Fleeing the building, Meat and Window joined Billie-Bob, and the children who had gathered in the shadows cast by the buildings along the main avenue. They watched as the flames consumed the upper stories of the building, those trapped on the roof cried out in terror. Some opted to leap to their deaths, choosing a crushing impact with the pavement below over the greedy agony of the searing flames. Others succumbed to the smoke pouring from the upper levels. Some attempted to use the fire escape, meeting certain death as Billie-Bob calmly picked them off.
Meat’s earlier resolve wavered as he was confronted with the brutality of their actions and he was ready to pull Billie-Bob back and let the few remaining survivors escape when one of the walls of the building collapsed, falling in upon itself. The roof teetered briefly on the remaining walls that quickly succumbed to the added weight and collapsed themselves.
With a rumble that grew in intensity the roof of the building dropped into the flames and smoke, its impact weakening the already stressed internal structure as the floors dropped down atop one another. Adding momentum where once there was none, the building collapsed within itself in a billowing cloud of dust and debris.
They took refuge behind several cars, a few of the children crying out in terror as the world around them was plunged into an eerie dusk as the cloud of dust enveloped them. Everything became fuzzy and gray, the dust hanging in the air made it difficult to breath as they used their shirts over their noses to protect their lungs from what the dust contained. The rumbling rolled away into the distance like thunder as an eerie silence asserted its dominance, a few falling bricks punctuated the spectacular destruction of the building.
Meat lifted his head and peered over the edge of the car behind which he’d hidden. Amid the clouds of dust that hung in the still air he spotted movement, a shadowy figure that lurched towards them, a twisted trunk of slender appendages writhing in the air as multiple tips groped blindly for something, anything to latch onto.
It towered above them briefly before slowly collapsing within itself, unable to support its own weight, falling to the pile of debris that had once been the building it inhabited. Without the building to provide shelter and support it slowly withered beneath a blazing sun that quickly devoured the cloud of dust.
Somewhere a bird called out hesitantly, answered by another, as the sun slowly burned into that dusty cloud, confirming that they had indeed survived. As the dust settled they emerged from their hiding places, each of them covered by a fine layer of dust that they worked to remove from their clothes.
Cautiously Meat and Window approached the destroyed building at the others remained behind, watching from the safety of the rusted hulks that littered the street.
“What do you think it was?” Window said as they came upon the twisted trunk of a number of those slender tentacles all wrapped about one another, lying upon the shattered remnants of the building as the sun slowly consumed it.
Meat shrugged, “no idea.”
“I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore now that it’s dead.”
“I don’t think it’s completely dead, it’s roots are still in the ground, and just like a plant it will probably come back.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can’t, but life is funny that way, it’s persistent, just like us.”
“What about the rest of them?
“Let them go,” Meat said as several cries of pain came from the shattered remnants of the building.
“You don’t think they’re a threat?”
“Not anymore.”
“That’s good.”
Meat nodded as he surveyed the destruction around them. The day cleared as a ceaseless wind carried the last remnants of those dusty clouds away. Here and there they saw the lifeless bodies of the savage boys who had inhabited the building scattered among the debris. Above them the crows gathered for this feast, circling about, their shadows zipping back and forth across the ground.
“We better get out of here,” Meat said.
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Window said as he followed Meat back to the group that waited for them.
Thirty Nine
In half the time it took them to reach Richmond they made it to the where they had left Einstein and Maria. Without the worry of being ambushed they were able to relax their guard. Not entirely, but enough to pick up the pace.
The house was empty, but Einstein’s pack and weapons were still in the kitchen, igniting a troubling sense of despair that settled over Meat.
He could read the sign all about them. The bed for two on the living room floor coupled with a musky odor that added up to only one thing. The discarded clothing draped down the back steps confirmed his suspicions as a new worry emerged. Had it been consensual, or had Einstein forced himself on Maria.
He kept these thoughts to himself as he walked down the steps into the back yard, noting the way the grass was bent everywhere they had walked, one path leading into the forest behind the house, another following. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but he suspected it had something to do with her being a girl, and he wouldn’t rest until he found out.
“Where did they go?” Billie-Bob said.
Meat shrugged as he and Window stood with Billie-Bob. The children were sitting on the grass around the picnic table, exhausted and hungry after their ordeal, and forced march.
“I’m gonna find them,” Meat said, “you two go on and get the children back to the Bluff. I’ll catch up later.”
“I’m coming with you,” Window said.
“I’d rather you went with Billie-Bob.”
“It’s not that far to the bluff, I don’t think he’ll have any problems.”
“It’s not a problem,” Billie-Bob said, “we shouldn’t run into anymore trouble. I’ll let the kids rest a bit before we push on. You two go ahead, find Einstein and Maria, she was pretty neat.”
The decision made they parted ways with Meat and Window fading into the forest as Billie-Bob, surrounded by the children, watched them go.
