Humanity's Edge Trilogy (Book 1): Turn

by Kohler, Paul B.

  “It’s horrible. They never mentioned how much you want to get drunk when you think all is lost,” Alayna said. “But it’s really the first thing you want to do. To forget.”

  Clay nodded slightly but kept his thoughts to himself.

  Moments later, Ralph and Connie appeared, looking chipper, as if they drank like that all the time. They began bickering, with Ralph cutting in front of Connie and pouring his cup of coffee first. Connie balked back, insisting that he didn’t care about her feelings—that if those “monsters” out there ever attacked them, he would push her ahead and leave her for dead. Ralph didn’t disagree. Alayna and Clay ignored them, turning back to the heat of their own brimming coffee cups. As they sipped, the rest of the crew joined them, searching through the meat and cheese drawers, cracking eggs, and formulating a breakfast—enough for everyone to feel nourished for the long day ahead.

  It became obvious that the one person who hadn’t joined them thus far was Megan. Alayna leaned heavily against the wall, unable to eat, even as the smell of the eggs and cheese and meat steamed through the air. Clay, who had joined her, heard her stomach rumble, and he held a piece of ham out toward her.

  “Where is she?” he asked. “You spent the night together, right? Even though you were fighting?”

  Alayna shook her head. She tapped the coffee mug back on the countertop, noting that everyone had turned toward her, waiting for her answer.

  “Don’t look at me,” Alayna snapped, ensuring everyone could hear her. “She slept somewhere else last night.” She shifted her weight, allowing the silence to boom in the kitchen.

  But Daniels soon swamped over it, his voice heavy. “Well, I guess it’s time for me to fess up.” He rested his hands on either side of his waist, assessing Alayna, his eyes glassy and alien. “But she came to me of her own goddamn will.”

  “You think I don’t know where she went?” Alayna said, scoffing. “I saw her drift toward your drunken form early this morning, sometime after two. You looked like a complete mess, like a broken man cradling your whiskey bottle.”

  “Now isn’t the time for insults,” Daniels said, hunching his shoulders.

  “Well then, where the hell is she, if you were the last person to see her?” Clay demanded. He had to regain control.

  “When I woke up this morning, she was gone,” Daniels shrugged, eyeing the doorframe, visibly wishing for Megan to arrive. “Just like that.”

  “I suppose you two slept together, then,” Alayna said, her eyes wet.

  The silence stretched on once more. In the corner, the green Doctor Miller began to cough. Spittle propelled from his mouth and dribbled down his shirt. Connie happened to notice and tended to him promptly. Clay looked on and felt utterly useless. He knew the sooner they combed through the town, the sooner they all could get the hell out. Irritated, he wondered if Megan was somewhere upstairs, holding up the process.

  “No. I mean, I don’t think so,” Daniels said then. “We just talked. We finished off some fucking whiskey. And then—I must have passed out.” He coughed, rubbing at his near-bald scalp. “It wasn’t anything like that.”

  “Sure,” Alayna said, her eyebrows high. “As if you’ve given me any reason to believe you.”

  “Believe me,” Daniels said. “I was lying on the same spot on the floor in my bedroom when I woke up. The same spot on the floor I was when I last remember talking with her.”

  Alayna fumed with anger. She spun toward the door, visibly shaken. “I’m going to go look in your room myself, if you’re so sure about this. I have to make sure you didn’t do anything to her. You’re a stranger to us, here, Adam. You could be a monster, for all we know.”

  She flashed her eyes toward him a final time before pounding up the steps, her back stiff, as the rest of the team gazed after her.

  “Is this just how all lesbians act?” Ralph asked, coughing.

  “Don’t be so crude,” Norah said, prodding him with a single, bony finger. She filled her coffee cup and balked at Daniels, showing yellowed, coffee-stained teeth. “Aren’t you going to go after her? Show her everything’s all right? You’re a lieutenant, here, Adam. And it seems you’re the one who’s causing all the problems.”

  Daniels eyed the old woman briefly before drifting toward the doorway and out into the hotel. He bounded up the steps to follow Alayna, leaving Clay and the rest of the team below.

