The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire

by Scottie, Charles

  The bus in her mind was now on fire, and hurtling toward a pit filled with angry bees. It was a completely juvenile way of handling her frustration, but as her heart sighed with slight relief, she decided she’d take whatever reprieve she could find. Marco continued to blunder forward, unaware of his effect on the young woman.

  “You know that they have to eat in order to keep moving. If they don't find food, their muscles start eating themselves, same as us. The kicker is that they can control what gets used up first.” Natalie fixed Marco with a look of uncertainty as he spoke, and he returned it with an uncharacteristically grim nod.

  “I know. That's a pretty convenient design for it to happen by accident, right?” With a heavy sigh, Marco rubbed his palm over his eyes. All of this sounded bad. As much as Natalie had appreciated the company of the men so far, she had to admit that the world seemed like a better place before they had started telling her more about it.

  It was a silly thought, of course. Nothing about what was happening outside had been good, but before it at least seemed like it might have been an accident. Now, it was hard to deny the likelihood that all of this was very intentional. Somehow, that made it worse. Natalie was pulled from her reverie as Marco cleared his throat.

  “Not important right now, and besides, I haven't gotten to the fun part.” The smile on his face warned Natalie that this was going to be anything but fun.

  “So! The blighters can choose what parts they burn up first if they aren't able to get energy from an, ahem, 'outside source.' Obviously, their arms and legs are both vital to hunting, but their torso? Not so much. The end result is they wind up without enough muscle in their core to hold themselves upright.” A look of disgust passed over Marco's face.

  Apparently he'd had some experience with these creatures. Considering that the undead were horrifying to begin with, Natalie took it as a bad sign that the crawling variety were even worse.

  “The reason we have different signals for them is because you wouldn't expect to aim that low, otherwise. You walk into a room, you're looking five, six feet off the ground. These fuckers sit closer to two or three, and they're just as fast as normal. It might not seem like much, but the time it takes to correct where you're aiming could make the difference between life and death.” Marco's voice dropped off, his words lingering in the air as he seemed to be momentarily lost in thought. It wasn't hard for Natalie to guess what was on his mind.

  Considering what he did for a living these days, if you could call it that, it was likely he had seen people die. Adding to that his obvious disgust and rage, the picture became clearer. He probably learned about the crawlers the hard way, at somebody else's expense. Natalie felt bad for him, even if he was an ass. The most she could think to do was to simply press on.

  “So, it's one finger down for humans, two for walkers and four for crawlers. Since you said it is fingers down for identifying, I'm going to guess it is fingers up for quantifying?” Her words snapped Marco out of whatever memory he was reliving. Judging by the look of mischief suddenly splayed out on his face, Natalie wondered if she should have stayed quiet.

  “'Quantifying?' Is that college talk for 'number of bad guys?'” He laughed and shook his head dismissively. For her part, Natalie felt a small tinge of relief that he was back to normal. The feeling didn't last.

  “Jeez, Nat. Yeah. You guessed right, little Miss Educated. Fingers down for telling what we're dealing with, fingers up for how many there are.” Before Natalie could snap back at him, he flashed two more signs.

  “This means the room seems safe,” Marco brought his thumb and pointer finger together to form a circle while keeping the rest of his fingers raised, “and this means we're going in for a fight.” At that, he clenched his fingers into a fist. Again, Natalie's face showed uncertainty, and Marco let out a heavy sigh.

  “Come on, sunshine. Keep up. Really.” He clicked his tongue, and shook his head as Natalie felt a very impressive vein begin to pulsate in her neck. A string of entirely unladylike words flooded her mind, but she got the feeling he was prodding her for a reaction. It might be simpler to keep this as professional as possible. If she was lucky, he might leave her alone. Calming her voice as best she could, she tried to ignore the growing urge to resort to violence.

  “It's about the clenched fist thing. Doesn't that mean 'stop'? Or that you're supposed to hold your position?” Natalie didn't know a lot about signals and the like, it was true. Even so, she was pretty confident about this one. Judging by the light blush on Marco's face, she suspected she was right.

