Demon Deception

by M. J. Haag

  “I’m serious. The truck is ours. I drove it here and parked it north of town on 59.”

  Megaphone-Man glanced at the driver, who shrugged and nodded.

  “We need those supplies for the survivors at Whiteman Military Base. We only came here because—”

  “I don’t give a flying fuck who you need it for, and I know damn well why you’re here,” Megaphone-Man said. “The world’s changed, babe, if you haven’t noticed. And it’s finders keepers now. If you want to live, haul your ass south, get out of the fence, and find yourself some new supplies in some other town. Everything in Parsons is ours. We’re the ones with the weapons.”

  “What do you want us to do, Cassie?” Kerr asked.

  “We need to check on Bauts, Azio, and the rest we left behind. I hate that we have to lose all those supplies, but they’re not giving us much of a choice. Like he said, they’re the ones with the weapons.”

  “We will not lose the supplies.” Kerr nodded to our companions.

  Shax, Tor, and Gyirk took off with a speed that astounded me. As they ran for the fence, they beheaded infected along the way.

  The guy with the megaphone swore, dropped his device, and lifted the gun that had been hanging from his shoulder. Kerr quickly turned so his back was to the man, protecting me.

  A single shot rang out, and I peeked over Kerr’s shoulder as he ran for the cover of a nearby tree. The men inside the fence all had their guns pointed at the three fey. The air filled with rapid pops, regaining all the infecteds’ attention.

  He stepped behind the tree, blocking my view of what was happening.

  “They’re going to get hurt,” I said as I grabbed his face to get his attention.

  “We will not kill the humans. And, we will try not to hurt them as we remove their weapons. Eden already told us there are too few humans left to kill more.”

  “I was talking about our friends. Screw the guys on the tank. They obviously have no morals.”

  “All will be well, Cassie,” Molev said from behind me.

  I yipped and tore my gaze from Kerr’s. More fey were running past us, pouring from the sparse cover of the trees and racing toward the fence. They didn’t stop to kill the infected but used the ones near the fence as springboards to jump cleanly over the wire.

  The humans on the road screamed and scrambled as the fey landed in their domain. I watched a fey rip a rifle out of a man’s grip and bend the barrel.

  “Oh, they shouldn’t destroy the guns. We need them.”

  “Why?” Molev asked. “Guns are only used to kill other humans and us.”

  He had a point.

  “Destroy away.”

  Within minutes, most of the humans were knocked out cold and all of them divested of their weapons.

  Once more, I found myself surrounded by fey as Kerr started toward the fence. Like the others had, he used infected bodies to springboard over it. Once inside the protective barrier, he set me on my feet.

  The few healthy humans, who were still conscious, leaned against the tank. Three men and a woman. The men looked winded but angry and still ready to fight. The woman was hard to read. She watched me closely without a hint of fear in her pale blue eyes. I wondered how a woman held her own with such a group of assholes.

  “Have there been any other survivors who have come out of Parsons since you’ve been here?” I asked her.

  The guy who had held the megaphone laughed.

  “The smart ones got out as soon as the attacks began. How is it that you’re still alive?”

  “I was one of the lucky few picked up by a military evacuation effort on this end of town. They wouldn’t go any further in. Too many infected.”

  “What are they?” the woman asked. Her gaze slid over Kerr’s face then drifted to Molev, who was standing beside me.

  “Friends,” I said. “And part of the reason I’m still alive. I’m looking for my son and husband. They’d be easy to spot because my son isn’t even a year old yet.”

  “Babies die,” the man said. “Sorry lady.”

  He sounded anything but sorry. But, I knew he was right.

  I looked at Molev. He met my gaze and said nothing. The decision of what to do next was on me.

  “A group should take the truck back to where it was and look for the others. The rest of us can keep going.”

  “The hell you will,” Megaphone-Man said. “Those supplies are ours.”

  I faced the man.