  Clay shoved his fists into his pockets, feeling each of Daniels’s steps on the rickety staircase, hoping they’d find Megan without delay—and that they could work quickly so they could join their loved ones far, far away.

  “Lesbian bullshit,” Ralph spat in the corner before chewing a slab of salty ham. “There’s a reason we don’t mess with them at the church. God didn’t want them to stay alive.”

  “Quiet,” Clay growled, his voice harsh. “I’ll take none of that bullshit here.”

  The team stood frozen, their ears straining to catch any sounds from upstairs. A single, harsh scream sounded out, causing Clay’s heart to burst against his ribcage. It was clear that the camaraderie of the previous evening had diminished, leaving only bumping headaches and wretched hangovers. He yearned for the end of the nightmare.

  Chapter 39

  Daniels appeared in the kitchen doorway moments later, his eyes wide. “Sheriff, we have a situation.”

  Clay brought his hand to his gun, sensing more of the crazed crawling through the streets, their teeth aching for blood. “What is it?”

  Alayna appeared beside Daniels then. She shuddered with panic. Together they looked like twins, joined with a common, terrible truth. “She’s gone,” she blurted, biting her lip.

  Daniels swallowed harshly, then, in a booming voice that echoed across the kitchen, said, “Megan is nowhere to be found. But that’s not the worst of it.”

  Alayna nearly collapsed beside him, her knees bucking forward. Norah gasped, rushing forward and wrapping her frail arms around her. “Darling, get ahold of yourself,” she whispered. “Jesus.”

  “I—I can’t believe she’d do this to me . . . again,” Alayna braced herself. “I thought she was past her issues . . .” she said, her voice trailing off.

  Beside her, Daniels wrapped his arms around both Norah and Alayna, ensuring they remained standing. “We checked all the rooms. Megan’s gone—along with the device.”

  “What?” Clay asked, stepping forward. “The device that was meant to—”

  “To free us from this containment zone. Yes,” Daniels said, finishing Clay’s observation.

  “You must have misplaced it,” Ralph said, eyeing him haughtily. “Maybe you left it up in the bar last night?”

  Daniels didn’t turn toward him. “The device is gone, Sheriff.”

  Clay felt the internal terror rally once more. “Where the hell could it have gone, then, Daniels?”

  “I suggest that Megan might have taken it, sir,” Daniels answered, standing at full attention now.

  “NO!” Alayna screeched beside him. “She may be deceitful at times, but she’d no more leave us in a perilous situation than I would.”

  Clay’s team had begun to panic, quaking with fear about their sudden entrapment. “How are we going to get out?” Connie rasped. Willis inhaled sharply and leaned heavily against the refrigerator door. Norah turned her sharp eyes toward the sheriff, searching for answers.

  “CALM DOWN!” Clay yelled. He brought hands to his temple, feeling sweat beads begin to form, just as they had when he’d been ill the previous day. “Megan probably just went back to her house, where she feels safe.” He swallowed, his mind spinning. He didn’t want to blame Alayna for this unforeseen development, and he didn’t have the right to blame Daniels. “We can’t get bogged down with all this drama and nonsense. It’ll literally kill us. And I can promise you that.”

  No one spoke. Alayna seemed to regain a sense of urgency and self. She blinked madly at Clay, waiting for the remainder of his instructions.

  Clay used the sile
nce to check his wristwatch, noting the time. “Megan can’t have walked far, anyway. And we still have plenty of time to clear this town before the fumigation begins. I say we continue working as we have been, and we allow Megan to get her head back on her shoulders and rejoin us here. If any of us comes across her on our search, then try and reel her in. What do you say?”

  Ralph smacked his palms together, seemingly activated by Clay’s words. The others calmed, nodding primly. Only Alayna seemed unchanged. She took a step from the doorway, eyeing Clay with manic eyes.

  “I don’t think you know what you’re asking me to do here, Clay. I can’t let her remain out there like this, on her own.”

  “Alayna,” Clay said, incredulous. “You’re my deputy. I need you out there, more than ever.”

