by Steven Till
Nathan flashed a "thumbs-up" and took the sign as he settled in at the bow of the craft. Boomer sat in the middle and Ronnie sat in the back after shoving off from shore. Nathan guided the trio across the Ohio River, being careful not to splash too much with the stop sign. Any attention would be unwelcome attention.
Nathan caught a glimpse of something on the shore. Whatever it was, it moved too quickly to glean any detail; just moonlight dancing across something almost...metallic. It was gone in an instant, as if it weren’t ever there at all. He thought of that moment at the subway tunnel. In the split-second that he saw the creature emerge from the tunnel entrance, he remembered seeing the same metallic-like surface. Nathan shuddered at the memory. He hoped with every fiber of his being that the monster in the tunnel hadn't followed them.
He moved his focus from the thicket of brush and began to scan the shoreline for a suitable place to run aground. Satisfied with his decision, Nathan directed the canoe towards a small inlet approximately fifteen meters away. An uneasy feeling rose in his gut as they drew closer.
Boomer must have either sensed it too or felt his master’s tension rise. The dog became rigid and alert; on the lookout for whatever unknown danger awaited them. Nathan stayed on course and kept an eye on the embankment above the water. He didn’t want to deal with an ambush while they were still vulnerable in the boat.
Just as before, Boomer was attuned to Nathan’s wavelength, and leapt out of the boat just before touching ground. He scrambled up the slope and held position at the top of the embankment; darting his head back and forth as he allowed his humans time to reach the shore. The pair made their way up the bank and joined their furry protector.
“Good boy, Boo,” Nathan said, giving the dog a hearty pet on the scruff. Boomer gave a satisfied grunt and began walking north, away from the river.
“Dude, where’s he going?” asked Ronnie.
“I have no idea. Here boy!”
Boomer stopped and turned to Nathan and gave a whimper.
“Maybe we should follow him,” he contemplated aloud. “Eve wouldn’t have stayed at the apartment, it’s not easily defensible. He must know where she is.”
Ronnie looked at the dog and nodded in agreement. “Word. That little dude is smart as fuck.”
The three headed north, into the borough of Bellevue, unaware of the growing horde that amassed ahead.
****************
Moments later, a large form emerged from the river. Two large padded feet planted onto the soft earth of the river bank, displacing the mud from the immense weight of the beast. The icy waters of the Ohio rolled off the hard, shiny quills that covered the beast.
Turning its head from side to side, the creature reached out with all its preternatural senses. Large pointed ears rotated, silver eyes scanned, and large deep breaths pulled air into the sensitive nostrils and through the massive snout. Having located his targets, the hulking animal moved in a northward direction—after Nathan and Ronnie.
CHAPTER 36 NEXT STEPS
“You want us to do what??!!” Rachel asked incredulously.
“It’s worth a try,” Evelyn stated calmly. Her expression was cool and collected, but her mind was anything but. This is hands-down the worst idea I’ve ever had, she thought.
“So you’re telling us that your big plan is to try something that you saw on TV?” Daniel chimed in.
“Look at it logically for a minute,” she rebutted. “Just about every creature on Earth emotes pheromones or some kind of chemical identifier.”
“Sorry sugar-tits, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to agree with the kid,” interrupted Shawn. “I think you’ve seen too many Walking Dead episodes. If they’re smart enough to take orders, then they’re clever enough to see through your bullshit.”
God, she really hated this guy. “Scientifically speaking, the odds are good that if we smell like them, they’ll think we’re one them. Carlos, you mentioned that you were a biologist, right? Back me up on this.”
All eyes turned to Carlos, who, like everyone else, was struggling with the proposed course of action. Carlos smiled nervously. “Yes, what you’re suggesting does seem to be plausible, but at this point, it’s just a theory. We need...we need to test it.”
“Who the hell is crazy enough to test it?” Alison asked. She knew full well that there wasn’t anyone here stupid enough to attempt what Evelyn suggested.
The room went silent. If the army of dead hadn’t been right outside, you could have heard a mouse pee on cotton. The group stood in the uncomfortable moment as everyone looked at each other, wondering who would go through with this crazy plan.
