Gasping again, Patrick stood and sloshed his way toward the shore.
“What’s there to think through?” Shane asked. “She has to go back.”
“Why?” Jerry asked.
“So we can get our citizenship,” Joshua said. “That’s why.”
“You want citizenship to a place where even the princess wants to escape?”
“I want to be a knight,” he said. “I don’t care how she feels about it.”
Patrick stumbled on the shore once again. Between gulps of breath, he cursed, “I don’t give a damn what she thinks of the place. I’m not going back into the mines!” He raised his knife and screamed.
Screams answered back. They came from all around: the road above, upriver and down. The storm sewers echoed with wails as the Aztecs made themselves known. There was a splash as several of the creatures dropped into the water from the bridge above. One wailed as it landed on Patrick and bit into his neck.
The conscript turned pale as he was dragged back into the frigid water one final time.
More splashes burst from the river as the beasts continued dropping into the water. Their wails filled the air and turned it thick with horror. Jerry could barely hear himself yell over their screams. “Run!”
He grabbed the princess by the hand and shooed her towards the road.
A hand reached from the water and seized the kidnapper by the ankle. The young man was pulled from his feet and hit the ground with his chin. He dropped the sword but managed to hold on to his consciousness.
The creature’s face, pale like dead flesh, erupted from the river in a splash of froth and teeth. Water rushed from its mouth as its wail built from a ravenous stomach and escaped its mouth.
The young man reached for his sword but the Aztec had pulled him too far.
Jerry shoved the princess up the embankment and dropped back into the riverbed. He stumbled across the loose rock until he reached the river’s edge and brought the hatchet down on the creature’s wrist.
That horrid wail grew louder as the beast brought back a stump and stared at it with lifeless eyes.
It was obvious that the creature was no less dangerous with one hand. Jerry grabbed the young kidnapper by the collar and pulled him to his feet as another Aztec emerged from the river.
“Go!” He pushed the kid towards the princess. “Get her out of here.”
The creature lunged at him from the river. There was no sense behind its attack. There was no method. Its only goal was to get its teeth as close to its victim as possible.
Jerry slashed with the machete and cut deep, but the wail didn’t change. He wondered if the beast even felt the wound across its abdomen. He brought the blade back down and hacked deep into his neck.
Warm crimson blood spurted from the wound as Jerry dislodged the blade with a kick that sent the creature falling back into the water. He turned to run and saw for the first time the carnage that was unfolding. The mutants were everywhere. Their wails filled the air like the scream of a jet engine as they howled in unison. The sound kicked his stomach into a knot. The sight made him sick.
The conscripts weren’t only losing, they were being eaten alive. Several had set upon Colin. Only his legs were visible. They kicked in a futile attempt to get free.
Several more had made their way to the middle of the river, as it turned red with Patrick’s blood.
Shane and Joshua had fought their way back to the road. Several of the beasts lay dead at their feet.
Ken screamed and Jerry turned in time to see him pulled to the ground by a trio of Aztecs. He tried to crawl away from his fate. He was so desperate to escape the teeth and claws of the beasts that he left parts of himself behind. He broke free. Covered in his own blood, he crawled from the dog pile and tried to run. He didn’t make it far. They dragged him back by his intestine.
Two rushed at Jerry. They were dressed in soiled rags. Some were so shredded they wore essentially nothing. Their faces were bags of skin and they appeared all but dead. Driven by anger, it didn’t matter that most had little meat on their bones.
Jerry had cleaved through the head of one before he saw it to be a woman. They moved too fast, too erratically, that he could not even distinguish a face until it chomped at him. Whatever had turned them had been indiscriminate. The beasts were men and women, old and young, and they were all monsters.
The woman fell dead at his feet as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He spun and raised the blade.
“Don’t hit me, idiot.” Shane was standing at the foot of the retaining wall and tugged Jerry towards it. “C’mon!”
The pair climbed the short concrete barrier and dashed into the street.
The two men caught up with Joshua, the princess and her kidnapper. They were no longer fighting amongst themselves. They looked from one another and back to the beasts searching for an answer.
“Back to the bus,” Jerry shouted as he pointed north of town.
“I’m not going back!” the princess screamed and put her sword at Jerry’s throat.
Jerry knocked it aside with the hatchet and ripped the blade from her hand. “No one’s going anywhere if we don’t get somewhere safe. Right now the bus and the arms of your loving prince are our best bet.” He handed the sword back to her. “We’ll figure things out from there.”
The weapon was back in her hand before the young man could react. He looked at her as she gave a sad and silent nod.
“It will be okay,” Jerry said.
“The hell it will.” Joshua raised his blade as the Aztecs approached.
Jerry kept an eye on the retaining wall. The creatures that had attacked at the river seemed to be satisfied with their carrion below, but more were still emerging from the buildings and alleyways of the New Mexican town.
The group of five ran for the bus. It wasn’t close, but it was a chance.
More and more creatures appeared before them. Their shrieks drew more numbers to their group and soon a wall of cannibals had formed in front of them.
“It’s no good,” Shane said as he slowed. “There’s too many.”
