Devour: Death & Decay Book 1

by R. L. Blalock

  On closer inspection, the duty belt was loaded with other items she could use. She would have to look over them after returning to the house. Her fingers felt like clumsy sausages as she fumbled with the buckle on the officer’s duty belt.

  After what seemed like an eternity, she was finally able to tease the buckle into opening. She tugged on the belt but it wouldn’t budge. For a moment, Liv stared dumbly at it. Why wouldn’t it budge?

  Beneath the duty belt was a second belt. The duty belt was anchored in place by a couple of small straps with snaps looped around the regular belt.

  The straps were easy enough to remove. Once they no longer locked the duty belt in place, it moved more freely, but the officer’s weight still pinned it to the ground. Liv sat back for a moment and checked to her sides. If the infected hadn’t been drawn in yet, then she doubted they would be. They could still wander around and catch sight of her, but they hadn’t been alerted to her presence.

  Liv looked over the officer. There was a large semicircular bite mark on his forearm. The bite was ugly and discolored. The wound itself was crusted over with a putrid, yellow scabs. Spider webs crept out from the puckered skin. Thin, black lines ran from the bite mark and crisscrossed up his arm past the edge of his sleeve.

  Liv was trying not to look at his face. She didn’t want to see his eyes. His head was probably a mess anyway. More than seeing the gore, though, Liv didn’t want to risk seeing the man he had been. She just wanted to remember the monster she had seen on the street.

  Liv sighed at that thought. The man he might have been. Her work became more difficult, more gruesome. She sat over the body of a police officer, preparing to take what she could. It was absolutely ghoulish.

  Liv grabbed fistfuls of the officer’s polyester shirt and heaved him over onto his stomach. Two more straps attached the duty belt in the back. With them removed, it slid out easily from underneath the officer. Liv quickly gathered the belt and dashed back to the door, anxious to be inside again.

  Back inside, Liv rushed to the upstairs bedroom, where Elli’s cries had reached a crescendo. She pulled off the gloves as she ascended the stairs. With her hand on the doorknob, Liv paused and looked down at herself. The gloves were smeared with blood, and small splatters glimmered across her jacket. She dashed to the bathroom and quickly wiped down the protective gear and looked over herself.

  Once satisfied, she returned back to the room. As she slowly opened the door, Liv found Elli at the center of the room. The small child had her head cradled on Pappy soft belly. The dog lifted his head as Liv entered, his tail thumping against the floor excitedly.

  “Mama!” Elli cried out, the tears starting all over again.

  Liv knelt down and pulled Elli into her arms. “I’m sorry, baby.” She rubbed Elli’s back and held her close as the cries started to give way to gasps.

  For a while she just sat there, Elli in one arm and the other around Pappy.

  Liv’s heart hurt for the small life in her arms. In minutes, the world had turned upside-down. Elli was still exploring the world around her. She hadn’t come to understand it yet. Liv couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to have things suddenly change and not be able to understand or express it.

  As the tears began to dry, Elli sat up and babbled at Liv. Her words were nothing Liv could understand, but the intent and purpose of trying to convey something was certainly understandable.

  Liv brushed a few hairs out of Elli’s eyes. “Baby, things are going to be hard and scary for a while, alright?”

  “Uh-huh.” Elli nodded for a little extra emphasis, her breath still coming in tiny. Liv gave a doleful smile. Though Elli didn’t talk much, she understood a great deal.

  “Mama needs you to be strong and brave, baby.” Liv held Elli’s little hand in hers. “Can you do that?”

  “Uh-huh.” Another little nod.

  “Thank you, baby.” Liv pulled Elli into a hug. “I love you.” Elli tilted her head up as her little mouth formed a circle. Liv smiled wholeheartedly and obliged Elli’s request to give her a kiss.

