The Rotten Series (Book 1): Infection

by Lewis, M. Lauryl

  “Your turn,” said Matt.

  I grabbed onto the metal links and hoisted myself up. My ankle was throbbing, but the thought of the dead dulled the sensation. As I swung my first leg over, Matt began climbing. Before I reached the bottom of the other side, Ellis took hold of my waist and lifted me down. The concrete edge of the pond met with the large sound-dampening wall. Crossing that pond was our only way out of the trap. The water was dark and stagnant, which sent a wave of panic through me. Braylen jumped in and began swimming to the other side, followed by Ellis.

  “Gotta get wet,” said Matt, sensing my hesitation.

  “I’d rather not.”

  “Those dead fuckers will be at the fence in about ten seconds. Either get wet or get friendly with them,” he said.

  I shook my head back and forth.

  “It’s okay. I’ll be there with you,” he said. “Jump on the count of three…”

  I took a deep breath.

  “One…two…”

  A heavy weight on my back knocked me off balance, pushing me forward and into the water. I held my breath as I went under. The cold, the dark…the unknown beneath me…not being able to breath. It all came back in that moment and I knew I’d lose it. Before I was able to panic, I was thrust upward and dragged forward. Wanting to scream, for many reasons, my voice was paralyzed. I was silent, just like I was the day I’d nearly drowned so many years ago. When my head finally breached the surface of the cold water, I inhaled deeply. I came up coughing from water in my airway. The voices shouting around me were impossible to make out over the cries of the dead. I was passed from one set of arms to another as I tried to wipe water from my eyes. My feet painfully struck hard ground, but I welcomed the footing.

  “Get her over the fence!” shouted Ellis.

  “They’re almost over,” boomed Matt’s deep voice.

  “Poppy, climb!”

  My eyes still blurry, I reached out and grabbed onto the chain links of the fence. As I pulled myself up, hands shoved on my backside. The groans of the dead mixed with splashing. I looked back over my shoulder as I straddled the top rail; bodies were falling on top of one another as the dead made their way over the fence opposite us. Ellis began climbing behind me and Matt took position beside him.

  “Drop down!” shouted Braylen.

  I threw my other leg over the edge and lowered myself into Braylen’s arms.

  “Head to the left, there’s a house over there,” Braylen hollered.

  I scaled my way down a steep embankment, slipping once on loose beauty bark and gravel. By the time I made it to the pavement at the bottom, the others had already caught up to me. Ellis grabbed onto my arm, almost painfully, and pulled me forward.

  “As soon as you get to the side street on the left, take it,” said Braylen. “I don’t know if those bastards can think but we need to lead them away. Poppy, Ellis, you guys duck behind the cedar fence on that blue two-story house; Matt and I will keep going and double back soon.”

  “Will do,” said Ellis.

  I did my best to keep up with Ellis, but my ankle protested painfully, and I began to slow down.

  “Just a few more yards,” he urged.

  I pushed forward, holding back tears.

  “Here,” Matt huffed. “Give her to me.”

  Ellis stopped, and I fought to catch my breath. Matt lifted me in his arms and tossed me over one of his broad shoulders.

  “Can you go with Bray?” he asked Ellis. “I’ll get her behind the fence.”

  As badly as I wanted to protest, not wanting to be separated from Ellis, I kept my mouth shut as Matt ran with me. As soon as he turned the corner and reached the fence, he set me back on my feet. He pulled on a string that ran through a hole in the gate, releasing a latch on the other side. He grabbed my hand and pulled me through, quietly shutting the gate behind him. I could hear the footfalls of our friends as they ran away from the house. The sound of them running away was nearly immediately followed by the repulsive groaning and grunting sounds of the dead that followed. Matt and I stood as still as we could, not daring to risk being heard by moving even an inch. Scuffling in the gravel on the other side of the gate caused my stomach to drop. The stench alone was nauseating, but when the creature began clawing at the cedar boards I found myself having to put my hands over my nose and mouth to keep from both vomiting and screaming. I looked directly at Matt, who held a finger to his lips to encourage me to stay quiet. The creature’s clawing intensified and was joined by another of its kind. I looked at the gap at the bottom of the gate and could see a total of five feet standing there, the sixth consisting of a foot-and-ankle assembly of a prosthetic leg.