  “Well, sure, some people might do that. But we do a fist for combat, and hand up with fingers straight and together is stop.” He shifted uncomfortably in his spot, clearly trying to regain his composure. Natalie smirked, savoring the moment until he recovered. She had to admit that it was satisfying to see him off-balance.

  “Look, whatever. It doesn't matter who does what. You just need to know what we do, and now you know. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory. Nod if you understand, shake your head if you don't, and if all else fails you can mime it out.” Marco's impatience peaked, and he turned to walk back toward Rico in the kitchen. Apparently, he was done helping. Natalie almost moved to stop him.

  Considering the dangerous scenario she was walking into, Marco's casual dismissal of learning more signs for communication left a sour taste in her mouth. She could wing it with the best of them, but it wasn't exactly her first choice. She bit her lip, feeling a surge of nervous tension begin to flood her system.

  Rico could help her. Or BJ. Both men felt trustworthy to Natalie, and she doubted either would let her down in an emergency. Marco was a different story, but two out of three wasn't bad. She was used to less.

  Following after Marco into the kitchen, Natalie realized that Rico was finished with the supplies. There were two packs sitting on the counter while Rico wore another on his back. He smiled at her as she approached, his eyebrows rising up in a look of mischievous glee.

  “Managed to stick it to Marco, I'm guessing?” Natalie let out a sound that came out as a mix of a sigh and a laugh. Bobbing her head in admission, she spoke.

  “What gave it away?” Rico laughed, turning back to the counter to gather up Natalie's equipment.

  “Well, he grabbed his gear without a word. Marco not constantly running his mouth is kind of a red flag that something rubbed him the wrong way.” Natalie blushed at his words, trying to think of a response. Should she be apologizing? They might agree that Marco was a bit of a hard pill to swallow, but he and Rico were still family.

  Giving her pack another glance, Rico nodded to himself. Satisfied with his work, he handed Natalie's share of supplies over. He must have guessed what was on her mind, because he barked another laugh as she took her gear.

  “Look, between you and me, Marco could use a few knocks to the ego. Far as I'm concerned, you're doing us a favor.” Changing gears, he cocked his head at her bag.

  “Give that a look over, familiarize yourself with what you've got, and meet us upstairs at the ladder. We'll head out as soon as you're ready.” Flashing one last reassuring smile at her, Rico headed up to meet BJ and Marco.

  Doing as she was told, Natalie found most of her bag filled with what you'd expect: some medical supplies, a tightly rolled cot for sleeping, a fair portion of food and water, as well as a handful of hygienic additions like soap and deodorant. Those last items were the only ones that gave her pause.

  Soap she could understand, to keep her hands clean of infectious material, but the rest seemed superfluous. She suspected Rico might be trying to keep her as comfortable as possible, in spite of what might be happening to the world at large. It was unnecessary, but his thoughtfulness was appreciated anyway.

  The crew didn't have a spare harness for her to attach her shotgun to, but it did have a basic strap she could sling over her shoulder that was better than nothing. The prom-tip was installed and ready to go, and a side pocket on her pack had revealed
a generous amount of assorted ammunition for her to use.

  Lastly, her pistol was fitted to a holster that rested on her opposite hip. It was awkward, and not where she would have installed it for herself, but Rico had insisted. This way if her shotgun ran dry, she could let it swing back on its strap and swap to her handgun without it impeding her draw speed. It was the last card she could play in case of an emergency, and it was not one that felt safe.

  Natalie vaguely hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she recognized the naivety of the sentiment. There was virtually no chance she was going to make this trip without incident. She set her jaw and shoved the fear in her chest back down, intent on keeping her cool.

  Natalie didn’t have time to waste on worrying. All she could do was move forward. With that, she followed after Rico and up the stairs, her gaze focused on anything but the bloody stain left from the zombie she had dispatched at the window as she passed.

