Devour: Death & Decay Book 1

by R. L. Blalock

  “Alright.” Corey nodded and looked around, getting his bearings. “Follow me.”

  Corey darted towards the closest house, back the way they had come. They had almost reached some large bushes near the front porch when a loud crack split the air.

  “Oh no,” Liv breathed. They all stopped, their heads snapping around to look at the church. The ferals became more excited than ever. They crushed forward towards the doors.

  This is it. As the thought crossed Liv’s mind, the black mirrored glass that marked the entrance shattered, large chunks cascading down in a rain of sparkles onto the heads of the ferals as they surged forward. Now, even the ferals at the back of the crowd pressed forward as their spine-tingling cries rose to a crescendo.

  Then, over the collective moaning of the ferals, she heard it: a chorus of screams, punctuated by small pops of gunfire. Liv’s heart broke for the people trapped inside.

  Suddenly, Jen bolted, running straight for the church and the frantic throng of ferals.

  “Fuck!” Corey swore and leapt after her. Jen didn’t make it more than a dozen steps before Corey caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Jen’s furious scream was abruptly cut off as he clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. As he lifted her off the ground to carry her back, she began to buck and kick wildly.

  “Go!” Corey hissed. He scooped Jen up in his arms and she began to sob against his chest.

  Liv took off west down Bates Road. Her mind worked furiously to pull up a mental map of the streets. She didn’t know the area, but they had discussed the route in detail. She had to keep them headed in the right direction. Their route had kept them out of the most populated areas. If they veered too far one way or the other, they would find themselves too close to a busy road.

  Now, she was the lead runner. Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched for danger. Most of the ferals had immediately turned their focus to the church as the glass gave way. But their howls and groans were drawing more in from the surrounding neighborhoods. Even though the ferals had actively been looking for prey before, Liv, Corey, and Jen could have crept away with none of the ferals ever knowing they had been there. Now, as the number of ferals swelled by the second, and with Jen receding into herself, they had no choice but to run and fight and pray they were fast enough.

  Liv veered off the road just before the next street. Behind the houses that were backed against the church, many of the backyards were open and a thin line of trees separated them from the horde.

  A man stumbled into their path from between the houses, drawn to the calls of the other ferals. He snarled as he saw them. Liv hefted the mallet and swung as she ran by. The same jarring impact ran through her arms that she had experienced on the first night.

  This time, she was prepared for it. Instead of knocking her off balance like before, she slowed down but continued running.

  Elli whimpered at the jolt, but she didn’t cry. The small child gripped the collar of Liv’s jacket tightly in her tiny fists. Liv smiled. She was resilient. At the same time, though, this resilience brought a pang of sadness. Elli shouldn’t have to be so strong. She should be able to cry if she was afraid, to have her mother hold her and tell her that it would be alright.

  “Liv! At your ten!” Corey’s shout ripped her from her thoughts and she chided herself for losing focus. Another feral had run around the corner ahead of her. It was a woman dressed in a torn and dirty t-shirt and bloodstained jogging shorts. The woman screamed viciously and sprinted at them.

  Liv charged forward with everything she had. The gap closed with frightening speed. At the last second, when the woman was no more than a couple feet in front of her, Liv sidestepped.

  The woman barreled straight past Liv, now headed for Jen and Corey. Corey skidded and stumbled, trying to suddenly change direction and struggling under the added weight of Jen in his arms.

  Liv swung the mallet up in a high arc and brought it crashing down on the woman’s head. The feral’s forward momentum made her tumble forward and roll, like a throw doll.

  Corey stared blankly for a moment at the motionless figure.

  “Come on!” Liv motioned him forward. “We have to keep moving!” Finally, Corey started forward with a jerk.

  A few houses ahead, a pack of seven or eight ferals ran from between the houses. Liv threw herself into the cover of a large gas grill. She desperately tried to control her loud gasping breaths as they wheezed in and out. Certainly the ferals would hear her and come to investigate.