  The monsters began pounding on the fence boards, causing them to thump and bow inward toward us. Matt lifted me into his arms. I held onto his shoulders as he did his best to jump across a small gravel pathway, landing in the lawn; doing so cut down on how much noise we made. An above-ground pool sat to our left, its ladder tipped over and one of the side panels grossly collapsed.

  “Hold on,” he said as quietly as he could.

  He approached a small concrete patio with a single door inset with a small divided window. Toys were strewn about: a play kitchen, a deflated red four-square ball, and a doll stroller. Matt skirted around the obstacles and tested the door knob. Surprisingly it was open. He set me down and we stepped into the home one at a time.

  Matt closed the door behind us, careful to set the deadbolt and lock the knob.

  “We need to stay quiet until we know we’re alone,” he whispered, his mouth close to my ear.

  I nodded before glancing around the room. It was bright with large windows that faced the front street. A king-sized bed with a bookcase headboard took up the far wall, a large flat screen television was mounted on the wall across from it, and the only other furniture was a tall dresser.

  “Get away from the back door in case they break through the gate.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked as he turned and began to step away.

  “Shutting the curtains.”

  He quickly pulled the drapes closed. I backed up until I was against the wall and tried to calm my shaking. I knew it was an involuntary response to an adrenaline surge, as well as a natural reaction to being soaking wet, but it made me feel out of control.

  “I’m headed out front to draw them away,” said Matt.

  “No,” I said, louder than I meant to.

  “We can’t risk them breaking the gate,” he said.

  A scream in the distance caused us to both pause.

  “It wasn’t them,” I said.

  “No. It was a girl.”

  The pounding on the gate ceased and Matt held a finger to his lips. Several quiet seconds passed before we heard a loud thump against the side of the house. Matt kept his finger to his lips and crouched next to the back door, holding a hand out to warn me to stay back. A shadow crept across the wall near him. The only unshaded window was in the door. I did my best to become one with the wall behind me and held my breath. I filled my lungs once again when I saw Matt relax and stand back up.

  The sound of the door lock disengaging was followed by the sound of the door opening and Braylen whispering to Matt. I joined the two men as quickly as I could, concerned that Ellis wasn’t there as well.

  “Where’s Ellis?” I asked, my voice cracking.

  “He’s okay,” Braylen quickly assured me. “He’s right behind me.”

  Before I could ask any more questions, Ellis appeared in the doorway.

  “Shut the door,” he whispered.

  Braylen shut it, and Matt locked the deadbolt.

  “What happened out there?” I asked, my voice quiet.

  “We led most of them away and doubled back. Ellis used a rock to get rid of the three at the gate. He crushed their damned heads in,” said Braylen, his eyes wild.

  I looked at Ellis, for the first time realizing he had blood splattered all over him. “Are you okay?”

  “Yea
h. We saw a couple more stumbling through the neighborhood, though. I think if we lay low and stay quiet they’ll pass by.”

  “We hope so, anyway,” added Braylen.

  “We need to clear this house,” said Matt.

  “Anyone home?” asked Braylen.

  “We haven’t heard anything,” I said.

  “Where’s the stairs?” asked Ellis. “And who the hell has a back door open to a bedroom?”

  “Yeah it’s odd. We should check out the rest of this level, find the stairs, then clear the second story,” said Matt.

  “Did you guys see anyone else out there…I mean anyone alive?” I asked.

  “No,” answered Braylen. “There might be, but I’d imagine people are hiding. Sheltering in place.”

  “Is the gate still standing?” asked Matt.

  “Yeah, we got to it in time. It’s clawed the fuck up but seems sound.”

  “Let’s get this done. I need to lay down and get this damned foot elevated,” I grumbled.

  “You can stay here,” said Matt and Ellis at the same time.

