Boneyard Rumblers

by Gina Ranalli

  “I smell rubber burning,” Bliss said, his eyes on the road. “What are you thinking about?”

  Cash had to come up with an answer that would sound reasonable. “I’m just wondering about the old guy. Cotton. Where he got off to. And how.”

  “Really? That’s what you’re thinking about? Not the fact I just told you I’m your father?”

  He faked a laugh. “Well, yeah, I’m thinking about that too. I have to say though, I’m not 100% surprised. I mean, I was surprised, but the more I think about it, I’m really not. We’ve always been like peas in a pod, haven’t we?”

  “Sure enough,” Bliss agreed, waving smoke out of his face. “Roll the damn window down more, will ya?”

  Cash did, unconcerned with the rain water whipping into his face as a result. It felt good. Cold and refreshing. “What do you really think happened to Cotton?”

  “That’s a question, ain’t it? Can’t say I know for sure but I got a suspicion.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “Well, I’ll tell you but you gotta keep it to yourself for now. Don’t want the others getting wind of my ideas.”

  “No worries.”

  Bliss shifted in his seat. “I think we got a traitor in our midst.”

  The words hit Cash like a punch to the gut but he was a professional at remaining neutral when he had to. “What makes you say that?”

  “It’s probably my own fault. I don’t know. Guess you do the best you can but somewhere along the line, no matter how good you raise them, some of them turn out bad. You know what I’m saying?”

  Cash got that Bliss was trying to make a joke but he was having trouble faking the smile. “Not Walt. He’s too fucking dumb.”

  Bliss bellowed laughter. “That he is. No, not Walt. He might be dumb but he’s loyal till the end. Like an old dog, that one.”

  “Who then?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  Cash bit his inner cheek and waited.

  “Opal!” Bliss said finally. “Don’t know how or why but that one don’t like me far as she can throw me. Probably her upbringing or something. She thinks she’s as good, if not better, than any man, dead or alive.”

  Casually smoking his cigarette, Cash nodded. His mind was racing but he didn’t know what to say.

  Bliss went on. “No wonder she killed her old man. That should have tipped me off right there. I wasn’t thinking big picture, you know?”

  “Yep. Always gotta think big picture.”

  “And now we have the other one to worry about too. Willa. She’s about as threatening as a wet napkin. No good to us.”

  Cash flicked his cigarette butt out the window and rolled it up. Bliss went on talking but Cash let his mind wander, focusing on the taillights of the RV in front of them. Opal was going to take the fall and that was a good thing. He just hoped she didn’t convince Bliss she was innocent, which she might, seeing as she was. He realized just how long of a ride it was going to be and lit another smoke. He’d been on a lot of long rides with Bliss but no other had left him feeling so uncomfortable and like such a turncoat as this one.

  He was almost grateful for the distraction when Walt crashed the Indian motorcycle a few minutes later, skidding it into oncoming traffic right behind them. Cash turned in his seat fast enough to see the bike go under an SUV, Walt still holding on, as the vehicle bumped over it before spinning out of control and rolling onto the side of the two lane highway.

  But then he realized he wasn’t almost grateful at all. He was completely grateful. It would give him more time and time was the only thing he needed right now.

  CHAPTER 26

  Helena felt as though the devil himself was stirring her guts around with a red hot poker, using her body as his own personal cauldron. Quinn was behind the wheel of the Cherokee, having taken over almost immediately. She found driving to be more challenging than she thought. She was trying to dampen the pain by downing Tylenol, two every two hours or so, washed down with Mountain Dew to help her stay awake. Both items had been bought at a gas station when they’d stopped to switch places, taking advantage of the opportunity to grab a few things as well as fill the tank.

  Now, she had the computer in her lap, holding it with one hand while the other cradled her abdomen where the claws had torn her open.

  She felt like shit. There was no denying it now and every so often Quinn would shoot her a glance and ask if they should stop yet.

