Devour: Death & Decay Book 1

by R. L. Blalock

  Liv shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe they have found someplace to hole up and try to ride this out.”

  A pained expression crossed Jen’s face. While Liv’s words were meant to be comforting, she realized that they were anything but.

  “Maybe they were in the church,” Jen said morosely.

  Liv nodded slowly. “Maybe.” She wanted to tell Jen that everything would be alright. That they would be alright. That their families would be alright. But she couldn’t. In an instant, the world had become frightening and violent. People were dying all around them. Nothing was guaranteed anymore.

  Jen looked back at the picture and the happy children in it. “It’s all gone, isn’t it?”

  Liv sighed. “At least for a while, I think.” Jen continued to stare at the photo, as if willing it to become reality. “The world has never been a truly pretty place.” Liv’s mind raced as she tried to latch onto thoughts, praying she wouldn’t talk herself into a depressive corner. “Bad things have always happened. Three days ago these bad things came. For everyone.” She paused a moment, playing with a stray thread on her shirt as she thought about the events of the last few days.

  “But that doesn’t make the world a terrible place. It is what it is. What we do with it is up to us.” Jen perked up a bit, turning her attention away from the photo and towards Liv for the first time. She had finally found the thought she needed, and Liv latched onto it with everything she had.

  “There are a lot of people that need help right now. The entire world needs help right now. We just can’t help everyone.” Jen slouched again, the weight of the world and its problems bearing down heavily on her shoulders.

  “That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t help anyone, though. We can help. We just need to be realistic about what we can do. If we focus our attention on certain aspects, we can do some good, save some people. It won’t end there, though.” Liv took Jen’s hand, desperately trying to pull the sweet girl out of her spiral without leading her on with false hopes and promises. “Perhaps if we save a few people, they will help others. And those people might help a couple more.”

  Liv took a deep breath and looked Jen directly in the eyes. “Not everyone can be saved, but if we use what we have and do what we can, we can save some of them.”

  Jen seemed to be debating the idea. “Ok,” she said slowly. “We’ll do what we can.” She nodded to herself.

  Liv breathed a sigh of relief, though she tried to let it out quietly. “Corey and Elli are having ice cream for lunch. Are you hungry?”

  Jen smiled. “I could definitely go for some ice cream.”

  They stood up together and walked back to the kitchen. It was empty.

  “In here!” called Corey, his words a bit garbled.

  “Mama!” Elli exclaimed excitedly.

  “Oh my god!” Jen’s eyes brightened and she hid a smile with her hands.

  Corey had a spoon, heaped high with a gigantic bite of ice cream, halfway to his mouth. Elli was digging straight into the cardboard tub with her fingers. Ice cream dripped off her face and coated her shirt and arms up to her elbows.

  “What?” Corey asked as he swallowed the mouthful of ice cream. “I figured if the world is ending, ya know, what’s the point of bowls? This one”—he gestured to Elli with his spoon—“seems to agree with me.”

  “What the hell?” Jen shrugged. She disappeared for a moment and reappeared with two spoons, offering one to Liv. “I don’t mind eating straight from the carton, but I don’t really care to dig in with my fingers like the little miss.”

  Jen plopped down onto the floor and dug in with her spoon. Liv sat down across the small coffee table and began to dig in.

  “Uh-oh!” Elli looked down at her fingers, slowly closing and opening them. She looked back up at Liv and held out her hands. “Uh-oh!”

  “Really?” Corey looked at Elli. “You just now figured out that’s problem?” He laughed as he took another bite of ice cream.

  Liv groaned and stood up. “She’s not even two yet. She sees ice cream and thinks, ‘Oh boy, sugar!’ That’s about the extent of her planning.” She found a washcloth underneath the sink in the kitchen and wet it with a small splash of bottled water.

  “Corey has the same kind of thought process.” Jen nodded, looking at him mischievously out of the corner of her eye. Corey glared at her, the spoon in his mouth.