  After a moment, Liv slowly peered around the edge of the grill. The pack of ferals continued to push towards the trees and the church, towards the snarling calls of the others.

  “Fuck,” Corey swore. Liv snapped around to look at him and Corey nodded his chin in the direction they had come from. Behind them, more ferals were emerging from between the houses in packs of twos and threes.

  They were surrounded. If the feral glanced in their direction, they would be spotted.

  Where are they all coming from? Liv’s mind spun around the sheer number of ferals in the area. They hadn’t come across anything like this before.

  “Fuck!” The grill wobbled noisily. Corey rocked back on his heels as he lost his balance, knocking the grill as he fell back against the house.

  The pack ahead of them stopped and spun almost in unison. Out of the corner of her eye, Liv saw the ferals behind them turn towards the sound.

  “Get up! Get up! Get up!” she hissed as she helped pull Corey to his feet. They scrambled around the corner of the house and out into the street. More ferals trickled in from the surrounding houses.

  “Oh my god,” Liv puffed as she looked about desperately. “Where are they all coming from?”

  “It’s been a couple days.” Corey’s eyes darted around as he searched for an opening. “People have had more of a chance to get themselves killed. People aren’t smart. They aren’t going to stay indoors. I mean, look at us.” He had a point. However, the extent of the spread of the infection was more than Liv could comprehend.

  How much of the world’s population was infected?

  How many more would die?

  “There!” Liv pointed to a gap that opened up as two packs of ferals merged into one horde. She sprinted forward. Even as they moved towards the opening, the ferals closed in around them.

  We are screwed. She swung the mallet as a feral tried to intercept them from the side. But she was slow, her arms were tired. Instead of hitting the man’s head, the heavy head of the mallet smacked into the man’s side and knocked him over.

  She wanted to put the heavy weapon away. Using a knife, however, would force her to stop when dealing with the ferals, and they needed to keep moving.

  A loud explosion ripped through the air, sending Liv sprawling to the ground. Her ears rang, drowning out the moans of the ferals. Slowly, painfully, Liv pushed herself up. The ground shifted uneasily beneath her.

  Smoke rose up from just on the other side of the trees that separated them from the church.

  Corey was sprawled out behind her, with Jen unmoving at his side. Panic slammed into Liv like a train. They had to get up. They had to get moving. All around them, the ferals had been thrown to the ground as well, but many were already pulling themselves up again.

  As Liv scrambled to her friends, Corey began to push himself up. The sounds started to slowly seep back into Liv’s ears as the ringing slowly subsided. Elli howled on Liv’s back. Though her cries would attract attention, Liv was relieved to hear them. If Elli was crying, then she was alive and conscious.

  “What was that?” His voice was faint. Liv just shook her head unknowingly.

  Corey’s eyes grew wide as they fell on Jen, motionless on the ground next to him. He shook her shoulder hard. Though her head lulled with each shake, Jen’s eyes slid open, unfocused and hazy.

  “We have to go!” Liv grabbed Corey’s shoulder. Some of the ferals were on their feet now, and the rest were getting up. Corey scooped up Jen an
d they darted off between two houses.

  Day 4

  12:13 pm

  Liv’s arms ached. Her back ached. Her legs ached. Her whole body ached and her lungs burned from exertion. They had covered only two more miles before stopping for Elli’s nap. Corey had carried Jen the entire time. When the tears had stopped, she had slipped into her own quiet world. Liv had cut the path for them. She had lost track of how many ferals she had dispatched. But their progress hadn’t been entirely straightforward. Many times they had to stop and hide as a pack of ferals wandered by.

  Finally, as they had neared Highway 364, they had found a house to rest in. Now, Liv cradled Elli in her tired arms as she tried to sleep on yet another unfamiliar couch. Except, sleep wouldn’t come. Just as her mind relaxed and she began to drift off, the screams from the church began to echo through her brain and she jolted awake.