  Day 2

  2:24 pm

  After a much-needed nap, Liv took the duty belt to the dining room table to get a closer look at the contents. It contained two sets of handcuffs and half a dozen thick zip ties, a radio, a baton, a canister of tear gas, pepper spray, a sleek black pistol, and two full spare clips of ammunition, a Taser, a flashlight, batteries, gloves, a pen and pencil, and a small ring of keys.

  Liv pushed aside the writing supplies. The Taser was a good weapon to defend against human enemies, but the infected were a different story. They could be dealt life-threatening wounds and continue on as though nothing had happened. The weapon would be all but useless. The tear gas and pepper spray would be useless as well. She moved both items into the same pile as the writing supplies.

  The baton could be useful. It would be a handy backup weapon. There were two pairs of handcuffs and a set of keys. Liv moved those into the new pile with the baton. She wasn’t sure what she would use them for, but she was certain they would come in handy. The flashlight was long and heavy with a bright halogen light. Liv moved that to the keep pile as well.

  Liv looked at the two remaining items. She unhooked the gun from its holster and looked it over, her hands gliding over the smooth, dark metal. It had been a few years since she had fired a weapon, and she had never done it more than a couple of times. The first thing was to check the chamber. She remembered hearing somewhere that police officers were required to keep a round chambered while on duty so they could quickly fire their weapon if they needed to.

  Liv flipped the safety on and set the ominous weapon back down on the table. It would be a last line of self-defense. She, however, did not intend to use it against the infected. It was a last resort. If they had absolutely no options.

  With a quick shake of her head, she turned to the radio. The device had been totally silent since she had brought it in. It looked unscathed. She looked over the radio and found that the power switch was still on. After she played with the volume, the familiar soft hiss and crackle emanated from the radio.

  The infected had quickly overrun everywhere that Liv had seen. She had seen a few other people, but they were gone now. The loneliness and isolation had already begun to gnaw at her. Maybe, just maybe, there was someone else out there. Someone who could help them.

  “Hello,” Liv said tentatively as she held down the transmitter. “Is anyone out there?” She released the transmitter and waited. As a child, she had loved to play with walkie-talkies. This one was more sophisticated than the ones from her memories, but the principle had to be the same.

  After another couple moments of waiting, she tried again. “Hello. My name is Olivia Bennett. Is anyone out there?” The radio had to be transmitting on the police frequency. Perhaps someone was still out there who could help them. Maybe there was a safe place close by.

  “Olivia, this is Officer Wyatt Ward of the Cottleville Police Department.” The crackled response was so unexpected that she almost dropped the radio. Liv continued to stare at the walkie-talkie as though it were suddenly a foreign object.

  “Hello, Olivia? Are you still there?”

  The words finally snapped her out of her stupor and she scrambled for the transmitter. “I’m here! I…I wasn’t sure anyone would respond.”

  “It’s nice to know someone else is still out there.” The officer echoed her very thought.

  “Officer Ward.” Liv finally asked the question that had never been far from her mind. “What is happening?” she asked quietly. “Why are people acting so strange?”

  “You mean the sick people?”

  “Is that what they are? Sick?” He had apparently come to the same conclusion she had discussed with Lydia and Nate.

  “That’s what I think but it’s not like anything I’ve ever seen,” the police officer continued. His voice was weary. “If it’s not some kind of sickness, I don’t know what it could be.”


  “Do you know? Is this happening everywhere?” The questions were cautious. Liv wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

  After a moment, Officer Ward responded, “I don’t know for sure. There’s rioting going on all across the city. Outside of that, I haven’t heard much. Just a lot of people in a lot of trouble.” Liv’s heart fell. She had heard something similar but had hoped that it wasn’t true.

  “Was this caused by the riots?” Liv asked tentatively.

  “I don’t think so, but”—Officer Ward let out a deep, long breath—“I think…I think we were so busy worrying about the riots we didn’t see the real disaster coming.”

  The riots. The unrest and violence they brought would have allowed the infected to blend in perfectly. Deranged as they were, they wouldn’t have seemed entirely out of place among those driven to destruction by the rest of the mob.