Jerry scanned the street and turned to his right. “In here.”
They followed as he ran into a fast food restaurant and stepped through the shattered window that had once been the door.
“There aren’t any walls, Mike!” Shane argued as he followed.
Jerry slid over the front counter and moved through the kitchen. He soon found what he was looking for and called to the others. He directed them up a ladder that led to a panel in the roof. “Up here!”
Shane went first and bashed the hatch open.
Jerry watched the Aztecs crash through what was left of the plate glass window and fill the dining room. The counter slowed them for only a moment.
Shane called down as the last of the group made the roof and Jerry scurried up the ladder two rungs at a time.
He rolled on to the roof as Josh and the kidnapper heaved an AC unit across the roof and dropped it on the access hatch. There was no other way up to the roof. They were trapped. But they were safe. Jerry sat to catch his breath.
Shane sat next to him. “Great. I’m trapped in a Burger King with a princess and surrounded by man-eating mutants.”
“It could be worse,” Jerry said.
“I don’t know,” Shane said. “I fucking hate Burger King.”
FOURTEEN
This particular Burger King had never known such a crowd. Built long after the Beanie Baby and Pokémon fads had faded, it had never once experienced a rush. Now that it was serving human, it drew quite the crowd.
The wails had kept up all night long and the refugees on the roof were feeling the lack of sleep. If the screams had fallen into any kind of rhythm, sleep would have been possible, but their shrieks were so distinctly horrible that they did not even blend in to the noise of a crowd.
Jerry looked over the edge of the roof at the rabble below. If he looked hard enough he could see the men and women the beas
ts had been. Their clothes barely held at the seams and were so soiled with dirt and age that every garment, no matter its original color, had turned to the same shade of filth.
The young man that had stolen the princess was named Aaron. He had not left the girl’s side since they made the roof. The group had done little to try and separate them. In fact, the group had done little at all but sit and listen to the wailing.
For a lack of anything else to do, Shane paced the roof. He gestured to the young couple. “So, what are we going to do about these two?”
“Just try it, asshole.” Aaron didn’t bother standing up to deliver his threat but he tapped the sword across his lap.
Shane laughed. “I’m pretty sure I can handle you, pretty boy.”
Jerry gave up on finding sleep. “Nobody is handling anybody. Our best bet is still to head back to the bus.”
The princess shook her head. “I’m not going back.”
“I know it’s not ideal,” Jerry said. “But it’s the safest place.”
“You take her back to that bastard and she’s as good as dead,” Aaron said. “You might as well just kill her now.”
“He sent us to rescue her, smart guy,” Joshua said. “Why would he want her dead?”
“Oh, please,” Anna said. “You’re not a rescue party. You’re a PR stunt. Nothing more. That prick doesn’t want me back. He wants me dead. He needs me dead.”
Jerry looked at the princess. “The king told me that your death would start a war.”
“He’s right,” she said. “My father would kill him.”
“Your father?” Shane asked.
She stood and stretched out her arms before twirling once over the town. “He’s the king on this side of all the crazy. His royal majesty, the great and honorable Rodney.”
“I didn’t get the feeling that Elias wanted a war,” Jerry said.
“Rodney?” Joshua muttered.
“Of course he doesn’t,” Aaron said. “He’d lose.”
“What do you know?” Josh jumped to his feet. “We have the bravest knights in the world.”
“Our knights have guns, you dumb shit,” Aaron said.
Anna explained. “My father is a little less strict about historically accurate weapons. Why do you think you were sent to bring me back? If my dad finds out how they treat me …”
“War again,” Shane said. “I get it. So why would the prince want you dead?”
The princess curled her lip and tucked her chin. It was a look every man knew. Shane had asked a question whose answer should be obvious. “I’ll give you a minute to think about it. It should be fairly obvious, if you don’t pass out from exhaustion first.”
Shane pointed back at her. “I don’t like you.”
“The prince wants the war,” Jerry said.
“That’s what you’re getting from this?” Shane asked. “Why would he want a war he can’t win?”
“Because the prince has the guns. His Dog had no problem firing on the men on the train. The prince is probably sitting on a stockpile, just waiting to overthrow the king and take over with the promise of winning the coming war.”
“Overthrow the king?” Young Josh wasn’t buying it.
“That makes sense,” Shane said.
Josh threw up his hands. “Overthrow his own father?”
The princess laughed. “Elias, or, aka Greg, isn’t anyone’s father. Robert was just a kid playing the prince at the fair. They figured it just made sense for him to keep playing the same role.”
“I don’t care who he is,” Josh stomped over to the girl. “We were sent on a quest to bring you back and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“I’m not going back.” The princess leapt to her feet and held up her sword. Aaron stood beside her.
“Both of you stop.” Shane stepped between the two and pointed to the edge of the roof. “Did you forget about them? We have to get to the bus. What other choice do we have?”
Aaron didn’t move. “We’re going to Farmington. Her father is there and will keep her safe. That’s all I care about.”
“You want us to travel the rest of the way through Aztec?” Shane asked.
“We’ll stay off the highway,” the princess said. “We can make it.”