They exchanged nervous glances and objections with scared expressions. The quiet weighed with a palpable and unbearable weight. Finally, Shawn released a long, exasperated sigh.
“Jesus, I’ll do it,” he said, annoyed. He stood up and moved towards the back office where Ethan was.
“It’s obvious that none of you have the grapes to take any initiative, except maybe for you,” he said, nodding to Evelyn.
I stand corrected, Alison thought. HE is stupid enough to try this.
Sam quickly put himself between Shawn and the doorway which lead back to the office. “Okay cowboy, just hold on a sec. If we’re going to see this through, let’s make sure we go about it the right way.”
Shawn paused, conceding to Sam’s request.
Turning to Evelyn, Sam continued. “Alright, just so we’re all on the same page here, you want to cut open Ethan back there and drench Shawn in the infected blood. Then, send him outside to see if those things mistake him for one of them. Does that about cover it?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Evelyn nodded.
“Wait a minute!” Theresa blurted out. Heads turned in her direction in surprise of the meek woman’s sudden outburst. “Have you really thought this through?”
“What’s there to think through?” Sam asked. “It’s either gonna work or it’s not.”
Theresa looked panicked. “Well for starters, what about infection? Have you thought of that? You all want to go back there and go swimming in that poor young man’s blood, but have you stopped to think that you might infect yourself, or everyone else?”
Apparently, nobody had thought of that.
“So help me God, if one of you yahoos gets me infected, I will eat every single one of you,” Rachel spouted.
“Hold on everybody,” Sam interjected, raising his hands to gain control of the conversation. “Before we all start tweaking out. Carlos, any idea how contagious this thing is?” he asked, pointing his thumb behind him towards the back room.
“Well, it’s obviously contagious, given the sheer numbers of them. I can only assume that the majority of the population has become infected; looking at the numbers in relation to the short time frame this has all occurred in.”
“You see?!” Theresa interrupted. “We’re all going to get it!”
Carlos shot an irritated look. “HOWEVER,” he continued. “I don’t believe we can get infected by cutting one of them open. I haven’t seen any evidence of water-borne or aerosol vectors, meaning that we can’t get infected by breathing the virus—assuming it IS a virus. No, I think that whatever this pathogen is, it needs to enter directly into the bloodstream.”
“There, you see? Perfectly safe,” Shawn quipped sarcastically.
“You ARE going to want to be careful though,” Carlos continued. “You aren’t going to want to get any blood in your eyes or mouth and you should definitely cover any exposed cuts.”
“That seems easy enough,” Shawn stated.
The group continued to work through the remaining details of the plan, completely unaware that Bill was no longer with them. In fact, nobody noticed that he sat slumped behind the large display of ball gags and flail whips. Thick dark ooze had been seeping from his dead mouth for a good five minutes. Dark veins spider webbed out from the puncture wound on his hand where Ethan bit him.
Bill snapp
ed his eyes open, revealing his crimson eyes. Hypersensitive ears could hear the humans in the room talking. He also heard their heartbeats, their blood coursing through their veins, and every breath that they took. Bill rose to his feet. The smell of flesh bombarded him.
The group was too engrossed in their plan to put poor Ethan, who was now hissing within Sam’s office, out of his misery. They also failed to notice Bill creep his way towards them until it was too late. Zombie-Bill wrapped a bony claw around Rachel’s face and clamped his distended jaw over her shoulder. In one quick jerk of his head, he tore her right platysma muscle and clavicle bone from her body.
The blood-curdling scream that followed jolted the group. Eight heads whipped around in unison. All eyes fixated on Rachel, who now knelt on the floor screaming at the top of her lungs as she glared at the gaping hole in her torso. The group’s eyes then moved their attention to Bill. Blood and flesh seeped out of his mouth as bone crunched within his powerful jaws. Bill cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening to something—or someone. A loud screech erupted from Bill.
“Shit!” exclaimed Shawn, as he whipped his crossbow up.