  Liv glanced down at Corey. He sat on the floor with his back propped up against the couch. Jen slept with her head cradled in his lap. His fingers trailed gently across her forehead and through her hair as she slept.

  “How’s she doing?” Liv said quietly.

  Corey let out a long sigh. “I think this is just too much for her.”

  Liv nodded, though Corey couldn’t see the gesture with his back to her. “This isn’t easy for anyone. I would bet she isn’t the only one who is struggling to cope with everything.”

  Corey shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. Jen can’t cope with bad situations.”

  “What do you mean?” Liv prompted when Corey didn’t continue.

  For a moment longer, Corey just stared into the dark room. “Jen is the kindest person I’ve ever met. She cares nothing for herself. All she wants in the world is to help everyone else.” He rubbed his face in exasperation. In that moment, Liv could see just how tired he was. The utter exhaustion showed for just a second before the mask of stoicism fell back into place. “Jen has to help everyone. She does everything. Volunteers at homeless shelters and soup kitchens. She coordinates food drives and other fundraisers to get necessities. Jen has even flown to places around the world to help after natural disasters.”

  Corey sighed as he looked down at the girl sleeping in his lap. “She thinks everyone can be saved. She thinks it is her personal mission to save everyone.”

  “That’s very noble,” Liv said quietly.

  Corey shook his head. “No, it’s an obsession. She is destroying herself to do it. She can’t hold down a job because her charity work always takes priority. The sudden changes, all of this”—Corey gestured with a hand to the unfamiliar home—“has only made things worse. Now she has to decide. She wants to save the people, of course, but she still thinks that even the ferals can be saved. And she can’t choose. She has to save everyone.” He sighed heavily. “It’s going to get her killed.”

  Liv didn’t know what to say.

  “I don’t know what to do.” Corey’s words were halting and strangled. “I can’t convince her that we can’t save everyone. I shouldn’t have to. Her passion was noble three days ago. Yes, we struggled to keep our own heads above water, but who could really blame her for wanting to help those who are the worst off?”

  Liv blinked away tears that formed in the corners of her eyes. “And you think it’s your job to take care of her while she takes care of everyone else.”

  Corey tensed for a moment, then relaxed and nodded. “If we’re being really honest, I don’t really want to save anyone. Just her.” He sighed and his shoulders slumped as though saying it out loud made him feel better. “I don’t really know how we ended up together.” His words were quiet. “I mean, I’ve never really cared about helping anyone. I didn’t try to hurt anyone. I just didn’t go out of my way to help either. And then along came Jen. She was just so…” He lost himself in the memory.

  Finally, he shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. “She is just so optimistic and upbeat. You can’t help but love her.” Liv could see his cheeks rise as a small smile turned the corner of his lips up. “But I’m happy just helping her so she can save everyone else.” He looked back down at Jen as he stroked her hair.

  He chewed on his lip for a minute before continuing. “I didn’t want to save you,” he admittedly quietly. “I just want you to know that I’m glad we did. I really am. I thought it was too dangerous. But Jen insisted. We didn’t even know you had a baby. We hadn’t heard her crying. We were getting ready to cross Highway 94 from the opposite side when Jen saw you creeping between the cars. For a minute, we just watched and you were doing pretty well. I had thought we’d just wait for you to pass and then cross ourselves. Then they saw you. Jen was frantic. She just darted away before I could grab ahold of her.”

  Liv let his story sink in. The way Jen had acted today was dangerous. It could easily have gotten them all killed or infected if Jen had managed to draw the attention of the ferals when she panicked. But had it not been for one of Jen’s crazy, altruistic meltdowns, Liv and Elli would have never survived.

  “Regardless of whose idea it was,” she started slowly, “you both have helped us a lot. We wouldn’t be here without either of you. To be quite honest, it’s just nice having someone to talk to. Not to feel so alone.”

  Corey nodded. “It’s been nice having you guys around.” He was silent for a moment before continuing. “I’m just afraid that she’s cracking, like the window at the church. Eventually, she is going to break.”