“We?” Shane shouted. “You’re not going anywhere, except back to Silverton.”
Aaron lifted his sword. “Try it.”
Shane bent down to grab the katana he had set against the wall. Jerry grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to the ground. “Skip it. You’re both tough, all right. But we’re going to help them get to Farmington.”
Shane jerked away. “You’re not buying this shit, are you?”
Jerry nodded. “We’re going to help them.”
“Why?” Shane threw up his arms. “Because it’s the right thing to do? It’s chivalrous? You’re starting to sound like those idiots back in the castle.”
Jerry said nothing.
“Doing the right thing died out with the rest of humanity,” Shane yelled. The group of Aztecs wailed in response. Shane rushed to the edge of the roof and screamed back at them.
Jerry didn’t raise his voice. “We take her back, she dies. A war starts. More people die. Maybe me. Maybe you. Maybe Brae. If we help them, we avoid all that.”
“And where does that leave us?” Josh asked. “They’ll kill us for helping her get away.”
“How will they know?” Jerry asked. “They’re sitting back in the bus. We’ll tell them we couldn’t find them.”
“Then it’s back to the mines for me. You’ll join me, and Brae will keep …” Shane’s voice trailed off.
Joshua began to laugh.
“What is it?” Jerry asked.
“Nothing.” Shane cast a threatening look at the kid before finishing. “It’s just not what I want.”
“We can figure all that out when we get back. And, you may not believe me, but my fate will be much worse than yours.”
“Then why?” Shane asked.
Jerry smiled. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Shane huffed.
“Turn back if you want,” Jerry said. “But I’m going to help them.”
“You’re right.” Shane sighed and nodded. “You’re right. And, like I told your wife, I’ve got you. So I’ll help your dumb ass do this.”
Jerry stood and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Shane, I promise you I will do everything possible to keep everyone out of the mines. Mostly because I don’t want to end up there myself.”
Shane laughed. “Look at you … a tough guy. How many times have I had to save your life already?”
Jerry smiled and shrugged. “I’ll make sure it was worth it.”
“Forget that. How are we going to get off the roof?” Shane asked.
The pair stood and looked at the frenzied mob that had gathered around the Burger King.
Jerry shrugged. “We’re going to need a distraction.”
“To hell with both of you!” Josh screamed and raised an axe above his head. “You’re traitors to the crown! I’ll kill both you myself.” The conscript charged at Jerry screaming an inhuman shriek that blended with those from below. The crowd below echoed his bloodlust.
Before Jerry could move, Shane shoved him out of the way and caught the ax as it dropped toward his head. He spun the young conscript around and pushed him back.
Joshua stumbled and crashed into the knee-high ledge that ran the perimeter of the roof. He teetered only long enough for his expression to show that he realized full well what was about to happen.
The mob of mutants didn’t let him hit the ground. A broken neck or cracked skull would have been a blessing. They caught him mid-fall and began their feast as the young man screamed for mercy that no one was willing deliver.
The princess screamed and ran to the far side of the building with Aaron close behind her.
Shane and Jerry watched as Josh disappeared in a flurry of pale hands and bared teeth.
> “There,” Shane said. “A distraction. It was nice of him to volunteer, don’t you think?”
“Hey,” Aaron called from across the roof. “They’re leaving.”
The two men joined the couple on the far side of the Burger King and watched as the Aztecs moved away from the wall where they had faithfully screamed all night long. They moved as one towards Josh’s fading screams.
“Go.” Jerry pointed to a dumpster below and threw a leg over the edge.
Aaron grabbed him by the shirt and held him back. “You’re nuts.”
“The group by the river is still down there.” Jerry pointed to the bridge. “One may be enough to keep them occupied.”
“I’m not confident in maybe,” the young man said.
Jerry pulled his shirt free and dropped onto the dumpster lid. There was arguing between the two men on the roof but he could not make out the words. The princess said something and the two men quickly dropped to the dumpster. They helped the girl down and hopped to the ground.
Jerry put a finger to his lips and ducked into the next building.
It was doubtful the town of Aztec had ranked high on any prewar target list. It hadn’t taken any direct hits and the buildings remained mostly intact. But, as they moved behind and through the structures, it was obvious that the town had not escaped the panic and looting.
Store shelves were empty. Windows were smashed in. Almost every store had a burnt trashcan, the skeleton key of the apocalypse, near the shattered remains of the front door.
They moved quietly, careful to avoid stepping on the glass that littered the floors. They ducked behind counters or shelves whenever they heard a wail approaching. They were few and far between, and the creature responsible passed quickly on its way to the feast of Joshua the conscript. The boy was a hero after all.
“This shouldn’t be this easy,” Shane said.
“You want to go back and try again?” Aaron asked.
“Shut up, you little shit.”
The princess shushed them both and stayed closed behind Jerry as he navigated the streets, parking lots and buildings of the New Mexican town. The farther they went, the safer they felt. Aztec sightings dwindled to nothing as they reached the edge of town.
Knights of the Apocalypse (A Duck & Cover Adventure Post-Apocalyptic Series Book 2) Page 13
