The Rotting Souls Series (Book 3): Charon's Debt

by Ray, Timothy A.

  She reached over to the broken monitor embedded in the back of Marisol’s head and drug another piece of broken glass free. She cut a finger in the process and the blood mixed with the dead woman’s, making her sick. Not that her hand being pressed into large intestines wasn’t already making her want to vomit, but somehow, she had to find a way to push through it, to finish it before it was too late.

  She crawled to the old man’s side and placed his head in her lap. “I’m sorry Rodger. I’m so sorry. I tried,” she sobbed.

  “I know,” Rodger told her, his eyes finding her, but also looking like he was seeing passed her as well. “I don’t blame you. You did everything you could. Now please, finish it. Let me go to them. Just promise me,” he croaked.

  She nodded through her tears. “I’ll take care of her,” she promised, knowing that Wendy was who he was referring too.

  That poor girl, she had lost her entire family in minutes.

  “Oh, they don’t make movies quite this good,” the monster said from the video monitor. In rage, she grabbed a drawer that was sitting on the floor next to Ben’s body, which held the syringes Rodger had tried to use, and flung it at the man’s face. The screen shattered upon impact and the man’s laughter followed after. “Oh dear, oh dear, aren’t we pissed? I’m sorry, did I ruin your Hallmark moment?”

  The video suddenly cut off. Jenn’s puffy face came into view and she said softly, “found a way to shut the fucker up. I’m sorry I’m not fast enough. Nowhere near as fast as Ben would’ve been,” she sobbed, then disappeared from sight.

  “Whatever happens, you kill that son of a bitch. Not Todd, not Mark—you. Find him—make him pay—for what he did—here—today. Promise—me!” Rodger begged through gasping breaths. He had blood flying from his mouth and his hand was trying to find hers.

  “I promise,” she replied, then leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “I’ll miss you, old man,” she smiled, then slid the glass into the back of the man’s head as his lungs took one last gasp of air. His eyes unfocused and began to glaze over. She made sure it was all the way in and then sat there, crying, holding his head and rocking herself. “I promise,” she cried over and over again, wanting to make sure that his departing soul heard her. “Whatever it takes.”

  She heard movement from behind her and she looked to see Lucy hovering above her. Her hands had become claws, her jaw opened wide, as her corpse surged forward to tear her apart.

  There was a loud bang and the old woman’s head blasted apart, spraying her with brain matter and blood. She gagged from the tissue trying to force its way down her open mouth and spit violently in response.

  Lucy fell on top of her dead husband and son with a sickening thud.

  She turned and saw Mark standing in the doorway, a .45 in hand, panting like mad. “I think—we should get rid—of the airlocks,” he managed, then fell backward and landed on his ass, out of breath.

  Mark glanced back the way he came and pure horror filled his face. He raised the gun one last time and fired. “May God forgive me,” he said, dropping it to the ground and raising his hands to his face. Then he broke out into tears. “I just shot a baby, a goddam baby,” she heard him whisper and she remembered Marisol’s dead child in the hallway.

  Covered in gore, she gently laid Rodger’s head on the bloody tiles and got to her feet. Her hands were bleeding. She absentmindedly grabbed some gauze from the cart and wrapped her wounds as she walked towards the grieving friend that had just saved her life.

  She stepped into the hallway and gently shut the door behind her, cutting off the horror of what had just happened from view. She didn’t look down the hallway; if it had been enough to break this guy to pieces, then she didn’t need to see it either. She got down on one knee and embraced him. “Thank you,” she whispered, trying to convey her gratitude for saving her life.

  “You don’t get to thank me for that,” he returned, his breath hitching as he tried to control his grief.

  “Thank you for saving my ass,” she told him softly, trying to forget as fast as she could that half their original group was now dead; the loss too fresh to really sink in just yet.

  He just nodded. “It was the fucking airlock and that four-minute timer. I wasn’t far behind Rodger. I heard you yelling and came running, but I had to wait for that damn thing to let me through. I’m telling you, we need to take that shit out. It probably cost everyone here their lives.”

  She heard someone yelling at her and suddenly realized those voices she had heard had come from the phone in her back pocket. Had she butt called someone? How long had they been there? What had they heard?

  Steeling herself for the conversation to come, she took the phone out and saw that her husband was on the line. Before she got up, she made sure Mark was looking into her eyes; she wasn’t going to leave him thinking he was at fault here.

  “No,” she whispered, the hate starting to grow inside her. It was a nasty feeling, but it was intense and full of power. She didn’t want to welcome it but as she thought back to everything that had just happened, the people they had lost, she mentally threw open her arms and embraced it for all it was worth.

  “Sean cost them their lives,” she growled. “And I swear to you, I’ll take his in return.”

  Then she stood up and put the phone to her ear.

  Chapter 30

  Bad Tidings

  Todd

  The Thing, AZ

  They had already cleared the building and Joseph was gassing up the Humvee while he talked to his wife on the phone. He had heard most of what had happened and could only yell and scream in response; unable to physically do anything to prevent the chaos that was going on at home.

  Home? Was that even what it was? How could he consider that when his friends had just perished within its walls?