The ex-porn shop clerk lunged forward towards Evelyn. The whisper of the crossbow bolt travelled through the air, followed by a juicy “thwack” as the bolt penetrated Bill’s left temple. His body hit the floor with a heavy thud at Evelyn’s feet.
Moments passed as everyone stared at Bill’s body; still processing what had just happened. Finally, Rachel, who at this point had all but lost her voice and was now reduced to whimpered sobbing on the floor, blurted out, “HELP ME!”
“Oh my God,” Alison gasped, regaining her senses. “Rachel, you’re going to be okay,” she reassured.
Daniel, Pete, and Chatty rushed to assist Alison. Bill, Shawn, Carlos, and Evelyn circled Dead-Bill.
Shawn was the first to speak. “Did anyone else see what I just saw?”
“All I saw was my former employee snack on Mrs. Cowan and try to eat Eve,” Sam replied.
“No, before that,” Shawn elaborated. “A few seconds before he sprang, he paused. It looked like he was listening to something. Like, maybe he was listening to orders.”
“Orders from whom?” Carlos asked.
“I dunno, but whoever it is, they seem to have a real hard on for sugar-tits here,” Shawn quipped, nodding towards Evelyn.
“Look asshole...” Evelyn started.
“Alright,” Sam interrupted. “He could have went for any of us. There’s no way to be sure he was targeting Eve specifically.”
“Shawn’s at least part right,” Evelyn said. “I saw it too; before he attacked. He tilted his head and waited.”
“That’s exactly what I saw,” Shawn agreed, surprised to have Evelyn’s corroboration.
“Okay, so based on the behavior of the ones outside and what we just saw, I think we can assume that they're organized,” Evelyn continued. “What I don’t understand, is how Bill got infected in the first place? Did anybody see him get bitten?”
The consensus was that nobody saw anything. Carlos kneeled down by the body and rolled it onto its back, being wary of the mouth and immense claws. He searched for torn clothing or any other sign of injury; aside from the bolt to the head. Commotion grew behind them as the others frantically tried to save Rachel’s life.
“Found it!” Carlos exclaimed. “Here, on the hand!”
He cautiously held the right claw and pointed to a small puncture wound on the palm. A black latticework of capillaries radiated outward from the wound.
“Goddamn,” Sam muttered. “He must have gotten nipped by Ethan when we brought him in.”
“Interesting...” Carlos said, more to himself than the group.
“Find something else?” Evelyn asked.
Carlos examined Bill’s claw-hand closer. “Look here,” he said as he pointed to one of the razor sharp talons. “There are grooves running down the full length of each nail...” he trailed off.
“Yes?” Shawn prodded, impatient for Carlos to get to the point.
Carlos followed the nail-groove up the length of the finger until he reached a bulbous knob where the fingernail used to be. “It looks like the claws are in fact, elongations of the distal bones. See how the bone has ruptured through the end of the finger?” he asked as he pointed to the ragged flesh around the base of the three inch nail.
Sam, Shawn, and Evelyn nodded, indicating that they understood. Carlos continued.
“This groove runs along the top of the claw, starting at this bulbous area where the fingernail used to be." Carlos then squeezed the swollen bulge on the top of the finger. Immediately, a greenish liquid oozed out and flowed down the groove towards the tip of the claw.
"What the hell is that?" Sam asked, the disgust clear in his voice.
"Venom," Evelyn said, beating Carlos to the punch.
"I think that's a fair assumption," Carlos agreed.
They shared an uneasy look. They all knew that Bill didn't have any noticeable scratches on him, which meant that there was another method of delivering the toxin to potential victims. As if reading the collective thoughts, Carlos turned back to the body, focusing his attention on the mouth. He opened the lower jaw and pulled out the enlarged tongue.
"Do you think it's in their spit, too?" Shawn asked.
"I don't think so..." Carlos trailed off again as he inspected the forked tongue tip. "Ah! There it is! Look here," he said, pointing to a barb situated in the base of the fork. "The venom sac must be inside the tongue; that's why it's so swollen. It seems as though this barb acts like a hypodermic needle, injecting the toxin into the bloodstream. Much more effective than saliva alone."