  He kept using that word: yet. And he was right to. She wasn’t going to last much longer, certainly not the whole night, but she planned to hold on as long as she could. Then, maybe a hotel room. Or maybe an emergency room. She wasn’t sure. The point was to keep going right now. Get as close to the monsters as possible.

  About an hour after they’d hit the road, Nick had called, informing them Sam was now in the hospital but Nick was still doubtful he would survive the night. Helena gave him Sam’s phone number so he too could track the phone via computer signal and he assured her he was only two hours behind them. Maybe less.

  It made her feel better but she knew the odds were stacked against them. She would be useless in a fight and Quinn, while skilled, just didn’t have the experience yet to take down even a couple of the beasts. He would do damage, of that she was sure, but he’d take more than he gave and ultimately be defeated.

  She hated thinking so negatively, but she had to be a realist. Pretending they had a chance would only get them killed quicker. What they really needed was more hunters.

  Helena scanned through the contacts in her phone and tried everyone she knew. They needed an army to descend upon the monsters, pull a sneak attack and end them all. Unfortunately, she so far was unable to get hold of anyone close enough to help them out. More and more, it seemed it was just going to be her and Quinn and, with luck, Nick.

  They were screwed.

  Glancing down at the laptop, she felt a tiny surge of hope. “They’ve stopped.”

  “What?” Quinn asked. “Where?”

  “Probably about an hour up the highway. Maybe a motel or a gas station?”

  “I doubt they need a motel since they have the RV. Could be gas.”

  She switched the screen to Google maps, zooming in as close as possible. “Nope. No gas station. Looks like they just stopped in the middle of nowhere.”

  “I hope they didn’t find the phone and chuck it out the window.”

  She didn’t reply. If that was the case, then once they reached the spot, they might as well just turn around and go home. But she couldn’t think about that as a possibility right now. Going home would not only mean defeat but it would give her little to think about besides Sam and she didn’t want to think about Sam. Not yet. She just wasn’t ready.

  “Drive faster,” she said.

  Quinn looked trepidatious. “The road is pretty slick, Hel.”

  “Drive faster.”

  He stepped on the accelerator and they roared forward, the speedometer leaping ahead twenty MPH. It wasn’t quite fast enough to please her, but it was better. She had to think about Quinn’s life. She didn’t want him dying in an avoidable traffic accident. That would be on her, probably even more than him dying in battle would, and that was already on her.

  Weaving around what little traffic there was, Quinn stared grimly ahead, his hands tight on the wheel. They didn’t speak. They’d turned off the music long ago. They both knew they were almost certainly headed towards their deaths. Helena thought how insane it was. Most people run from their deaths, refusing to even acknowledge their mortality, but here they were, facing it head on, practically begging for it. What the hell was wrong with them? For the first time she wished she was oblivious to the truth. Wished she was leading a normal life, whatever that was. A partner, she supposed. Maybe kids. A job that actually paid and no one gunning for her every minute of every day. Peaceful sleep.

  She wondered briefly if such a life would ever be possible for her. She knew it wouldn’t though-not now-but it was a nic
e fantasy, she supposed.

  Out of the blue, Quinn said, “Did I ever tell you about my first girlfriend?”

  She looked at him. “Umm…no.”

  “We were fourteen. Freshmen. Man, she was gorgeous. Long red hair. She reminded me of Barbara Gordon. You know who that is?”

  “Batgirl?”

  “Yep. Batgirl. Super smart. Made me feel like an idiot and I had a 4.0 every year of my life. She had a fucked up family though. Parents were divorced, mostly absent father, alcoholic mother. Real mess. But it was love at first sight. I’m not even sure I believe in love at first sight anymore, but there it was. The real deal.”

  “Sounds nice.” Helena hoped there was a point to the story but even if there wasn’t at least it was passing the time.

  “We went steady for four years. Graduated together. Through thick and thin, you know? One of those type deals. We were even planning on going to the same college. That was the plan.” He said the last sentence with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

  “I take it that didn’t happen?”