The sign of their passage was easy enough to read, a broken branch here, a footprint in some soft mud there, a scuff on a stone. All of these things stood out to Meat, lighting the way as they moved with a predatory grace through the dense woods.
As the afternoon marched toward evening they came upon the supermarket and stopped, watching the building for signs of life from the shadowy protection of the tree line. They spotted two men standing guard on the roof, rifles resting easy in the crook of their arm.
A commotion came from the front of the store that was beyond their view. They heard the sound of motors grinding to a stop, voices shouting back and forth as a group of people returned to the market. Neither of them could understand what was being said, but the lack of shooting confirmed that whoever was in the market knew the people who had jut arrived. The guards on the roof vanished from view.
“What are we going to do?” Window said.
“Try to get inside, see how many there are, follow me” Meat said as he stepped out of the tree line onto the pavement.
Here the sign told Meat the rest of the story. Others had come, there had been a scuffle, and someone had been knocked to the ground. Faint twin trails, of someone being dragged across the parking lot, led to the building.
Meat and Window followed the trail to the far wall of the supermarket. Here the shadows were the deepest and Meat stopped with his back against the rear of the building. Window followed and together they made their way along the back wall as the sounds of a party came from within the building.
At a loading dock they discovered the door was partially open leaving enough room for them to squeeze under. They emerged into a dock area piled high with mounds of garbage and the rotting carcasses of animals and humans. The stench was overwhelming and it took every bit of willpower on Meat’s part to keep from gagging as they carefully made their way through a twisting trail bordered by the towering mounds of garbage. They followed the s
ounds of the party that appeared to be taking place in the main section of the store.
From the dock they entered what had at one time been the butcher’s room. The walls were finished in white tile that was stained red, stainless steel tables were covered in dried blood, and the large double bowl sink was overflowing with viscera; above which a cloud of flies buzzed insistently. Bloodied tools had been carelessly left where they had been dropped. From steel hooks along the back wall hung several carcasses in various stages of being dressed hung, two human rib cages standing out among the animal remains.
Meat had heard rumors of those who had turned to cannibalism to survive. Feeding on unwary travelers, the weak, and the infirm.
At the front of the Butcher’s room was a row of windows. At one time shoppers could watch as the meat they purchased was prepared for them. Now the windows were filthy, covered in flyspecks and streaked with blood but they could still see the group who had taken this place as their own.
They were gathered around an open fire on the other side of the market. Around the group lanterns cast a harsh light that formed deep shadows along the perimeter. To the right were several gas grills, and in the shadows beyond the grills bottles of propane formed a small hill. Several people worked at the grills while the rest sat in various chairs, drinking and smoking as a couple of women danced for them.
Meat and Window were out manned and outgunned, but as Meat watched the cooks he formulated a plan.
“If we could set off that pile of propane tanks, that’ll wipe em out.”
“And us too.” Window said.
As they watched from the shadows two men appeared with Einstein between them. He looked like he’d been severely beaten and Meat’s anger stirred.
Where’s Maria? He wondered as the two men escorted Einstein to a third man who appeared to be the one in charge. He sat sprawled above the others in an overstuffed chair that rested atop a platform.
“Look what we caught while you were gone,” someone in the group said, “knowing how much you like boys we saved him for you.”
Meat had to restrain Window who had jumped to his feet and appeared to be ready to march right out there.
“Not yet,” he said, “where are they holding Maria?”
They watched in silence as the man in the chair reached up and yanked Einstein down onto the seat with him. Einstein struggled as the man tried to hold him down on the seat. Suddenly the man jumped up with a shout of pain, his hand covering one side of his face. Einstein jumped to his feet and kicked the man squarely in his balls, dropping him to his knees. The two men who had brought out Einstein beat him to the ground as the third man lay moaning in pain.
Window ripped his arm from Meat’s hand and pushed his way towards the group who were now distracted as they watched the men beat Einstein.
His was the providence of the young, that aura of invincibility, the belief that anything bad would happen to someone else. It was the only edge he carried, that and surprise. Reaching the group he stopped, and in a loud voice said. “That’s my friend you’re beating on.”
There were twelve of them present and all eyes turned to Window who stood in the shadows just beyond the light cast by the lanterns. One of the men who had been beating on Einstein peered into the gloom and straightened up, “it’s just a damned kid, get him,” he shouted.
Window’s first shot took the man high in the chest, the power of the 44 slug driving him back as he fell to the floor.
Meat had worked his way around to Window’s right, coming up behind the two men working the grills. They had stopped what they were doing, turning to watch the scene playing out between Window and the group. He didn’t even give them a chance to react, covered by the sound of the pandemonium that erupted after Window’s first shot he dropped them both where they stood and walked directly towards the group.
From outside came the unmistakable sound of a high powered rifle and he remembered the two men standing guard on the roof. Several more shots came from outside before silence returned as shouts, screams, and gunshots filled the interior of the supermarket.