  Rosilynn sat in the front seat, the door was ajar, and he was leaning on the side of the vehicle with his head down and tears streaming down his face. He felt her arm on his shoulder and he took solace with the comfort it provided. He had nearly lost his wife and he hadn’t been there to stop it! What was he doing out there? His place was there by her side. He shook his head and ended the call. Monica had a lot to deal with there and she couldn’t get about it as long as he had her on the phone.

  There was no turning back now. They were just over an hour away from their destination and if they pulled a U-turn and headed home, all of this would have been for nothing.

  We need to get a fucking plane!

  “All of them?” Rosilynn asked softly. She had drawn closer than a mere friend would and he was too bothered by what was going on to notice or care. “Ben, Lucy, and Rodger?” she asked, a tear of her own sliding down her face and falling from her chin.

  He nodded, trying to control the inner turmoil that was trying to burst through. They were between two cities, under constant threat from all manner of living and undead, and it was no place to break into a fit. The moment his guard was down something else would happen, that was the way their luck seemed to be going. It was not something they could afford.

  “And Marisol and her baby,” he commented sourly. He had barely known them, yet the death of that infant hurt almost as bad as the friends he had lost.

  “How?” Ros asked, just as confused by the turn of events as he was.

  He looked to see where the others were and was relieved that the two of them were alone for the moment. His son had gone inside with his grandfather and Sabrina. They were checking for supplies and refilling their water bottles. Joseph had finished pumping gas and had gone along to provide protection in case anything bad happened.

  “Ben got the system restarted enough to unlock the doors, but for some reason he didn’t get the ventilation turned back on and he died from lack of air. Monica got it restarted correctly, but it was too late. While they were trying to revive Ben, Marisol reanimated, and everything just went to shit from there. The only reason Monica is alive is sheer will, luck, and the timely arrival of
Mark on the scene. If not for him—,” he tried, but finally broke down in grief. He felt her arms wrap around him, pulling him close. He lay his head on her breasts and she placed her chin on the back of his head, her hands running up and down his arms, trying to comfort him. He didn’t feel it; the anguish was too much.

  “Do you want to go back?” Ros asked softly. “No one will fault you if you do. They’ll understand.”

  He shook his head slightly and she only sighed in response. “We have to go on,” he told her finally as his sobs subsided. “Otherwise, they died for nothing. We have to get there, find a plane, and get it back to the compound. It’s the only way we’ll make that son of a bitch pay for what he’s done today.”

  He felt her lips on his cheeks; she was kissing his tears away.

  “Ros,” he protested.

  “Sshh,” she whispered and she turned his face towards her and continued kissing them away. Her lips found his and they parted only slightly, the hot tearful breath caressing his lips. Then she pulled back, ran a hand through his hair and smiled. “You know you two are more than friends to us,” she reminded him. “Her pain is mine, as well as yours. A bond was given and not so lightly taken back,” she whispered, then got up out of the seat, winked at him and went to find the others.

  He was out of breath and not sure what to think. He and his wife had always been closer to Ros and Matt, had even done some unorthodox things from time to time, but he hadn’t known just how much they felt the same until just now. He had been so wrapped up with his newer relationship with Samantha, had seen Rosilynn so rarely, that it never occurred to him to check to see where they truly stood.

  The last few times they had been together though, things had become more intimate. As they were more open and free with themselves, true feelings had developed between them. He knew that he had come to love them as much as his own family; Matt like a brother, Rosilynn as a lover. There was no jealousy between any of them, a bond created and an understanding shared.

  Now as he watched her walk away, he allowed himself to be momentarily distracted. Then his phone rang again and thrust him back into the reality that was tearing him apart.

  “Hello?” he answered. He saw from the ID that it was his wife calling and knew that she definitely had the intuition; their lives together somehow making them feel each other even from this distance. They had never been apart more than a day the entire time they had been married, and he wasn’t going to let anything change that now.

  “Hi baby,” his wife said, sounding stronger than before.

  “Hey, I was just thinking about you,” he said, forcing a smile.

  “I know you were,” she said softly. “Listen, some of the others want to stay in the houses tonight, can you think of any reason not to let them do that?”

  His mind tried to come up with a worthy reason, but he got nothing. “We should be okay for a bit, just make sure there are people up in those towers. I know you’re a bit light handed—.”

  He had to stop.

  As he was trying to think his way through the problems, he had momentarily forgotten the horror that had just passed.

  “I’ll take care of it,” his wife responded and he could tell that she had been just as shaken as he had been by the momentary lapse. “We are taking Rodger’s family to the funeral parlor, we’ll wait to you guys back to hold a service. Some of the new people are helping us to clean up, I just couldn’t go back in there. Not right now.”

  “I understand Hon, I do, but you have to get Ben’s laptop at least, someone needs to keep an eye on things. Do we know if the other compounds made it?” he asked.

  “Jenn for sure, I don’t know about the others yet,” she replied. “I’ll call her on my cell, see if she has an update. We’re taking care of things here, you just be careful out there.”

  “Before you go, do me a favor?” he asked.

  “What’s that?” his wife paused, hesitant.