  Alayna rested her hand on her gun. “And you know I have your back—outside of this. But I have to go after her. I can’t have her out there dying, just because of me.” Before Clay could respond, Alayna fled from the kitchen.

  “Shit,” Clay whispered, chewing at a bit of dried skin on his right thumb, watching Alayna’s black hair flit from her tight bun and fly through the air as she ran.

  “Let her go!” Ralph cried, filling another cup of coffee. “She’s a tough one. I can tell. She can handle herself.”

  But Clay’s stomach clenched with instant fear as he remembered the rapid pace of the crazed monsters who were clearly intent on murder.

  He couldn’t afford to lose his deputy.

  Chapter 40

  Awkward silence fell in the kitchen in the moments after Alayna’s outburst. The remaining clan eyed each other with apprehension. Lieutenant Daniels began to pace back and forth, his shoulders hunched and his eyes on the floor, muttering to himself. As his murmurs grew more insistent, he began to scare the other survivors.

  “If we don’t have the device,” Willis said, his voice quivering, “that means we don’t have a way to get out?”

  “We won’t survive,” Connie rasped, as if she was taking a stand for the truth—confident that no one else would. “We don’t have a godforsaken chance.”

  Daniels pounded his fist against the kitchen’s cinder block wall. The noise boomed through Clay’s ears. Blood spit out from Daniels’s knuckles, spattering across the white paint.

  “Lieutenant. Get ahold of yourself!” Clay said, rushing toward him and gripping his shoulders firmly. “It’s you and me here, man,” he whispered into his ear. “I can’t have you going AWOL on me. These people are looking to us. We’re meant to lead.”

  Daniels’s breath came jaggedly. His muscles were tense, his eyes darting toward the door every few seconds. “We have to go after her,” he whispered. “She isn’t safe.”

  Clay flung Daniels’s massive body against the wall, forcing him to look in his eyes. “Lieutenant, I need you to listen. We’ll find them. Both Alayna and Megan. But we need to continue searching for other stragglers as well. If Alayna’s looking for Megan, and if we’re all looking for Alayna, then we won’t have time to find everyone. Not before. Besides, Alayna’s a strong woman. If anyone can find Megan, it’s her. She’ll bring her back, and hopefully with the device.” He swallowed hard. “I was put in charge of this town years ago, and that means I have a commitment to ensure that the people of Carterville find safety, even if they’re too obtuse to follow orders.”

  His words hung in the air for a moment before Ralph spat on the ground, anger rattling through him. “What the hell are you talking about, Sheriff? You think me and Connie are too stupid to follow orders? Is that how you really feel?”

  Clay released his hold on Daniels and turned slowly toward the people in the kitchen. Norah and Willis had joined forces near the large walk-in freezer, while Ralph and Connie looked frazzled, holding each other’s aging hands and glaring at him.

  “Of course not,” Clay said, realizing he’d marched directly into hot water.

  “Cause we had no reason to trust the government,” Connie said angrily. “Why in the world would we follow orders if the rest of our lives have gone to shit, all because of the police? They took our son away three times when he was just a confused juvenile. Three times!” Her eyes lacked emotion, but her voice was haughty, strong. “Why in the world would we trust you?”

  “Because I’m all you have,” Clay offered, his voice bursting over hers. “And I’m going to make sure you get out. But I need your help finding the rest of them. The rest of the people who, like you, didn’t take this issue as seriously as they should have. We don’t have to make this a tragedy. But we have to work together.”

  “Still don’t have the device,” the doctor whispered from the corner.

  Clay made his hands into fists, suddenly feeling that the world was working against him. As he steamed with anger, Willis began to slide down the walk-in freezer door, his eyes closing quickly. Norah knelt down to grasp his shoulder and shake him.

  “He’s green, Sheriff,” she whispered. “He’s not looking good.”

  Clay rushed toward the man and felt for his pulse, noting that, despite his pale complexion and lack of energy, his heart was beating erratically. His own heart flipped with panic. “Get him some water,” he ordered, jiggling the man’s shoulder, trying to make him regain consciousness. “Come on!”

  Connie moved forward with a glass of water, and together they helped the doctor sip it through his dry, cracked lips. His exhaustion prevented him from opening his eyes.