  “You don’t have any weapons anymore. And, I have more people.”

  “We have a tank. I think that trumps your freak show. We’ll let you pass, but anything you find on the other side of the fence, you bring back to us.”

  I glanced at Molev again.

  “That barrel sticking out of the top of the tank is what fires things, I think.”

  Molev sprang onto the top of the tank and squeezed the end of the barrel, not quite crushing it flat but denting it enough that it wouldn’t fire anything.

  Megaphone-Man swore.

  “Anything I find in there will belong to my frightened four-year-old daughter who I left behind at Whiteman. Not you.”

  “You can’t just come in here and steal our supplies after we’ve already established a territory.”

  “Wasn’t it you who said it’s a finders keepers world. If you want to live, you better get in that tank and haul ass toward the guys putting up the fence.”

  “You’re going to get yours. Maybe not today but someday. We’re not the only survivors, and you’re going to need to fight for what you have.”

  His words didn’t scare me. Instead, they gave me hope again. If these guys were alive, Lee had a chance. A small one, granted. But still a chance.

  I looked at Kerr.

  “I’m ready when you are.”

  Kerr scooped me up, and Molev gave the signal. The forerunners began jumping over the east fence. The infected on that side moved much faster and swarmed the fey. The fey were strong, but I knew that they could be hurt, too.

  Kerr seemed to sense my concern because he held me a little closer.

  “You’re never going to make it,” the woman said, drawing my attention. “There’s a reason we put up a fence on both sides.”

  She didn’t say it with malice, just a warning given in a friendly enough tone. I studied her, trying again to guess why she was with that group.

  “I have more confidence than you do and better company.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Focusing on the fey on the other side of the fence, I saw that they weren’t having as easy of a time against the infected on the east side. These infected were smarter. They worked together to try to bite or bring down the fey. The infected still didn’t stand much of a chance, though. Heads flew in random directions. One landed at the feet of the woman watching me. Her gaze flicked to it then back up to me, and she said nothing. No one could be that detached.

  “You could come with us,” I said to her.

  “I think I’ll stay where I am.” Her gaze shifted to Molev, who was watching her closely.

  I opened my mouth to tell her that she had nothing to fear from the fey. However, Megaphone-Man’s all too alert gaze had me changing my words.

  “Suit yourself.”

  It took the fey a little bit longer to clear a spot on the other side of the fence due to the number of infected there, but as soon as there was a safe place to land, Kerr jumped. The moment his feet hit the ground, he started running.

  Excitement built inside of me. I held onto Kerr and watched for the first house that marked our subdivision.

  From the other side of the road, a low call rang out. The door of the Wright Signs and Graphics building crashed open and infected poured out. These didn’t shamble; they ran. Their smooth, coordinated movement terrified me.

  When the first of the infected reached the fey to our right, the infected veered at the last minute. Half of their number ran parallel with us while half went to the left. It was an obvious attemp
t to surround us, but the fey ran faster, preventing it.

  “They’re getting too smart,” I said softly.

  One of the infected turned its head at the sound of my voice and met my gaze. Its eyes were almost clear, the brown of its irises easily discernible. As it held my gaze, the thing smiled. I shuddered in Kerr’s arms and looked away. Just how smart were they getting? And what were they evolving into?

  Seeing their plan thwarted, the infected changed course again and ran straight at the outermost fey.

  “Stay together,” Molev called.

  Our group tightened ranks, but there were so many more of the infected than the fey that those on the right outer edge of our group were soon overwhelmed. Any remaining optimism I had bled away as I watched one of the fey disappear under a crush of infected.

  “Faster. Protect Cassie,” Molev yelled.

  Me? My throat tightened as I stared at the place where the fey had disappeared. Several of the men slowed and separated infected heads from bodies to help.

  The core group of fey closed in around us. I tore my gaze from the fight and looked ahead, spotting the first house.

  “My house is in there.”

