Devour: Death & Decay Book 1

by R. L. Blalock

  The stars, however, were brilliant. Tiny crystals that dotted the sky. Millions more than she had ever seen were able to shine now that the lights across the city had gone out. The Milky Way was a faint, glittering ribbon across the black sky.

  Liv tore her gaze away from the star and looked back at the street. Ferals stood in the street, their only motion a gentle swaying. There weren’t many of them, only a handful or so. She had never seen them stand so still. One close to the house gently sank down to its knees before falling face first to the pavement.

  A quick flash of movement caught her attention, and a gasp of surprise escaped her lips. One of them was still moving. It would rapidly burst forward roughly a dozen feet, pause, and then burst forward again.

  During the next burst, the figure dodged around a small cluster of three ferals and crossed the street. For a moment, it crouched next to the car in the driveway of their house. Then Liv suddenly realized why this thing bothered her.

  “That’s a person!” Liv exclaimed, struggling to keep her volume low. “What are they doing?”

  Corey shook his head. “More importantly, how are they doing it?”

  Liv parted the blinds and looked out the window again. The darkened figure was gone, having disappeared into the shadows somewhere. None of the ferals followed him. They still stood motionless in the street, gently swaying.

  Her eyes darted back and forth as she looked for the illusion—the mirrors that had allowed him to walk no more than three feet from the ferals without them noticing.

  “They’re sleeping,” Jen whispered. “The ferals are sleeping, just like the rest of us.”

  “Sleeping?” It made sense that if the ferals were alive they would need sleep, but Liv was having trouble reconciling that the vicious killing machines would stop for anything.

  “How did we not know this before?” Liv asked.

  “We were scared out of our minds.” Corey stepped back from the window. “Those things made our nightmares come to life. No one wanted to see what they might do at night.” He twitched excitedly. “But it turns out the darkness is our best friend.”

  “There has to be some trick to it. It can’t be that simple.” Jen’s thoughts mirrored Liv’s own.

  “There’s only one way to find out.” Corey took a step towards the door.

  “No.” Jen blocked his path. “No, no, no. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Are you kidding? Based on what we’ve just seen, this might be the least dangerous thing we have done in the last three days!” He gripped her shoulders excitedly. “If this works, we might be able to reach Slag Stead without having to deal with them. We could just waltz across the city to safety! It means we could find everyone else without having to take so much risk.”

  “What if they wake up?” Corey stopped. Clearly he hadn’t thought about this. “If they sleep like we do, then they might wake up like we do. Perhaps for no reason at all. How often have you just woken up, even slightly, in the middle of the night? If that happens and they come after us, we’ll be stuck out there in the dark.”

  “I think we at least have to test it,” Liv finally said. “If it can help us move more quickly and safely, we have to see how we can use it to our advantage.”

  Jen gave Liv a horrified look. “You really want to go out there in the dark with them?”

  “Do I want to? No, but if it is actually safer, then we have to at least try it. We could try right now. There aren’t many of them around. We’ve got shelter right here. One of us could run around in the street, see if they can move among the ferals without them noticing. The other two can stand on the porch, ready to jump into action if anything happens.”

  Jen looked helplessly between Corey and Liv.

  “We don’t have to be afraid.” Corey pulled Jen into a big hug. “Together we can do this.”

  Finally, reluctantly, Jen nodded. “Ok, I’ll test it out. You two can save me if I get my ass in trouble.”

  Liv nodded. “Let’s do this. Quickly and quietly.”

  It only took them a few minutes to gather a few weapons, and Liv offered the heavy policeman’s flashlight to Corey. He took it and they all stepped silently outside.

  “Remember,” Liv said, barely whispering, “if things start to go wrong, we need to react fast. We need to take care of the ones here before they can call others in.”

  Jen and Corey nodded.

  “Alright, here goes nothing.” Corey stepped off the porch.

  After a few hesitant steps, he was out in the open. Jen took hold of Liv’s hand and Liv squeezed it reassuringly. Any one of the ferals in the neighborhood could see him now. One was already facing him, but the monster didn’t move.

  Corey inched out across the grass, slowly approaching the cluster of three ferals in front of the house. When none of the ferals sprang to life, his steps quickened. In seconds, he was in the street circling the ferals like a shark. They continued their gentle swaying, unaware of his presence.

  As he turned to them, the smile plastered across his face was so big it could be seen even through the shadows cast across his face. He excitedly punched a fist in the air.

  “We can do it!” Jen finally caught the excitement. Though her voice was low, her hands trembled as she gripped Liv’s arm.

  “We can do it,” Liv whispered back as a smile spread across her face.

  Corey leveled the flashlight and started fidgeting with it.

  “No,” whispered Liv. The bright halogen light flared on and the feral directly in its path twitched to life. Liv broke free from Jen’s grip and bolted across the yard. Corey lunged towards the first feral, the knife in his hand burying itself in the feral’s eye. As the creature went limp, it fell against another in the small cluster of ferals. Corey was scrambling to keep ahead of the human dominoes.

  As Liv brought her mallet down on the head of a feral, she saw Jen, just a few steps behind her, doing the same.