  “She killed herself the summer after graduation. Pills in the tub. Text book shit. And I had no fucking idea why. None. I never saw a single hint that she was so unhappy. All of a sudden I felt like my life had turned into an Afterschool Special. I was the moron who’d been completely blindsided. Stumbling around in the dark. Totally fucking ignorant.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”

  “Everything changed. I changed. I knew then there was shit in the world I just couldn’t see, especially because I didn’t know I should be looking for it. Watching for it. I had no idea I needed to be on guard all the fucking time.”

  Helena said nothing. It was probably the best course of action.

  Quinn said, “That’s why the first time I saw one of them I wasn’t all that shocked. Surprised, yeah. But ever since my girlfriend died, I kind of had this weird vibe about everything. Like we’re all living in an episode of The X-Files and we just don’t know it. And there they were, feeding on some guy under a bridge, ripping him to shreds while I was sitting there drinking a bottle out of a paper bag like a fucking wino. All by myself. It could have been me they decided to eat. They probably would have eaten me. And then you and Sam showed up like goddamn fucking ninjas.”

  Helena laughed at that, causing her to wince in pain and press her hand to her stomach again, but she couldn’t help it.

  “I’m serious,” Quinn went on. “You two just came out of nowhere and started slaying monsters with your blades, just kicking the shit out of them. You had no fear and it was fucking amazing. Like something out of a movie. And I knew then that yeah, shit was fucked up and we were all screwed in the ass no matter what, but there were people in the world who were doing everything they could, laying their lives on the line to keep people safe from these things.”

  “I remember one of them got away.”

  “Didn’t matter. Not to me. Not then.” He shook his head for emphasis. “I just wanted in. I needed a reason to keep going and you guys gave it to me. I know we might die tonight. Or tomorrow. Or whenever, I guess. Soon though. Sooner than most. But I’m okay with it. As long as we take a few of them out with us.”

  She reached over and squeezed his knee. “Well, I’m glad you feel that way because we should catch up to them in about a mile.”

  He smiled at her, a doomed, but somehow happy smile. “Awesome.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Walt’s skull was crushed and that was a new one for Bliss. He wasn’t sure the big guy could come back from it.

  Both the Bronco and the RV were parked on the side of the road, opposite the overturned SUV and what remained of his motorcycle. He hoped no other traffic would come out of the night before they could scrape Walt off the sidewalk and out from the undercarriage of the SUV.

  “I don’t know,” John said, looking down at Walt’s caved in head. Half of Walt’s face was gone, smashed back into his skull. It was a grisly sight for sure.

  Bliss and Cash stood by, not sure how to proceed.

  “What a dumbass,” Bliss said. “I loved that bike.” It was nothing more than twisted metal now and he mourned the loss. “How the hell am I gonna find another one like it?”

  “Beats me,” Cash replied.

  Opal and Willa were standing by the Winnebago, both of them smoking. Bliss had given them instructions to attack any vehicle that stopped at the scene of the accident. So far, only one car had driven by and Opal had waved it on, making a show of holding a cell phone and implying help was already on the way. The car had gone on its way without incident.

  “Well,” Bliss said to John. “Pick him up. Put him in the RV. Cash, go check on the driver of that SUV. I doubt anyone could have survived in there, but you never know, what with seatbelts and airbags these days.”

  Both men did as instructed. Cash examined the inside of the SUV and shouted back, “Nope. Deader than dog shit over here.”

  Bliss nodded and turned to watch John carry Walt’s body across the street to the RV. There was a flash of light from the woods on the far side of the road with an explosion an instant later. Bliss watched as John’s head evaporated in a cloud of red mist and bone fragments, and his body fell, Walt crumpled on top of him.

  “Holy fuck!” Cash yelled, ducking behind the crashed SUV. Bliss was closer to this vehicle than he was to either the Bronco or the RV so he charged towards it in a crouch as another explosion rocked the night.

  Who the fuck was shooting at them? And with what?

