said,” They seemed ill-fitting for your exquisite figure. I have something I am working on that will be worthy of gracing that fair alabaster skin as I lay with you and sanctify our new bond.”
“Bond? Lay with me?” I shrieked at him. “Have you lost your mind? I would never touch you!”
My head snapped to one side as his meaty palm offended my face. Immediately, all of my blood surged to my cheek and throbbed against my skin. I turned back to meet his raging eyes with as much hatred as I could muster, and spat in his beautiful exotic face. He roared like a ferocious lion and folded his hand around my throat, pressing me up against the brick wall behind me. My head received the brunt of the impact and instant agony shot through my skull with unyielding intensity. In my professional opinion, my head was not going withstand many more hits without lasting ill effects. Either I would go braindead, or at the very least suffer a major concussion. I soon felt blood trickle through my disheveled hair and down my bare back. Alastor’s hand squeezed tight around my neck and I reflected to when Luke had done the same in my nightmare
at the Inn. If only this were a bad dream as well. My face began swelling from the blow to my cheek and the restricted blood flow of him strangling me. My lungs screamed for oxygen. I kicked my feet, but it didn’t matter; he was resilient and didn’t budge an inch.
Alastor extended his opposite arm around my body and plunged his fist into my hair. He pulled away with my crimson life-force dripping from his fingers, and slowly licked each one clean, groaning in satisfaction. It was repulsive and mind-numbing to watch this man suck the blood that had seeped from my body off their fingers like it was nothing but leftover barbeque sauce after eating a rack of ribs. I had nothing left in my belly to expel, but it churned again in search of lost remnants that may have missed the first puke session.
“Mmmm. You taste sweet like honey from the comb. I would drink you down every day and never be sated,” he told me while he licked his lips. He loosened his grip around my throat and my legs crumbled as I slid down the wall trying to reclaim the oxygen I lost. I wheezed and coughed until my lungs resumed their normal function and inflated with precious air. Alastor stood over me, staring down at my body as if he couldn’t decide what to do with me next. He heaved out an agitated sigh, then spun on his heel and strolled away into the shadows. As I struggled to steady my heart rate and breathing, I heard noises arise from across the way. A flicker of light emerged and gradually became larger. Alastor was building a fire twenty feet in front of me. The flames climbed higher as he added more tinder. I could finally make out my environment, which was not an improvement. It proved to be more alarming than not comprehending where I was and what was with me.
Autumn's Calling (Book 2): The Battle Page 6