  A screech echoed through the night. Liv whipped around just as Corey smashed his ax into the final feral’s head in the small group before him. A faint chorus of cries returned the call.

  “Inside. Now!” The three turned and sprinted to the door, throwing it open and slamming it closed behind them. Jen, Liv, and Corey huffed as they leaned against the door.

  “Do we leave or do we stay?” Jen whispered frantically. Elli hadn’t stirred when the door slammed closed. It was amazing what things the child would sleep through, and it was just as amazing what little things could wake her from a dead sleep.

  They looked nervously between each other. “None of the ones that saw us are alive anymore,” Liv panted. “The cry will draw more in, but I don’t think they will know where we are.” Her muscles ached and she struggled just to stay on her feet. “I don’t know about you two, but I am entirely spent. I think we should stay the night and wait for whatever crowd that drifts here to disperse tomorrow. If we stay quiet, then we should be OK.”

  Jen moved to the window to peek outside. “Maybe they won’t be able to get here. They don’t have a direction to follow. Just the one call.”

  Corey nodded. “I won’t be able to sleep for a while.” Of the three of them, he looked the most energetic, the adrenaline high overriding his tired muscles. “I can watch and see what happens. I’ll wake everyone if things start to look bad.”

  They all nodded and the room was quiet.

  “It works.” The words were quiet and Liv turned back to Corey.

  “Excuse me.” Jen’s voice was a venomous hiss. “What world are you living it? Because I’m pretty sure we just nearly got our throats ripped out so you could run circles around the ferals. God only knows what we’re going to wake up to tomorrow!”

  Corey shook his head. “They are sleeping, though!” Corey’s voice was full of poorly contained excitement. “The only reason they woke up was because I turned on the flashlight. Without that, they probably would have stayed asleep.”

  “Thank you for that, by the way!” Jen snapped
. “What were you thinking?”

  Corey shrugged. “We had to test it just in case we needed a flashlight while we were out. Better to test it here, with a safe house close by, than when we would need it and not know what to do.”

  “Well, you could have warned us!”

  Corey grabbed Jen’s wrist and quickly but gently pulled her into a hug. For a moment, Jen went rigid before relaxing into him. “Don’t be so stupid,” she whispered.

  After a moment, they separated. Exhaustion was starting to creep in across Corey’s face. Liv herself was sure that at any moment she would simply fall over and be unable to get back up.

  “Why don’t we get some rest?” Corey said. “In the morning, we’ll figure out how this new development affects our plan of attack.

  Liv nodded wearily and shed her outermost layer of clothes. Careful not to disturb Elli, she collapsed onto the couch, gently wiggling in next to the child. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

  He haunted her dreams. Teeth gnashing just inches from her face with long ropes of bloody saliva dripping down onto her cheek. His skin was pale and pasty underneath layers of grime and blood. His left eye was milky and sightless.

  Her hand was slick with blood as she held onto his neck. Her arms were getting tired. He had been strong before, but now he was unstoppable. Liv hadn’t had much upper-arm strength to begin with, and what little she had was now nearly depleted.

  His change had been violent. His body was riddled with wounds. Large, ragged chunks of flesh had been ripped from their place. His clothing was in tatters.

  She couldn’t hold him off any longer.

  “Colin!” Her voice was a strangled cry. “Please, don’t!”

  She knew it didn’t matter. It wasn’t him anymore. He wasn’t the person she had loved. The person who had loved her. To him, she was a hunk of flesh. Something to infect. A host.

  “I love you.” Her arms gave out and he lunged in toward her neck.

  Day 4

  10:02 am

  Liv was antsy. They wouldn’t make much progress today. Highway 364 was just over three miles north of them. If they traveled a little bit west, they could avoid most of the heavily populated areas. The highway would still be a mess, but at least they could avoid the rest of it.

  Their journey to 364 would take them until about noon. They would rest in a house close to the highway, not just for Elli’s nap but until dark. After Elli was asleep for the night, they would slip her into the carrier and set out across the highway with the hope that she would sleep through the crossing.

  The thought of so much waiting threatened to drive Liv mad. They were so close to her own house. Maybe Colin was waiting for her there. Maybe her parents were waiting for her.

  Liv let out a long, exasperated sigh. She had never been afraid of cars before. They were wonderful. They made her life immensely easier. Now, though, she shuddered at the thought of sitting in one again.

  With a car, under normal conditions, they could reach her home in ten or fifteen minutes. The thought that this journey would take almost two more days was killing her. The idea of getting into a car was becoming more appealing again. Almost. But a lot of the larger roads were jammed up with traffic that might never move again. Many of the side streets only led into subdivisions and nowhere else. Perhaps a motorcycle would be useful, but Liv had never driven one, and she wouldn’t dare make her first attempt with Elli strapped to her back.

  After deciding on a plan for their journey, they had left out of the house’s back door. The house on Westfield Wood Drive had backed onto a stretch of untamed grass and trees. At the edge of this, only about a thousand or so feet away, was Dardenne Creek. The small ribbon of water was larger than the Schote Creek, but it had been brought down to a trickle by a dry summer. They had used the bridge at Henning Road to cross the mostly dry bed and continued north towards Lake St. Louis.