  “I think it’ll be easier for Jen once we reach Slag Stead. There should be other people there and then she can focus all her energy helping there. She won’t have to choose. She can just help people.”

  Corey nodded. “We just have to get there first.”

  “We’ll get there.” Liv nodded firmly. She had to believe it. If she were to believe anything else, she wouldn’t have any reason to get up again. “Just a few more days. Once we pass by my house, a lot of it should be open until we reach Troy. At that point, we’ll be right around the corner.”

  For a long time, Corey was silent. Exhaustion pulled Liv’s eyelids down and she wiggled deeper into the couch as she got comfortable. The soft cushions and cloth were exactly what her tired muscles needed.

  “Hey, Liv.” Corey’s voice was soft as she drifted off to sleep.

  “Hm.” Her mind struggled to find real words as the darkness of sleep crept in.

  “Thanks.”

  Liv smiled, or at least she thought she did. “Any time.” The darkness closed in as Liv drifted to sleep.

  The street was quiet. The street their home sat on had never been noisy, but without the normal background noise of the city, it was too quiet. Further down the street, Liv could see figures shuffling about and she quickly dashed across the street and through a front lawn.

  She breathed a sigh of relief as she gripped the knob of the familiar red door. Her door.

  The door was unlocked and she shouldered the stiff, old door open. Everything looked just as she’d left it. Their furniture was nice but not fancy. The rooms didn’t have a coordinated theme. They were decorated with random knickknacks that she and Colin had acquired over the years. Pictures smiled down at her from the walls. Some were just of Elli, some were of their little family, and the rest were larger family photos with grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. A few toys were strewn across the floor where Elli had dropped them before they left what seemed like ages ago instead of days.

  Suddenly, Colin rounded the corner. He smiled broadly at her.

  “I’ve missed you. What took you so long?” He held out his arms to her and she ran towards him, forgetting everything that she had been through to reach him.

  Day 4

  3:35 pm

  “Mama!” Elli cried excitedly as she wiggled about. Liv nuzzled the wiggly child and opened one eye.

  “Hi!” Elli’s big smile was just inches from her face.

  “Did you sleep well, baby?” Liv asked sleepily.

  “Uh-huh.” Elli
scrambled over Liv and let herself down off the couch. Her footsteps trailed off as she ran towards the kitchen. Liv sat up and stretched. She was still tired and her muscles still ached, but it had become more bearable.

  “Whoa there, turbo. Whatcha looking for?” Corey asked.

  Liv stood up and followed the voices into the dimly lit kitchen. Both Corey and Elli stood with their heads in the refrigerator. Elli stepped back, a frown on her face, then pointed up to the freezer. Corey pulled it open and Elli began to dance and squeal with excitement. In front of the other frozen foods sat a gallon carton of vanilla ice cream.

  Corey glanced sideways at Liv, raising his eyebrow. Liv simply shrugged. What could a little ice cream hurt?

  “I think you have the right idea, kid.” Corey pulled out the ice cream and began to rummage through the kitchen for some bowls and spoons.

  Liv left Elli’s delighted squeals behind and went to search for Jen. She sat on a bed in what looked to be the master bedroom, holding a small frame in her hand. Though her eyes were cast down onto the picture, she seemed to be a million miles away. Gently, Liv sat down beside her.

  The photo featured three children. The oldest was a girl who looked to be about thirteen years old, and the youngest was a boy of about eight. They smiled at the camera with the big goofy grins that children wore when they were truly happy underneath identical locks of sandy-blonde hair. All the children wore pajamas as they clustered together for the photo.

  Behind them, the lights on a Christmas tree created bright spots on the background and as she looked closer, Liv noticed a thick layer of crumpled paper coating the floor. She smiled at the picture. A treasured family photo from Christmas morning. Her parents had several similar ones of her and her sisters.

  The picture looked old. Not terribly old, but at least a decade or so. The children would probably be about Liv’s age by now.

  “They look so happy,” Jen murmured. “Where do you think they are now?”