  “Yeah, I’d just be in the way,” I admitted.

  “I can hang back with her,” offered Braylen.

  “No. Seriously. It’s safer to have all three of you up there, together. We don’t know who, or what, is in this house. I’ll be fine staying down here,” I said.

  Without further discussion, the four of us entered a hallway decorated in yellow and blue floral wallpaper. It reminded me of my great-grandma’s house, which I hadn’t thought about in many years. To our left, a doorway opened into a small laundry room painted in shades of blue and cream. About a yard farther down, the hallway ended, and a set of stairs began off to the right. A quick peek into the laundry room revealed no immediate threats.

  “I’ll go first” whispered Matt.

  “Right behind you,” answered Braylen.

  “Me too,” echoed Ellis.

  I watched as the three of them ascended the stairs, one at a time. I took each step slowly, using the rail on my left for support. Ellis paused halfway up the steps and looked down at me.

  “You sure you’ll be okay?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Just try to hurry? Something about this place gives me the creeps.”

  He winked at me and proceeded up the stairway. I listened intently. One of the stair treads groaned as Ellis reached the top. The other two men walked overhead. I expected to hear a struggle of some sort, with either the homeowner or the dead. Seconds passed, feeling like minutes. The occasional footfall on a loose floor board gave me an idea of where the guys were. The sound of a sneeze made my skin crawl. It was small and weak sounding and did not come from above. I turned back toward the hallway and listened carefully. Faint keening, only for a brief moment, sounded from the only other doorway we’d passed. I quietly and slowly made my way back toward the laundry room. Whatever I’d heard was small; at least I prayed so.

  Once I reached the doorway to the small room, I stood there listening. The tiniest mewl came from behind the open door. A cat. It had to be a cat. I hated cats. Still, I couldn’t leave it there to die. I took a slow, deep breath before entering the cold room. I peeked behind the door to see what sort of menacing feline I’d find. A three-section rolling cart held heaps of laundry, sorted into lights, darks, and whites. It was the middle section, full of whites, that made me feel sick to my stomach; bright red blood stood out in stark contrast to the linens. My gut told me to back up, but I was unable to look away.

  One of the towels that hung over the front edge of the cart moved, just the faintest bit. Had I not been looking, I wouldn’t have noticed. Against my better judgement, I stepped toward the receptacle and peered inside.

  My eyes filled with tears when I saw that it was not an animal of any sort, but rather a small child with pierced ears, which made me assume it was a girl. Her hair was cut in a short pixie and dried blood plastered it to the right side of her face. She was naked, as far as I could tell. Her little arms were emaciated, almost skeletal. Her face looked different than any I had seen before: wide-set eyes, a small and narrow nose, a low forehead, and a sunken chin. While she looked like she was toddler-aged at most due to her small size, I suspected she was older. One of her tiny arms reached forward, as if begging me for help. Her eyes seemed to be unseeing, though, and I wondered if she even knew I was there.

  “Who did this to you?” I whispered.

  The child reacted to my voice with a quick inward breath and a startled look to her face.

  “It’s okay,” I tried to soothe. “Give me a minute to think. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck,” I mumbled.

  The little one stopped keening after I spoke. She drew in another breath, which sounded like it got stuck in her throat with a half-groan-half-wheeze. She didn’t take another breath after that. It wasn’t long until her skin turned blue. I wasn’t sure if I should cry or be glad for the poor thing, who clearly had been in pain. Without thinking, I stepped closer and used the corner of one of the towels beside her to nudge her, just to make sure she was really gone. I got no response.

  “Poppy? You okay?”

  Lost in my own thoughts over what I witnessed, I barely heard Ellis’ voice.

  “Hey,” he said softly as he gently placed a hand on my shoulder. “Oh God, what happened?” he asked.

  I wiped my eyes before tears spilled but didn’t look at him. “I heard her crying; I thought it was a cat. She just…stopped breathing.”

  “Oh man. Where’s the blood coming from?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. Someone just dumped her in there…like she was trash. There’s obviously something wrong with her, like a disease or something, maybe to them she was trash?”