  Kerr veered to the left, splitting from the group. He ran straight at the house and launched us onto the rooftop at the last second. Without pause, he set me down on the snowy shingles.

  “Stay here, Cassie.”

  He leapt from the roof and ran back to the other fey who formed a protective barrier between the infected and the house. There wasn’t enough fey, though. As I watched the fey fight the mass of infected, more infected circled my protectors.

  I watched in horror as still more kept coming down the road. Those that went around the fey came to a stop at the base of the house and watched me silently.

  Without thinking things through, I grabbed a handful of snow, made a ball, and lobbed it at an infected. I knew a snowball couldn’t take an infected’s head off; I’d hoped, on some level, that it would scare them away.

  The snow hit the infected in the face with a wet splat. And, it didn’t blink as snow fell from its forehead.

  The infected next to the one I hit reached over and touched the snow like he was seeing it for the first time.

  A loud call drew my attention to the fey still struggling against the horde. Bodies were heaped around where they stood.

  The mass of infected, pushing to get to the fey, had brought the group closer to the house. Close enough to see every detail. Every gory, removed head. Every attempted bite.

  Within the crowd, a mop of familiar dark hair stood out. My pulse sped up as I stared, waiting for the face to turn. When it did, I thought I was wrong for two heartbeats. The right side of his face was slightly mangled with bite marks. His jacket sleeve was ripped, too, showing more bites and missing flesh.

  Lee was infected. My heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces.

  Tears flowed freely. Lee lurched forward, reaching for one of the fey. The fey turned, reaching for Lee’s head.

  “No,” I yelled.

  Kerr looked at me, and I pointed to Lee.

  “Not that one,” Kerr yelled.

  With that command, the fey ignored Lee and continue killing other infected. Lee shifted his milky white gaze to me and started shambling my way.

  I sobbed and muffled the sound with my fist. It was over then. Lee was dead. Somewhere, Caden was dead, too. I gave up all hope of holding my son just one more time.

  Alone on the roof, I rocked as I held myself. I don’t know how long I stayed like that before I heard Kerr’s voice behind me.

  “You are safe, my Cassie.”

  I twisted to look back at him. He was covered in gore and was marked with a few bites.

  “I know.”

  I sniffed and looked down where the infected lay like fallen domino pieces. Heads and bodies coated the snow. Only one remained standing. Lee. He rocked side to side just below where I sat on the roof. His face upturned; his good eye on me.

  “That’s him,” I said. “That’s Lee. I’ll never know now. I’ll never know what happened to Caden.”

  I stared at Lee, hating him and pitying him at the same time.

  “He was a crappy husband,” I said. “But he didn’t deserve this. No one does.”

  I knew what needed to be done, what needed to be said, and I asked myself again how much one person was meant to endure.

  “Just kill him.” My voice broke. “I want to go back to Lilly.”

  Kerr nodded and jumped off the roof.

  Less than a second later, Lee was gone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I felt like I was dying. Everything inside bled with the pain of what I’d lost. Dazed, I watched Kerr move a distance away to a patch of untouched snow. His gaze never left mine, his steady look the only thing keeping me connected with what was happening as I slowly fell apart. The deep sorrow reflected in his gaze let me know I wasn’t alone, that he was grieving with me like he’d promised.

  He scooped up a handful of snow and rubbed his hands clean. He grabbed some more and scrubbed his face and chest. One of the group tossed him a new shirt. It wasn’t until then that I realized he’d been without one since jumping off the roof.

  As soon as he had all of the infected blood off of him, he walked toward the house.

  “I am sorry for your loss, Cassie.” As Kerr spoke, two other fey lifted Lee’s body. A third reverently set Lee’s head upon his chest. The fey carried Lee away.

  “Where are they taking him?”

  “Mya explained to us that your people do not return the dead to the waters but to the earth. We will return him to the earth for you.”