  Liv knelt down and wiped the washcloth against Elli’s face and arms as she protested. The girl didn’t like to be messy, but she also despised being cleaned. Her shirt was a disaster. Damp and sticky, it would have to be changed before they headed out again.

  As Liv plopped back down into her seat and reached for her spoon, Elli’s hand shot out and she snatched the spoon from the ice cream.

  “Really?” Liv asked as Elli giggled maniacally and began licking the spoon.

  Liv began to rise again, but Jen pushed her back down. “You keep the kids in check, I’ll get another.” She jumped up and returned a few seconds later with another spoon.

  “Thanks.” Liv dug in and returned with a heaping spoonful of ice cream. The frozen food was a little slice of heaven. The delightful cold of the ice cream was bliss compared to the sweltering heat and humidity outside, made worse by the layers of protection they had donned.

  “So,” Liv said after a few bites, “I thought maybe we could all use a little break after the last few days.” Jen and Corey nodded but waited for her to explain before they said anything. “I think we’re all pretty tired and I know I’m sure as hell not used to this much walking and running.” Liv toyed with her spoon nervously. She wasn’t really sure why she was stalling, but she was nervous to bring up her idea.

  Swallowing her fear, she plunged forward. “I was thinking we could wait here until dark to cross the highway. After we cross Three Sixty-Four, it’s two and a half or three miles until we reach Seventy. Elli will be asleep, the ferals will be asleep, and I think that gives us a better chance of crossing both highways without any complications.”

  Corey nodded again but it was Jen who responded. “I don’t know how much I like going out in the dark with the ferals out there. We can’t use a flashlight. What if they wake up?”

  “The night looks like it should be pretty clear. At least, there aren’t any clouds around right now. The moon isn’t full but with all the stars out we can at least see where we are going once our vision adjusts. I mean, it’s still dark out, but if we take our time, it might even be easier than moving around during the daylight.”

  “I think we should give it a try.” Corey set down his spoon and leaned back on the sofa, seemingly satiated. “If things get a little hairy, we can hole up somewhere and figure out where to go from there. Our progress has been pretty slow so far, so it’s not like we’ll actually lose time trying this out.”

  “And,” Liv started, “if we push on for about another two and a half miles after we cross Seventy, we can rest for the day at my place. The area has just a few small subdivisions and some pretty small farms. It should be relatively safe. After we leave there, it gets even more sparse, just road and open country.”

  Jen nodded. “I guess we could try it.”

  Day 4

  9:12 pm

  “This is…a lot more frightening than I thought it would be.” Liv’s voice was barely a whisper as they crouched behind a car on the south side of Highway 364. “I didn’t really think it would be a walk in the park, but I’m starting to think I was a little unstable when I proposed this plan.” She took deep breaths as she tried to steady her racing heart.

  The low light cast by the distant stars was not nearly bright enough to banish her fears. While the ferals stood motionless in the streets, in the tall grass, and between the abandoned cars, she couldn’t relinquish the fear that one of them, still moving, would stumble upon them and alert the others. The long shadows created in the dark night played tricks on her mind. Were the shadows moving? Was it the wind? Was it a feral? Should they hi
de? Should they keep pushing forward?

  And the night was incredibly dark. Darker than she had imagined night could be. She had been camping before. Been to areas where the only light was from the moon and the stars. But this was different. The houses were empty, their porch lights unlit and their windows black without occupants to turn them on.

  They could see a few sparse lights—whether from streetlamps or the timed lights from businesses that still had power, they couldn’t tell. These few lights weren’t bright beacons of hope. They were a stark reminder of what was missing.

  “I will be more concerned about anyone who comes out of this with their mental health intact,” Corey whispered.

  “Well,” Jen whispered, her voice so low it was barely audible, “we might as well get going. I certainly don’t want to wait around to see if it’s going to get any darker.”

  They all nodded, though Liv almost couldn’t see the head movement.