  Didn’t matter. It had to be hunters but where had they come from? How did they know the Rumblers were here? And what the fuck were they shooting at them with?

  John twitched in the street but it was clear twitching was all he’d be doing for a while. Another head injury Bliss was unsure there was any coming back from.

  “What do we do?” Cash asked.

  Bliss wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, thinking. They would have to attack and unlike the hunters they didn’t need weapons. They were weapons.

  He dared to peek around the vehicle and saw that Opal and Willa had disappeared. Probably hiding in the RV, he guessed. Fat lot of good that would do any of them.

  Watching the tree line, he waited for another flash of light. It would give them something to aim for when it came. Of course, running out into the open was going to be tricky work. He leaned back again. “How long would it take you to get to the RV?”

  Cash frowned. “Less than fifteen seconds probably. But going out there is suicide.”

  “You see we got another choice?”

  After a moment, Cash reluctantly said, “No.”

  “We have to try. One of us makes for it and the other watches to see where they’re shooting from. Sound like a plan?”

  “Let me guess. You want me to be the one running, right?”

  “You’re probably faster,” Bliss said.

  “Son of a bitch.” He paused, shook his head. “Okay, fine. But you’d better be right behind me.”

  “I will be,” Bliss agreed sincerely.

  Cash took a deep breath before jumping up and running for it. Bliss waited for the blast to follow, but none did.

  “What the fuck?” he muttered, peeking out from behind the SUV again. Cash was already about ten yards from the RV and Bliss wondered if maybe the hunters were reloading. Or maybe Opal had attacked? That seemed to be too much to hope for but he wasn’t going to waste any more time. He leapt to his feet and began to chase after Cash, who surprised him by bypassing the Winnebago altogether, heading straight into the trees.

  That’s my boy, Bliss thought, following. They’d both jumped over John and Walt and from what Bliss saw on the way by, he didn’t think there was much hope for a recovery. Certainly not a fast one. He couldn’t think about that now though. He shouted Opal’s name as he ran by the RV, hoping she would take the hint and join the battle. Cash was already somewhere in the woods, unseen, and still there was no expected blast fr
om the tree line.

  Bliss breeched the woods and almost ran straight into Cash who’d stopped short for some reason. It took a second but then Bliss saw why. Two hunters stood about fifteen feet away, mostly camouflaged by the darkness. One-the woman-wielded a sawed off double barreled shotgun, pointing it straight at Bliss’s face. He skidded to a stop, colliding with Cash and nearly knocking him over in the process. Cash held his balance, whirled around and suddenly Bliss felt a fire in his belly, just beneath his ribs on the right side. He looked down to see a blade in Cash’s hand, just as he was pulling it out of Bliss’s body.

  Bliss looked up into his son’s face with amazement. What he saw there was unrecognizable and full of such pure hatred Bliss wondered how it had been so well hidden. How had he not known?

  Luckily, despite the surprise, his instincts were still razor sharp and he spun low, reversing direction, weaving like a snake, expecting either another stab, this time to his back, or a blast from the shotgun to take off his head.

  Sure enough, an explosion came, missing him by inches, nearly leaving him deaf in his right ear and then he hit the street once more.

  Opal was there, running towards him.

  “Go back!” he shouted. “Go back!”

  Although he didn’t consider her to be particularly bright, in this instance she did exactly as she was told, grabbing a dazed looking Willa by the arm and dragging her back to the RV.

  Bliss made a beeline for the Bronco, which he’d thankfully left running. Another blast rocked the Winnebago, punching a hole through the metal towards the back.

  He realized he was ducking, holding onto his hat as he ran, repeating the word fuck over and over in his mind.

  He reached the Bronco, yanked the door open and flung himself inside across the front seat, landing on his stomach. He screamed, the pain knocking the world away for a moment, but then he regained himself, pushed up into a seated position and stomped on the gas pedal, swerving around the back of the RV, clipping it with his right front bumper, causing sparks to fly up.