  Liv’s mind played through the events of the last week. St. Louis had been plagued with dozens of police shootings. The media had quickly whipped the city and the rest of the country into a frenzy with speculation. Initially, the police had shared very few details, but the protesting began and the outcry become deafening.

  Three days ago, the chief of police finally held a press conference to discuss the shootings. He told the public about the erratic behavior of the victims. Aggressive. Unresponsive to commands. Snarling. Snapping. Screaming at the officers. Not ranting and raving, but high shrieks and deep guttural groans.

  Officers shot three more during the chief’s speech. Many of the news stations broadcast side-by-side streams of the chief and the various crime scenes.

  The city erupted into chaos.

  It took a moment for Liv to continue as the thoughts settled into her brain. “Do you think help is coming? Maybe the military.” She desperately tried to hold onto the hope that somehow the world she knew could be restored. That eventually this would be looked back on as dark times through which the nation had prevailed.

  “We were just talking about that. We don’t know. I think help will come if this thing doesn’t become too widespread.” Though his answer had been a bit demoralizing, there was something in his answer that brought her hope.

  “We? There are others there with you? How many?” There were others.

  “There are six of us. Myself, another officer, and four others.” The anguish in his voice was plain and Liv tensed as she waited for him to continue. “It’s about five percent of our original number.”

  Five percent? Only 5 percent of the people at the police station had survived? The numbers were crushing. Liv had seen her share of death over the past two days, but not on that scale.

  “I-I-I’m so sorry. To all of you.” Silence fell over the radio. She wanted to say something. That it would be alright. But would it?

  “Officer Ward,” she finally continued hesitantly, “we need help. I’m trying to get my daughter away from…all of this. But I need help. There are so many of them. I don’t think I can do this by myself.”

  “You have a child?”

  “She’s eighteen months old. Her name is Elli.” Liv looked down at Elli as she crawled about underneath the table. The little girl pushed and pulled at the chairs, entertained by simply testing what she could do.

  “I’m sorry, Olivia.” His words were resigned. “I want to help you but we’re pinned down at the station. We lost control of things so quickly.” His voice was tight, a hint of desperation creeping in. The desperation of a man who was fighting a losing battle. “If we ever had control. Now we aren’t sure how to get ourselves out of this mess.”

  For a long while, Liv stared at the radio. Help wasn’t coming. Not from the police. Maybe from the army. But maybe never. She and Elli were on their own. And the world was terrifying. What were they going to do? How could they ever make it all the way to Slag Stead? Tears began to slide down her cheeks as thoughts of the future became overwhelming.

  Suddenly, Liv shook her head. No. She couldn’t allow herself to fall into a pit of despair. If she did, she would never be able to climb out. Where would that get them? Would she end up like Nate? In the grips of homicidal depression? No. She didn’t want to end up like him. She wouldn’t end up like him.

  After a few deep breaths, she held down the transmitter. “What should we do?”

  “Where are you?” Officer Ward’s voice changed. He became all business as he jumped into problem-solving mode.

  Liv cast about. She had never been good with following directions and tended to navigate more by sight rather than actual street names. Despite that, she thought she had a good idea of where the house was. “I’m on the east side of Highway Sixty-Four. I don’t think I’m too far south of Old Highway Ninety-Four, but I’m not exactly sure. We are trying to get to a farm out past Troy. How am I supposed to get her all the way out there, on foot by myself?”

  “Do you have a car? The highway is probably a mess but maybe you can use side streets to get there a little faster.”

  “I…I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get back in a car.” Liv shuddered as the events of the highway ran through her mind. “Elli and I were caught just on this side of the Boone Bridge when those things just came out of nowhere. Then suddenly they were everywhere. People were running…screaming…dying.” She could picture the little girl staring at her out of the back window of the car. Crying to be saved. To be spared.