  BJ smiled at her as she entered the old bedroom. Marco still looked dour, refusing to make eye contact while Rico quickly checked Natalie's straps and holster to make sure they were secure. He offered a sheepish smile as he did so, not wanting to offend her but imparting the necessity to be absolutely certain she wouldn't be losing any of her gear.

  “Comfortable enough?” The rumble came from BJ, his attention settled on something outside the window but his words meant for Natalie. The look on his face was unsettling, and she wasn't in a great hurry to find out what had him concerned.

  “Yeah, as much as I'm ever going to be, I think. I imagine this takes some getting used to.” She rolled her shoulders, adjusting the lay of the shotgun. It wasn't terribly heavy, but it was a weight she wasn’t accustomed to carrying, and it showed.

  Natalie caught a glimpse of disappointment on BJ's face before it faded away, and she wondered if she'd done something wrong. Seemingly ignoring what she had said, he lowered his goggles over his eyes and donned his mouth wrap in silence.

  Further convinced that she must have made a mistake, Natalie's gut clenched as she thought about where she may have slipped up. A moment later, BJ started his climb out the window and Natalie realized she probably wasn't going to find out.

  “It's time to go. I'll take point. Rico, you stick with Natalie. Marco, watch our flank. We're going into dangerous territory and we've got a bit of a road ahead before we're safe. I trust I don't need waste any more time explaining the importance of caution.” True to his word, BJ said no more as he descended. The other men readied their goggles and wraps. Rico went down the ladder next, gesturing for Natalie to follow. Marco wouldn't look at her, his eyes resting on the doorway behind them as if attackers might suddenly burst through at any moment. With a sigh, she prepped her gear and stepped out the window.

  Taking the ladder down, Natalie felt a small pang of sadness in her chest. Her time here hadn't been pleasant, but it still felt strange to leave all of the emotions that were tied to this place behind. With a silent goodbye to the man and daughter who had once lived happy lives here, Natalie turned to follow Rico. Only then did she notice the look of apprehension on his face.

  Any feelings of regret at leaving the house were washed away as she realized what held Rico's attention. The two corpses that Natalie had dispatched were supposed to be in a pile just up the street, right where BJ had put them. Instead, there was a mess of blood and bones in their place. It was too far away to make out exactly what they were looking at, and Natalie was immensely thankful for that.

  BJ pointed to the trails of gore leading away from the scene and his message was clear. Whatever had stopped to eat also appeared to have taken its food with it, leaving behind a clear marker of what direction it had gone. It stood to reason that choosing literally any other path was probably a safer decision.

  The men had taken a trail behind the house to get here from the outpost, and they opted to trace that route back. BJ in the lead, the group fell into step behind him. Leaving the cul-de-sac behind, they began traveling through a sizable green belt that divided the residential areas.

  It didn't take long before Natalie found herself struggling to keep her calm. The rest of the group was quieter and more practiced than her in almost every way, which resulted in a sense of hypercritical self-scrutiny on her part. Every breath she took felt too loud, and her paranoia was starting to convince her that it was only a matter of time before she got them all killed. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Rico leaned back to whisper to her.

  “Don't fight that feeling. That pressure, that concern. Just let it play out. Fear is like quicksand: the more you struggle, the faster you sink.” His advice came as a surprise, considering that he hadn't actually looked at Natalie for several minutes. Realizing how obvious her discomfort must have been, Natalie clenched her teeth in determination. She would not be anyone's burden.

  Following Rico's words, she stopped denying her emotions. I'm afraid. Sure. I don't have any experience with this shit. Sure. But hey, neither did they at one point, and look at them now. This didn't happen for them overnight, and it won't happen for me any faster. Buck up and get over it.

  The words had more fight in them than Natalie actually felt, but the base sentiment was there. She was going to have to get used to this eventually. As if to confirm her point, BJ signaled for them to stop. Natalie froze as he continued to sign. Two fingers down, one finger up. One walker. Okay.