After firing, Window darted to the left, fading into the shadows as the other man who had been beating Einstein fired blindly into the dark. His second round dropped him and Window closed with the man who appeared to be the leader, lying next to Einstein’s bloodied and bruised figure. His hands locked between his legs the man looked up into the muzzle of Window’s 44, then saw no more as the round shattered his skull.
Window knelt down next to Einstein and helped him to his feet, “come on, we gotta get you outta here.” Movement on his right caught his eye and he turned to confront a large bald man who was leveling his revolver on them. Window squeezed the trigger, and got nothing, the hammer falling onto a dud, which was more common than not. Relying on scavenged ammunition sometimes resulted in unreliable loads as exposure to years of moisture took its toll.
Without hesitation Window shoved Einstein to the right and drove right into the bald man who wrapped his arms around his body as they both went down. Once he was in close Window pulled his knife from his belt and drove the blade into the bald man’s groin. The man screamed, relinquishing his grip as he tried to stop the dark red blood that quickly spread across the front of his filthy pants.
The two women who had been dancing for the men cowered in a corner of the store as Meat and Window waded into the group from two different directions. The women cautiously made their way to the front where they slipped out and vanished into the growing shadows.
Meat caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye, turning to confront an overweight old man who was running towards him with an axe held above his head. He fired into the man’s belly, the round not even slowing him down, and was lifting the muzzle higher when the man’s head exploded as the sound of a high powered rifle came from the front of the store.
Forty
The battle had been short and savage and the dead lay about them as the fire continued to burn with a crackling voice. Those that remained had been drinking heavily and offered little threat or resistance to either Window or Meat as they worked their way through the group. To the last man they were shot without remorse as the image of the butchers shop haunted their thoughts.
When it was done Meat and Window helped Einstein to his feet. The sound of footsteps came from the front of the store and Meat spun around with his pistol at the ready as Billie-Bob emerged from the shadows. Meat had expected as much after what happened with his overweight adversary.
“I thought I told you to take the kids back to the Bluff?” Meat said.
“I thought you guys might need some help so I followed along.”
“Where are the kids?”
“In the house, I left one of the older kids in charge until we got back.”
“Did you get the two up top?”
“Of course.”
Einstein groaned as he sat up, holding his head in his hands. His face was bruised with one eye nearly swollen shut, surrounded by darkening flesh.
“Where’s Maria?” he said, looking around at the dead bodies that surrounded them.
“She wasn’t out here,” Window said.
Einstein pushed himself to his feet and ran to the back of the store. The other three followed as Einstein pushed his way through the swinging double doors that led to the dock area. At the door to a walk in cooler he stopped and rested his head against the cool steel. Then yanking on the handle he opened the door and stepped inside.
“Maria?” he whispered as he vanished into the gloomy depths. From what little light they had, they saw the faint outline of Maria huddled in the back of the cooler on the floor.
“It’s all right now,” Einstein said.
“I know,” she answered in a faint whisper, “everything’s going to be all right now.”
“Maria,” Einstein said, his voice trembling, “Maria,” he nearly shouted, his voice filled with a raw emotion that made the others uncomfortable. “You can’t
leave me,” he said, his voice thick as he sobbed.
They waited for him silently, his sobs echoing from the black depths of the cooler, and in a few minutes he emerged, his head down, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides.
“I’m sorry,” Meat said as he placed his hand on Einstein’s shoulder.
Einstein looked at him, tears brimming in his eyes, “it isn’t fair.”
“I know,” Meat said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
From the shadowy depths of the cooler came the sound of someone moving, the rustle of fabric, the thump of flesh against steel. Halting footsteps approached through the shadows as a shape slowly materialized like a ghost emerging from the night. Maria staggered into view, her flesh had become mottled and gray, cataracts filled her eyes, lending them a silvery glow, and her mouth was twisted into a grimace as she worked it in anticipation. She was nude, but none of them felt any longing or desire for the twisted form that presented itself .
The four boys stepped back as she staggered out of the cooler, her gaze fixed on Einstein as she reached for him with hands that had been twisted into claws.
“You know what you have to do,” Meat said as he handed Einstein his pistol, “give her peace.”
Einstein looked from the pistol in his hand to Maria, and back again as tears slid down his cheeks. “I can’t,” he said.
“It has to be you,” Window said as he took another step back, opening the distance between them.
Maria had stopped and stood staring at Einstein, her head tilted to one side much like a dog will tilt its head when its owner speaks to it. Her expression smoothed for a moment, it was as if even in her state she recognized Einstein, and was waiting for him to do what he must.
“I can’t,” Einstein said, handing the pistol to Meat and turning his back on Maria as he took several steps away. She staggered towards him, jerkily placing one foot in front of the other, her hands working in anticipation of tearing into warm, living, flesh. At the last moment she turned towards Window.
All Roads Lead To Terror: Coming of age in a post apocalyptic world (Dreadland Chronicles Book 1) Page 16