  Kerr jumped up onto the roof and held out his arms. Standing on shaky legs, I stumbled toward him. He wrapped me in his arms and let me cry. The gentle brush of his hand over my head had the tears falling faster. As Kerr comforted me, I held on tightly and let the pain consume me.

  After several minutes, a numbness settled over me.

  “There’s nothing left for me here,” I said.

  I looked north and saw a familiar roofline.

  “I’d still like to go to my house, if it’s possible. I’d like to take a few pictures back with me. And maybe Lilly’s blanket. It might help when I have to tell her—”

  The tears I’d thought done started up again. It wasn’t the torrential outpouring of pain but rather a slow bleed of my soul.

  “Yes, we will go.” Kerr picked me up and jumped off the roof.

  The fey not burying Lee surrounded us as Kerr ran in the direction I indicated. Most of the houses bore signs of the devastation the world had suffered. A broken window here or there. A bloody hand print on a door or the siding. My house looked as ravaged as I felt. Claw marks scored the siding like hellhounds had tried several times to get in.

  I shivered and looked at Kerr.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go in.”

  “You are safe, my Cassie. We will get to your pictures and Lilly’s blanket.”

  A fey tried the front door. Finding it locked, he forced it open.

  Why in the hell would Lee lock the house before he left? I could only think of one reason. He’d left Caden behind when he’d gone out for whatever reason. My stomach churned.

  “I don’t think I can go in there,” I said when Kerr stepped forward.

  “What is wrong?”

  “I just have a bad feeling.” More than that, I felt too close to breaking. I didn’t know what I would do if I walked into the house and found my son dead because of neglect. I couldn’t decide which fate would tear me up more: having my son slowly starve or seeing he’d been infected.

  “You are safe,” Kerr repeated, moving forward.

  Inside, things looked like I remembered leaving them in our rush to escape the madness.

  “Where is Lilly’s room?” Kerr asked.

  “At the top of the stairs.”

  He nodded for a fey to check the upstairs before taking me there. Lilly’s room was unto
uched, except for the bed, which was once more neatly made. I knew we hadn’t left it like that. I ran my hand over the pink blanket, neatly folded on her pillow.

  “He did this,” I said softly. “Lee. He had come here.”

  I took the blanket and went to the dresser to get Lilly her clothes. From her closet, I took the winter jacket I had purchased for her in preparation for the upcoming season.

  One of the fey handed me a bag, and I put everything inside before going into Caden’s room. Things weren’t neat there. The drawers were hanging open, clothes lay on the floor, and all the bedding was missing from his crib, including the mattress.

  What had Lee been doing?

  Leaving the room, I went downstairs and looked for the mattress. As much as I didn’t want to find Caden, I had to know what had happened. But, the mattress wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  I was about to turn around and tell Kerr to have the others look for a mattress when his hands came down on my shoulders to hold me in place. I looked at him in surprise. His head was tilted. Many of the fey around us had stopped moving as well. They were all listening.

  “What is it?” I whispered.

  “A sound. I have nothing to compare it to.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  One of the fey on the steps pointed up.

  I went upstairs and stood still. After several moments, I heard it. A faint mewl like a cat.

  “Caden?” I said loudly, unable to help myself.

  Over my head, there was a flurry of movement. The attic door in the hallway dropped down, and a gaunt, pale woman peered down at me. She immediately burst into tears.

  “Thank God,” she said. “I thought we were going to die.”

  “Dawnn? Are you Dawnn?” Hope was making me shake.

  She nodded.

  “Please tell me you have Caden. Please. Please.”

  She nodded again and disappeared from view. I grabbed the attic stairs, flipped them down, and cleared the top to see her moving toward the missing mattress. It rested on the insulation in the freezing cold attic. And, Caden now lay on top of it, his little hands flailing weakly.

  A sob escaped me as Dawnn picked him up and passed him over. I greedily grabbed him and hugged him close, feeling the chill of his body through his blanket.