  Clay held his position, gazing up at the other survivors as the doctor continued to drink. “All right,” he said. “I understand your frustration. I really do. You all know that it’s my duty to find as many townspeople as possible. And Lieutenant Daniels, I need you with me. We’ll start by going back to Megan’s house first, and then stopping by Alayna’s. But know this: we’re going to keep looking for the left behind.”

  “Sure thing,” Daniels affirmed, giving the sheriff a stern salute.

  “In the meantime, I need all of you to watch out for Doctor Miller, here.” Clay paused, contemplating how to handle his suspicions about the doctor without overtly alarming everyone. “Most of us have seen what this crazed infection does to a person,” Clay said as his gaze drifted over the doctor. “We all need to remain sharp and prepared for action. Can you do that? Can you protect yourselves, as well as the rest of us?”

  Connie looked at Ralph for direction, but before she could respond, Norah spoke.

  “You can count on me, Sheriff. I may be old, but I know how to handle my share of cooking utensils,” she said, gripping the cast iron pan she’d just used to make everyone breakfast and hoisting it high above her head. “If he turns, I’ll make sure it goes no further.”

  The kitchen remained silent for several moments as Norah’s words sank in.

  “One more thing,” Clay said. “Keep your eyes on the door. Alayna and Megan could come back to the hotel at any time. Watch out for them. And stick together.”

  He jumped to his feet and headed toward the door, adjusting his holster. He felt Daniels’s presence behind him, and they marched toward the hotel entrance, retreating from the glowing kitchen and the homey scent of breakfast.

  Main Street appeared before him, abandoned, a forgotten wasteland. Not a single animal, bug, or human remained in sight. Alayna and her vehicle were gone.

  “You ready for this, Sheriff?” Daniels asked him as the hotel door clicked closed, leaving them out in the desolate environment. “Because I think if that was any indication, today is going to be a shit show.”

  “We don’t have a choice,” Clay answered, marching from the front porch and past the rocking chairs. He opened the car gruffly, feeling a bit of his right arm lesion begin to break open—a constant reminder that his body was failing him minute by minute, along with his crew. He paused, his mind spinning.

  “Sheriff?” Daniels asked, hesitating before opening the passenger side. “Everything all right?”

  “I didn’t think this was what it would look like,” Clay
murmured, knowing he sounded just as insane as the others. “I didn’t imagine this at all.”

  “None of us did,” Daniels said, shrugging his muscled shoulders. “As my grandmother said, moments before she drew her final breath: this wasn’t in the cards.”

  Chapter 41

  “It wasn’t what you think,” Daniels began the moment Clay punched the gas pedal and raced through town. “With Megan and me. It wasn’t what you think.”

  “I don’t know what the hell to think anymore,” Clay said, cutting through a turn. He didn’t bother to stop at signs, to follow any speed limit. He felt overwhelmed, unable to fully comprehend Daniels’s words.

  But he continued. “After you left the bar last night, I wasn’t going to hang around long, but I had more drinking to do. When I was with my last unit, that’s all I liked to do, really. Take comfort in a little liquid solace.”

  “I see,” Clay said, eyeing the horizon. He thought he glimpsed a figure staggering through the cornfield. One of the crazed or a scarecrow? But he continued to barrel toward their first stop, hopeful he wouldn’t be required to blast a bullet through another homicidal brain.

  “Then Megan came to my room. Alayna was chasing after her, telling her to come back to bed. Telling her that they should talk things out. I don’t know what the fuss was all about,” Daniels said, scoffing. “But Megan took one look at me and, with a devilish smile, she came in the room, sat down beside me, poured herself a drink, and just glared up at Alayna.”

  “Megan’s been known to be a little too spirited at times,” Clay said. “Alayna seems to understand her well enough to know what’s right or wrong. She’s told me on more than one occasion that they’re soul mates, they belong together.”

  “I’m not so sure, Clay,” Daniels continued, scratching at the stubble spreading across his chin. “Because the minute Megan sat down, she began to flirt. I mean, really laying it on heavy. She wanted me, you see.”