  Peeking out from behind Rico, she saw their target. At a distance, she wasn't able to confirm that it was a zombie at all. Impressed with BJ's vision, she realized her mistake as Rico raised his rifle to look at the creature through his scope. Not eagle vision, just smart thinking. She also noted that their scopes looked to have electrical tape on them, an oddity she reminded herself to ask about later. For now, there was a more pressing matter that needed tending.

  They had nearly finished moving through the green belt and were just entering another neighborhood when BJ had flagged their mark. It was standing with its back to the group by a house on the opposite side of the road from where they stood. Curiously, it didn't appear to be moving or active. BJ signaled for the group to follow behind him, slowly inching closer.

  As they reached the corner of the house, Rico tapped Natalie's arm and motioned for her to stay put. Without anything further, he dropped to his belly and crawled out toward a car in a nearby driveway. Scanning the surroundings, he gave the all clear sign and beckoned for Natalie to join him. Heart pounding in her chest, she ducked down and moved to meet him, while BJ and Marco paired up and set off toward another vehicle at the neighboring house to their left.

  Natalie wasn't sure what the plan was, but the confidence with which the group had moved suggested there was definitely a ploy in action. She tried to focus on that, instead of what felt like a vast pit of uncertainty yawning in her mind. Another tap at her shoulder revealed Rico's intention to crawl under the car. Following suit, she caught Marco's eye. He was already in position under the vehicle on his side, and he nodded at her as he put a finger to his lips before pointing at BJ.

  He appeared to be holding a rock, and Natalie's heart dropped as she realized what he intended to do. Without any hesitation, BJ hurled the stone as hard as he could at one of the homes across the street from them, aiming for a window. As soon as the projectile was loosed, he dove down beside Marco. Everything after that was a haze of sound and motion.

  The stone shattered the window, and a heartbeat later the zombie who had been so passive a moment ago was suddenly ripping into the broken glass and hurling itself into the home. Worse, glass and wood seemed to be raining down around Natalie's cover as more undead exploded out of the houses around them.

  There were at least eight of them, some running upright while others leapt forward on their hands and feet. Natalie almost considered it a blessing that their frenzy was so intense. Otherwise, they may have run the risk of being spotted by a crawler, and in their position they would have found it nearly impossible to defend themselves.

 
Feeling anxious, Natalie glanced at Rico for orders. His only reply was to put his hand on her arm and whisper the word, “Patience.” After a few minutes of waiting and as soon as the last set of rotten feet had seemingly joined in on the hunt within the decoy house, Rico and BJ flashed another exchange of signals before rolling out from their hiding places.

  Wasting no time, Natalie mirrored their actions and was immediately forced to run as Rico sprinted diagonally across the street. BJ was already rushing down the side of another home ahead of them, rifle sweeping between yards as he did. Marco held his position at the corner, scanning their flank until Rico and Natalie were both ahead of him.

  Regardless of his attitude, there was no denying that Marco followed his orders without complaint. The group's actions were second-nature, and for all of the character they had when they were relaxed, it was clear that they were more than capable of handling themselves in an orderly fashion when it was necessary.

  Ahead of them, BJ signaled all-clear at the backyards. Continuing his pace, he dove into another greenbelt, trying to put as much distance and cover between the ghouls and themselves as possible. Against her better nature, Natalie began to hope that they might have escaped the situation completely unscathed.

  The more distance they put behind them, the more confident Natalie felt, but it wasn’t just their successful escape. It was being able to see the group in action, and knowing that the people beside her really were veterans of the new age. The thought brought a smile to her lips, more because of her own dramatic flair than anything else, and she realized she was on another adrenaline high.

  The idea that she was enjoying herself, in any fashion and on any level, was a strange concept to come to terms with. Stealing a look at the men around her, they were all grim-faced and alert. Even so, Natalie wasn't able to stop smiling. This feeling was intoxicating, and as much as she tried to deny it, it made her feel alive.