  They stood and inched forward. Corey went first, taking his usual position in the lead. Liv followed him, her hand on his shoulder as she gripped a fistful of his jacket. Jen was at the rear, holding the edge of the plastic sled on Liv’s back.

  Instead of verbal communication, they used their close proximity and the shifting of the person ahead of them to direct their path. Corey, the one who could see what lay before them, forged ahead.

  Liv had lulled Elli to sleep earlier that night. It hadn’t been easy. Even after the exhaustion of the last few days, the little girl had resisted sleep as though it were her mortal enemy. Once Liv was sure that Elli was sound asleep, Corey and Jen had crept in and helped move Elli to the carrier on Liv’s back as smoothly as possible. Elli had stirred but had been lulled asleep again quickly. Liv hoped that the gentle swaying as they walked would keep the child asleep through the night.

  Liv’s grip on Corey’s shoulder inadvertently tightened as her feet brushed against the asphalt. Cars loomed out of the darkness like icebergs in the sea.

  One of the shadows resolved into a feral merely feet from them. Liv suppressed a yelp.

  The monster just swayed gently on its feet.

  At that moment, Liv was grateful that the darkness kept its features in shadows. She had seen the horrific wounds they bore and she didn’t care to see more than she had to. Yet, the ones that looked untouched, whose wounds were small or hidden, were worse. They still looked human. Sometimes hardly even sick. It became hard to view them as monsters rather than people.

  Corey swerved suddenly to the right. Without thinking, Liv sidestepped to follow his path. Just inches from her, one of the ferals hungrily gnashed its teeth in its sleep. Liv shuddered and shied away from the creature, feeling Jen following her motions behind her.

  Corey quickly stuck out his arm, warning her from moving too far to the right. Her head snapped around and directly on her other side was another feral. Liv threw her arm out against Jen, sending the same warning.

  With the horrors to her sides, Liv refocused her attention to the back of Corey’s head.

  Just step where he steps, she thought. Just do what he does. Don’t look around. There’s no need to look around. You’ll be fine.

  Her steps were small. Not shuffling, but short, low, and slow so she could detect any change in footing without tripping. Elli had taken great delight watching them practice the small steps in the house, giggling and shuffling after them as they walked through the rooms.

  Now, as Liv slowly inched forward, she felt her feet slide into the grass. They had reached the large median that divided the east and westbound lanes. They were halfway across. Like Old Highway 94, the grassy median was snared with clusters of cars. Some were smashed together in failed last-ditch efforts to escape. Others had simply pulled off to the side.

  Several times Corey stopped suddenly and turned to the side as he found a feral blocking their narrow path between the cars.

  Time seemed to stretch on. Even though the crossing seemed to be going as well as planned, Liv couldn’t help the tension that invaded every muscle fiber. Until they were out of the mess and more free to move about, she couldn’t relax.

  Finally, her feet hit asphalt again. The other side. They were almost there. With each small step, the fear eased away, replaced with giddy excitement.

  Without warning, Corey froze. The unexpected halt almost caused Liv to run right into him. His shoulders heaved up and down as his breathing quickened and his head turned side to side. Liv’s breathing quickened as Corey’s panic began to infect her. What did he see? Carefully, she leaned to the side to peer around him.

  She couldn’t breathe.

  “Back up,” Corey hissed.

  With a quick motion to Jen, they spun around 180 degrees. Jen led them to a cluster of wrecked cars and they threw themselves behind them.

  “What happened?” Jen whispered. Though hidden from many of the ferals, they could still be heard.

  Liv peeked over the car door through the broken window. The figures were indistinct silhouettes now, lost among the trees and tall grass. Her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the figures, willing them to be nothing more than shadows.

  “What happened?” Jen asked more urgently when neither Corey nor Liv replied.

  Corey looked around wildly. He and Liv locked eyes and she could see the sheer panic in them. But they couldn’t say anything.

  “You trust me, right?” said Corey. Jen’s eyes grew wide. Fear seemed to make her smaller than her already delicate frame and she nodded silently. “I need you to trust me. Absolutely. I need you to do exactly what I say. Do you understand?”