  They had angled west, away from Henning Road and into more untended grass, aiming for a large subdivision. That is where their progress had slowed.

  The ferals prowled around the houses in packs. Some were small clusters of three or four, but when they had spotted a horde of more than a dozen, their progress had slowed to barely a crawl.

  These ferals didn’t shamble slowly. They didn’t drift aimlessly. They were agitated. They stalked about, hunting for prey they could not find. Just like the pack that she had seen chasing the man on the second day. They had seen or heard or caught prey not long ago and they thought more was close by. They simply weren’t smart enough to figure out where, if they couldn’t see or hear it.

  The worst part was the sounds. Moans, growls, and raging screams had surrounded them for the last twenty minutes. The cries frazzled Liv’s delicate nerves. Each screech brought her back to being alert, frantically searching for the source. And they never ended.

  “Get down!” At Corey’s harsh whisper, Liv dropped and flattened herself against the ground. Their progress had been halted once again after only a dozen steps.

  After a moment, she dared to look up. Ahead of them, seven infected looked around wildly as they advanced across the street. Their faces were vicious snarls and grotesque smiles. Liv felt her fingers gather up fistfuls of grass and dirt as a few looked in their direction.

  Would they see?

  The pack moved on and Liv felt herself release a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

  “They’re,” Corey said, his voice barely more than quiet gasps of air, “frenzied. They found someone and they want more.”

  Liv’s eyes rolled around as she tried to see more without actually moving. “By how many are running around, I’d say that they caught a whole group.”

  “Where could they all be coming from?” Jen breathed

  Liv and Corey shook their heads simultaneously.

  “We have to get out of here. This is too dangerous. We have to find some other way around,” Jen whispered frantically.

  “Love.” Corey shifted to watch another pack of ferals. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re everywhere. No matter which way we go now, we’ll have to go through them. It’s like playing a fucking game against a computer,” Corey growled, “and every time we think we’re getting ahead, the computer fucks us over.”

  “There!” Jen pointed to the left. The road was clear, as the ferals disappeared into shadows and trees.

  In a flurry of movement, they popped up and sprinted across the street, aiming for a brick and iron sign that said, “Whitetail Estates.” Elli whimpered at the sudden movement and Liv reached back to offer her a spare binky.

  Almost simultaneously, they dove into the bushes that flanked the sign. Liv looked around. Outside of the trees and tall shrubs, she felt exposed, especially with all of the highly volatile ferals roaming around.

  “We can’t stay here. We have to keep moving,” she whispered frantically.

  Corey slowly rose and peeked over the sign. “Fuck!” He dropped back down so quickly it almost seemed like he had fallen. “We fucked up. We really, really fucked up.” Slowly he rose again and peeked over the edge of the sign. “Who’s ready for the boss battle?” Though his words were meant to be humorous, fear showed plainly across his face.

  Without asking, Liv rose to peer over the sign herself. She had known by the cacophonous roar what she would find on the other side of the sign. Nevertheless, her jaw fell slack as she tried to take in the scene.

  Across the street was a large church. Square and tan with a tall projection of shiny black glass, part of which was presumably the front doors, on the west side. The large parking lot and small roadway that bordered the church on the east side teamed with writhing masses of bodies.

  Hundreds of ferals swarmed around the church like angry bees. Nearest the church, they were packed in closely as they pounded against the building, their arms flailing around wildly above the crowd. Further away, they drifted and stalked about, though they never wandered far. They knew prey was nearby.


  “Oh my god!” Jen cupped her trembling hands over her mouth, terror plastered across her face. “There are so many of them.”

  Liv’s eyes quickly returned to the crowd, darting around as she tried to take in the sheer number of ferals. How many people were inside? What did they think as they looked out at the mass? What must the moans sound like from inside the surrounded building? Were they trying to escape? Had they accepted their fate?

  “Let’s go. Now.” Liv’s voice was barely audible. “We can backtrack a bit and go around.”

  “We have to help them.” Jen’s words were hard.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Corey responded flatly.

  “There are people in there!” Her eyes were wild. “We have to do something.”

  “What? What can we do?” He swept his arm towards the crowd. “We are outnumbered one hundred to one. Maybe if we had a tank or some grenades or…I don’t know! Jen, we have a hammer, a baseball bat, an ax, and a handful of knives. We aren’t soldiers and I’d be surprised if soldiers could make it through there without getting overrun. We wouldn’t last five seconds.”

  Jen’s eyes moved from Corey to the church and back again.

  “We can’t help them,” Liv said firmly. “We’ll only get ourselves killed trying.” She hated saying it. Liv thought of herself as a good person, but over the past few days she had stood by and watched people around her die. And now she was making a choice to do it again. It made her sick. But they didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t see any way for them to survive if they chose to help.

  “Jen,” Liv whispered, pleading with the girl to understand, “I don’t want to die here. We can’t do any good. Even if we try to help, we’ll fail and we’ll die. Those people”—she gestured with her chin towards the church—“need more help than we could ever possibly give. We have to go.”

  Jen’s eyes glistened but the tears didn’t fall. After a moment, she finally nodded.