  “Maybe they had no choice,” he said. “We can bury her out by the rose bed if you want.”

  “Maybe. Did you guys find anything?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “Yeah. It’s not pretty, though.”

  I finally broke my gaze from the dead child and looked at Ellis. “What is it?”

  “Hard to say for sure who, but someone hung themselves in the master bathroom. They were still hanging there, and still moving.”

  “Alive?” I asked, not sure what he meant.

  He shook his head side-to-side. “Not exactly. Braylen put it out of its misery with a baseball bat. It really stinks up there.”

  I sighed. “What now?”

  “The guys are gathering what they can find from the kitchen. I’m about to head out to look for a vehicle so we can get out of here.”

  “I don’t think we should split up anymore,” I said quickly.

  “Poppy, we have to be realistic. Your ankle isn’t strong enough yet and we need to find a way to get farther from the city.”

  “Let Matt and Braylen go, then.”

  We both turned to the doorway when someone cleared their throat. “No need,” said Matt. “Bray found the garage. There’s an older minivan in here, and the keys were hanging in the kitchen.”

  “It runs?” I asked.

  “Indeed. It’s only got the front seats; looks like it was set up as a work van of some sort. But, the back is empty and the tank’s three-quarters full.”

  “Nice job, man,” said Ellis.

  “Jesus!” exclaimed Matt as he noticed the bloody laundry hamper. “What the hell happened?”

  “Someone dumped a sick kid. I watched her die,” I said.

  “Oh shit,” he said as he covered his mouth with one hand. “We found a note with the man upstairs. It mentioned mercy for someone named Katie. We found a little kids’ room, too. Pink and yellow with flowers. Lots of medical equipment.”

  “Yeah, she looks like she had some intense medical needs,” I whispered. “God, the poor thing…to die like that.”

  “I think we should leave before it gets dark,” said Ellis.

  “Braylen’s packing a few bags of stuff from the kitchen pantry. There’s a little mattress in the crib upstairs. I’ll grab it for the back; it’ll be
more comfortable.”

  “Did you find any weapons?” asked Ellis.

  “Just the baseball bat Bray used on the dude upstairs.”

  “Okay, let’s get the fucking lead out and get the hell on the road. Poppy?” said Ellis.

  I had become lost in my own thoughts. “Huh?”

  “Did you want to bury the kid?” he asked.

  I shook my head side to side. “No, she’s gone. There’s no point.”

  “We need to make sure she doesn’t come back,” I said, indicating the dead girl in the hamper.

  “You guys go ahead and meet Bray upstairs. I’ll take care of her,” offered Matt.

  ***

  The upstairs of the home was in stark contrast to the clean and bright basement. It had an underlying odor of mothballs and vinegar. Orange curtains hung over the front window, resulting in a gloominess fitting of a horror movie. The walls lacked photos but were covered in unusual mosaic tile patterns and clocks that looked like they’d been popular in the 1960’s. Varying shades of sunset yellow, avocado green, and burnt orange were everywhere.

  Ellis grabbed onto my hand and gently pulled me along with him to a small kitchen that looked like something out of the TV show Hoarders: Buried Alive. It wasn’t dirty but was cluttered. Boxes of napkins and paper towels lined the wall behind a small round dining table. A few were knocked over. Shelves that ran up high along the perimeter of the room held odd knick-knacks and silk plants. I sat in one of the two wooden chairs at the table. Ellis bent down and grabbed one of the cardboard boxes that lay on its side. He tipped it the rest of the way over to empty it.

  “I’ll let Bray know we’re almost ready,” said Matt as he continued past the kitchen.

  “What’s the box for?” I asked Ellis.

  “Food, mostly.”

  I watched as he emptied items from the cabinets into the box. There wasn’t much there beyond a couple of boxes of cereal, instant oatmeal, and some random cans. Before long, Braylen and Matt joined us in the kitchen to announce the van was ready.

  “You guys ready?” Matt asked.

  “Yeah, except I really need to pee,” I said.

  The men looked awkwardly at each other.