  “What is going on?” she begged.

  “Do you understand?” Corey’s words were harsh and fearful.

  “Yes,” Jen said meekly.

  “Good.” Corey breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, I’m going to carry you for a while and I need you to keep your eyes closed.”

  “I don’t understand.” Jen looked to Liv for answers.

  “It’s better.” Liv nodded. If Jen saw what lay ahead, it would destroy her already fragile psyche.

  And it was true. Of all the horrors she had seen recently, she would give anything to have never seen what was spread out before them.

  “Do you understand?” Though Corey’s voice was calmer now, Liv could still hear the underlying panic. “Alright.”

  Corey stood up and held out his arms to Jen. She approached him slowly and he scooped her up in his arms. After a moment, he thought better of it and instead shifted her so she lay over his shoulder.

  With a nod to Liv, they turned and started forward again. Liv led as Corey followed her with his hand on her shoulder.

  They hadn’t retreated far, and soon the shadows once again began to resolve themselves.

  Out of the darkness, the form of a small boy appeared. Shadows hid the finer details of his features and, in that moment, Liv had never been so glad they had decided to do this leg of their journey at night.

  The boy sat on the ground, his small head barely coming to her knee. His legs splayed out before him as he gently shifted back and forth. His left leg ended abruptly just before knee in a mess of raggedly torn ligaments and tendons.

  Liv turned from the boy, trying to block him out of her mind.

  Even as she tried to divert her attention, another feral caught it. There was a cluster of the creatures near a larger opening between the cars. Three of the ferals were tall enough to be adults. Around them clustered about a dozen smaller shadows. They surrounded a large yellow school bus that had tipped onto its side in a large crash that included at least a dozen other cars. The kids must have been going to or from some summer program when the outbreak occurred.

  Liv swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed forward. A car reared up out of the darkness to block their path, and Liv shuffled sideways around it. She could feel the tug of Corey’s hand on her jacket as he followed her. After what seemed like too long, the cars finally gave way to a narrow opening.

  They had t
o turn sideways to squeeze through the narrow openings between the cars. Liv slowed down as Corey twisted and turned to make it through the gap while juggling Jen. For just a moment, Liv steeled herself before turning to face forward again.

  They were off the highway now, facing a small hill that backed against more houses.

  Against the starry sky, the black shadows of the ferals looked down at the three. They lined up along the edge for as far as Liv could see in either direction. The ferals swayed slightly as they slept.

  Liv plunged forward, tears stinging her eyes. Too many of the dark silhouettes were too small. If she thought about it too much, she would lose her nerve and run.

  The hill was steep and she dug her feet into the dirt to keep her balance. At the crest, Liv slowly stood upright. She sucked in a quick breath with a hiss and slapped her hands over her mouth to prevent any sound from escaping.

  The other side was a thick mass of swaying bodies. Many of them were small. They were a mass of teenagers and younger children interspersed with a few adults.

  They aren’t children anymore, Liv repeated the words like a mantra in her mind. It didn’t matter what they had been before. They were monsters now. Sleeping monster that could wake at any second and rip them to pieces. Nevertheless, tears rolled down her cheeks as her eyes swept over the dark faces of the lost children.

  Liv turned this way and that as she moved through the crowd, careful not to touch any of the closely packed ferals. By morning, they would be a horde large enough to rival the one from the church.

  Behind her, Corey’s steps faltered and Liv whirled around. In the darkness, Corey held up his hand and motioned for her to move forward.

  They crossed the backyard of the house using an intricate dance pattern, their footsteps zigzagging as they wove their way through the ferals.

  Beyond the houses, the ferals began to thin out and Liv breathed a sigh of relief. Their pace quickened as they hurried away from the scene behind them.

  She and Corey sprinted across Feise Road, the openness a welcome change from the claustrophobic highway as they ate up the distance.