  “I don’t know if we’ll be back before nightfall and with everything going on—why don’t you have Matt bunk with you guys tonight, I’ll feel safer knowing he’s around,” he told her.

  Truth was, he didn’t want the big guy by himself for too long, someone would have to keep tabs on him. With Lucy gone, Michelle was the only one there skilled enough to do much more than apply first aid, and she didn’t seem in too good of shape when he left.

  “Got a guilty conscience?” his wife asked, and he could swear she was smiling.

  “What? Why?” he stammered, but she only laughed.

  “I’m just teasing you. You know I don’t care about any of that, they’re family. Of course I’ll look after him tonight. Just remember what you’re out there to do. Check on Ruben, get my mother and sister, then find a plane, in that order. No fooling around until that’s done.”

  He laughed. “How could you talk about something like that at a time like this?”

  “One, because I know you and how you think. And if I don’t say something now, you’ll just tie yourself into knots when you don’t have to be. Two, because there has to be something light about the world right now, because Honey, all I’m seeing is dark,” his wife commented.

  “What is going through that mind of yours?” he asked, suddenly worried. There was something off in his wife’s tone.

  “Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Oh, by the way, I promised Rodger I’d look after Wendy, so don’t be surprised if she’s in bed with me when you get home,” she changed the subject and now he knew that something was up.

  “Dear,” he pushed.

  “I said it was nothing. Now stay safe, and remember, Ruben, Mom, sister, plane, in that order,” then she hung up.

  He knew instantly why she ended the call. They had very little in the way of secrets between them and there was definitely something she wasn’t telling him. If he had her on the phone for just one more minute, he might have been able to guess what it was. He thought about calling her back but he got the feeling it’d just go to voicemail.

  “Monica, what the hell are you doing?”

  Chapter 31

  Heroine

  Monica

  Compound 2

  She had sensed him catching on and knew that she had to get off the phone quickly or else things would slide out of her control. He may be away, but he could still call some of the others, try to find some way to stop what she already had planned, and she wasn’t going to let that happen.

  “Mom, he’s fine,” she told her mother-in-law. “All three of them are. They are parked outside the Thing and they’ll be through Benson shortly. They needed gas.”

  The older lady was cleaning her wounds and rewrapping her hands. “There may be another way you can help tonight though. I might need someone to watch the kids.”

  “Why, where you going to be?” she looked up. She had heard her side of the conversation so she already knew that something was going on. She had to find a way around that, no need for her to call her son and tip him off.

  “I’m going to help keep watch in the towers. He wants me to stay inside tonight, but I just can’t. I need some air. We are a bit short-handed at the moment and I’m not going to ask any of them to do something I won’t do as well,” she responded with her prepared lie.

  Even if one of the towers wasn’t manned, it wouldn’t make much difference. With Morenci being protected to the south and the route north covered by that paramilitary group, there was little chance that something would go wrong. Enough had already happened to last a thousand lifetimes.

  “Uh huh,” she said, her eyes appraising her. “Of course I’ll watch them,” she said after a pause. “The little girl too. Tonight, I think she’s going to need as much comfort as we all can give.”

  “Mom you don’t have to do that, I was going to ask Jim and Patty to watch her tonight, they already offered,” she protested lightly. Truth was, she hadn’t said anything to them yet, but she had to make it look like she at least had another plan or the older woma
n would be resistant to believe the rest of what she said.

  “Nonsense. If you two are going to end up taking care of her, then it’s better she start spending time with the other kids, and me as well. I just wish—,” Lynn stopped, her eyes misting.

  She knew that she was thinking of her sister-in-law. They had moved to California a few years ago and nothing out of that state showed promise for any survivors. “You know what they say, no news is good news,” she tried to comfort.

  “When Henry went off to Vietnam, I got told the same thing. It felt just like this; the not knowing if they’re alive or not. Whether a letter will come in the mail or a chaplain at the door. I just wish there was a way to tell for sure, one way or the other. The thought of the three of them out there in this—don’t take me wrong, I’m glad your mom and sister are okay, but I wish there was just a chance we could—,” then Lynn broke into tears.

  She hugged her then. There was a lot of that going on tonight. She didn’t let her hands touch the old lady’s back though, they were still a bit tender from the cuts she received from the glass shards. “I know Mom. Don’t give up hope. I almost did. You never know,” she said with a smile, then stood up. “I need to check in with the others, get things moving.”

  The older lady nodded and moved away to go and find her grandkids and Sam’s children; they’d be bunking together tonight, whether they wanted to or not.

  She had almost forgotten that her husband was out there as well and her heart went out to her. Then she let her nerves calm, her emotions still, and she picked up her phone, scrolled up a few calls, then hit redial.

  “Hey Jenn, listen. I need to know if there’s any way to shut off the compound’s systems externally. Have we found a back door? Some way to hack in? That’s right, I am. Well, I swore I would. Uh huh,” she commented then listened. The other woman was talking a mile a minute and it was hard for her to understand everything she was saying. “I don’t understand the jargon Jenn. Just give it to me straight. Okay. Well shit, on site? Well how we going to manage that? Huh? All right, I’ll wait for your call. Let me know.”