Commotion erupted from behind the group as Alison shouted. "Hold her down!"
Rachel was convulsing on the floor, thick dark ooze was spurting from her mouth as she gurgled for breath. The gaping wound where her shoulder used to be was gushing, soaking the towel that Alison was using to stop the bleeding.
"Chatty, grab her ankles! You guys try to grab her arms!" Alison barked, desperately trying to help the old socialite.
"Stay clear of her mouth!" Shawn shouted over the chaos. "She's got a stinger in her tongue!"
In unison, Daniel, Pete, and Chatty backed away from the dying woman, who continued to spasm in the growing pool of dark liquid. A newly-forked tongue shot out of Rachel's mouth, whipping around for its first victim. Loud crunching sounds signaled more mutation; bones had begun to break through her fingers.
"Holy shit!" exclaimed Daniel.
Before their eyes, the woman they knew as Rachel had transformed into one of the monstrosities which held them trapped. Dead-Rachel let out a chilling hiss as her red eyes fixed themselves on Chatty.
THWACK!
The large machete blade buried deep within Dead-Rachel's head, silencing the grotesque noises from the creature. Evelyn twisted the blade and pulled it free.
"Everybody needs to back up and stay the hell away from these things before we ALL get infected," she said, panting.
She received no argument from anyone as they moved away from the corpses. They congregated at the far side of the shop and gazed upon the remains of their former comrades. Finally, Evelyn turned to the group and broke the silence.
"This changes nothing. We continue with the plan."
CHAPTER 37 HANG IN THERE
The three travelers made their way down Lincoln Avenue in Bellevue; the main street which ran through the heart of the small municipality. Like everywhere else, the ravages of war had left their mark. Bodies of the dead, the truly dead, littered the street and sidewalks. The storefronts of all the various shops, diners, and cafes which lined either side of the road had all been shattered and destroyed. Nathan and Ronnie moved cautiously as Boomer kept a vigilant watch about eight feet in front.
There hadn't been a single sign of anyone, human or otherwise, moving about the town. As far as Nathan could discern, the three of them were completely alone. Ronnie pause
d a moment, kneading his stomach with his knobby claw-knuckles.
"Hey bro, hold up a sec," he said. "I'm hungry as shit, dude. Can we stop and eat something?"
"Sure thing," Nathan replied, feeling the familiar twang of pain in his gut start to surface. He looked around for some suitable non-human foodstuffs for them. "Hey, that looks promising," he said, pointing to an alley which ran next to a Chinese restaurant.
"Oh hell yeah!" Ronnie exclaimed.
They hurried down the short alley, which opened up into a small parking lot behind the buildings. Along the back wall of the restaurant sat several large dumpsters.
"Where there's Chinese food, you can bet there are cats," Nathan said with a coy grin.
Lifting the lid to the closest dumpster yielded nothing, but when he opened the next one, three strays leapt out and bolted for the closest cover. Nathan missed them as they darted out. Ronnie managed to step on one of them, crunching its head into the pavement. Boomer gave chase after the remaining two, bringing one of them down after a short sprint. The dog trotted back to his master, carrying the cat in his mouth. It squirmed and meowed in vain. Boomer bit down, snapping the neck of his master's supper as he proudly set the catch at Nathan's feet.
"Good boy Boo!" Nathan praised, giving the dog a hearty rub behind the ears with his knuckle. Boomer wagged his tail and gave a satisfied grunt.
They sat in the alley and devoured their meals.
"I just love me some General Meow's Chicken!" Ronnie jibed, chuckling at his own joke.
"Ugh, that was awful," Nathan said, rolling his eyes at his friend.
The sound of a door slamming shut, followed by a glass bottle clanging, echoed down the alley. Immediately, Nathan and Ronnie were alert. Boomer began his low, menacing growl as he skulked down the alley towards Lincoln Avenue.
"Boomer, stay!" Nathan pleaded in as loud of a whisper as he dared. He didn't know what caused the noise, but whatever or whomever it was, he didn't want to draw attention to themselves.