  “People were trapped in their cars by the infected or trapped by other people.” She forced herself to continue. “They couldn’t fight, couldn’t escape. They just had to wait to die. I don’t want to get caught like that. The roads are probably jammed up everywhere, and it’s going to get worse throughout the night as more people realize what’s happening. If we hit a jam, we’ll get trapped just like on the highway, only this time there will be more of them and we’ll be by ourselves.”

  “I’m glad you made it.” His words were gentle and kind. “But you aren’t quite out of the woods yet. Let me think a minute about a plan B.”

  Liv leaned back in the ridged dining room chair. Weariness crept in as she tried to relax her tense, achy muscles. But try as she might, she could not get them to relax. For a moment, she began to wonder if she would ever truly be able to relax again.

  She started as Pappy dropped his head on her lap. His big brown eyes seemed to look into her soul as he stared up her, his tail slowly sweeping back and forth across the floor. Liv smiled down at him and scratched his neck obligingly.

  “Olivia, are you still there?” Liv turned her attention back to the radio.

  “Yes! Yes, I’m here.”

  “What about following Highway Forty? Not actually on the highway but off the side. Most of what borders the highway is unused land or residences. There are a few exceptions but it should be where Highway Forty and Seventy meet.”

  The thought of even being close to the highway terrified her. All of the infected roaming around so close by. But she would have to cross the highway at some point. And the path was the most direct route she could take. Being on foot, most direct would probably be her best bet.

  “I think that would work.” She responded slowly, still playing the plan over in her mind. “It would almost be a straight shot to the farm.”

  “Listen, Olivia.” Wyatt’s voice was hushed but urgent. “These…people are dangerous. Really dangerous. Moving around outside with a small child is…” He didn’t have to say it. Crazy. Suicidal. The stupidest thing she could do. But he didn’t say any of these. “Stay under cover. Stay close to shelter. Stay away from them. Be quick and be quiet. Be safe. It’s fight or die. Do whatever you have to.”

  More than anything, she wished she could hug him. His simple well wishes were comforting. “We will. Thank you, all of you, for your help. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.” Liv paused, gnawing on her lip thoughtfully. She owed this man something for his help. But what did she have to offer? “Listen, Officer Ward, when you get out of there, you should head to the farm. I
don’t know if it’s even safe still, but if it is I’m sure that you and whoever is there with you will be welcome.”

  “Thank you. We all appreciate the invitation.”

  Elli tugged at Liv’s pants. She had decided that she had been ignored long enough. “I need to get back to Elli,” Liv said with a reluctant sigh. “I’m going to shut off the radio to conserve its battery. Do you mind if I check back in with you later? Maybe around seven tonight? It would be nice to have someone else to talk to now and then.”

  “Sure.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “It’d be nice to have some outside contact. I’ll talk to you again later.”

  Liv turned a small knob on the side until it clicked, cutting herself off from the only other humans she knew.

  Day 2

  5:16 pm

  Liv had done nothing but pace since turning off the radio. The walls were confining. The clock seemed to be moving slower than ever. More than anything, she wanted to do something.

  Elli pattered around the house with Pappy in tow. She seemed content to explore every nook and cranny of her new surroundings. Pappy was content to shadow the small child, making sure she didn’t get into too much trouble. Each object was new and exciting. It might be similar to something she had seen at home but it wasn’t hers.

  Elli picked up a magazine off the coffee table and began looking through the pages. The shiny pieces of paper tore and crumpled under her clumsy fingers. She tore a few pages out before closing it back up. As she became bored with the pages, she took up the whole book.

  “Mama!” she cried out as she toddled over to Liv. The paper crackled and protested as she mercilessly pulled on it. As Elli approached Liv, she held out the magazine.

  “Thank you!” Liv took the magazine. The pages were crumpled but the magazine was still, for the most part, whole. An idea dawned on Liv as she looked at the battered reading material. Collectively, they were strong enough to withstand what the individual pages couldn’t.