Traveling Merchant (Book 2): Pestilence

by Seymour, William J.

  The thing before him moves, not threateningly, just a shuffling of rags and darkness that lifts the center of its mass. A cowl reveals itself. A swirling of shadow beneath the thick cloth and from within its depths the eyes open.

  Green flames swirl and brighten. Disease and hatred fueling the fire that burns its way deep inside him. Once again, they meet, and this time one of them will not walk away.

  27

  The Light is no place for Secrets

  He’s still alive. Of all the miracles she has seen, the healing and survival of hundreds in this harsh world, this tops them all.

  Blood drips down, a dark stain on the flaking wood of the church. His skin burns beneath the golden light of the sun, a brightness so sharp it hurts her eyes, but she refuses to close them.

  He is still alive. Even if they die here, right now, she knows he will be there with them.

  “Kk.. ell,” he croaks again.

  Kelly doesn’t know what she can do. He is so high up and those nails. Even from down here on the ground she can see they are thicker than the thumbs on her hand and they stick out of his skin like broken bones.

  “Father,” she sobs.

  The words come out without thought. Yes, that is what he is to her. Feelings of betrayal and hurt swirl beneath the fear that surrounds her. Not at him, but a desperate need to remember and beg forgiveness for what she did the last time they were together. He asked her not to be a part of this.

  God expects forgiveness. There is nothing to be gained on the road of revenge and violence. Pulling her knees up to her chest, the smell of burned gunpowder fills in the spaces within her nose that are not already assaulted by the stench of blood and death. Looking out beyond the truck, she sees what she has done.

  Bodies are torn apart everywhere. Blood and guts leak across the hard dirt, pooling into swirling mirrors that drives the bile from her belly and into the back of her throat.

  What has she done?

  What has she become?

  Looking at Merchant, the man stands there, arms flexed and ready to fight, a layer of murders so thick it coats him like a skin. She gags as dark drops of blood drips from his fists as the creature approaches.

  Kelly has felt fear in her life, the last several days a testament to the limits of her abilities, but the pure depths of her soul are tested as she catches a glimpse of the thing that started this all.

  Wet clothes, the smell of decay and waste. The words it spoke that drove the infected mad. She can still hear that voice in her mind.

  Pulling her legs even tighter against her body, she fights to hold back the need to flee or lay on the ground and die.

  “I see you have not come to your senses, brother,” the thing says.

  Each syllable is a knife to Kelly’s ears. With shaky hands she cups them, but it does not stop, its voice locked permanently to the inside of her head.

  “Never thought you’d be able to break your chains a second time, but you were always the creative type. Still a bit slow minded though. Would have done you a lot better to not come here. There is only one way this is going to end.”

  Merchant shifts his weight from one boot to the other. The monsters waiting in a half circle around them snarl and bite at the air with broken teeth as they wait their turn.

  “We are going to finish this here. Let the priest and the young girl go. You have me. Take him down and we can finish this between you and me,” Merchant says.

  Kelly looks up at Brother George. His eyes are tiny slits beneath swollen lids and buried under the swelling of his cheekbones. A deep gash drains fluid from his shirtless body where a cut has sliced deep into his side.

  “You are going to trade yourself for our dying cousin and the simple woman? What would father think of something like that?” the thing says before pulling back its cloak and revealing the man beneath.

  White skin, wrinkled with moisture and glaringly bright, flexes beneath the heat and the pinch of his long spindly fingers rubbing his cheek.

  “I could just send my pets here after all three of you. You may be able to fend for yourself, but what is she going to do? Cry? Bite them maybe? I even see that you brought your friend with you, thinking maybe ol’cuz up there is going to heal her again? You know, brother, I always did find you entertaining. Because I think we need to spend some quality time figuring out exactly what is going on in that mind of yours, I’ll make you a deal. We’ll cut him down, and if she can find her way out of here, I’ll let them go. But just because it’s you. Can’t say I never did you a favor. Oh, father would be so proud if he could see me now. Always complained that I would never grow up. What would he think of me now?”

  The man turns away from Merchant, flipping his hood back over his head, he snaps his fingers. Several of the closest creatures approach slowly, their eyes never leaving Merchant who doesn’t move a muscle. Their teeth bite at the air, but he does not flinch.

  Kelly scoots across the ground, pressing her back further against the front of the church as they get closer. She can smell the stale sweat, dried blood, and a sweetness of sickness before they even get within arm’s length. Their hungry eyes watch her as they round the back of the truck.

  The strength in her body drains as the nearest takes a step away and towards her. Blood stains stretch along the side of the monster’s pants, old denim worn thin and more white than blue where mud, blood, and filth covers the material. A tattered shirt reveals melted flesh beneath, a few open gashes peeling away and the organs beneath crusted with yellow flakes.

  “Take our cousin down as gently as you can, would you?” the stranger asks.

  The closest infected turns away and goes with the others who begin to climb onto the back of the truck to begin reaching for Brother George. Letting out the breath she did not realize she was holding, the stench filled air burns her lungs, and the world spins as tears spill from Kelly’s eyes.

  Blood shoots out in a long fountain as the first spike is yanked from where the ankles are crossed over one another. The screams tear into her heart and the audience of demons howl with delight as the blood splatters atop the truck like the first drops of the fall rains.

  One of the monsters licks its hands where the blood soaks between its fingers. Letting out a howl, the others join in.

  Brother George screams in agony.

  “Stop!” Kelly screams. “You’re killing him!”

  Two of the monsters hiss and jump down from the back of the truck. Broken lips bleeding and drooling long lines of saliva, they approach and Kelly scrambles backward. Wet coughs come from where Brother George chokes and Merchant turns.

  “Hold it, brother. I made you a promise,” the demon man says.

  He clears the side of the truck and steps between her and the monsters who open and shut their clawed hands in anticipation of their next meal. A long-crooked finger wags in front of the monsters. Both eye the man and then her.

  They watch the finger.

  One turns to go back to bringing Brother George down whose wails have turned to choking sobs. The other snaps his teeth at the man and makes a quick grab at the air between it and her.

  With speed she can barely understand the man grabs the face of the monster.

  “Like children, brother. Sometimes the only way you can teach them is through an example. It’s taken me a long time to master what I’ve created. A family to call my own,” he says. The infected trapped between his fingers begins to scream, a high-pitched wail of anguish and pain. Dark red lines crisscross their way through its scalp and flesh as blood pours out from beneath the pale skin of the man’s hand. “I can’t say they replace what we had with father, such a close dysfunctional group we were, but it’s a start. Plus, just think. Now that you are here with me, the possibilities are endless. Our dreams far beyond what even father could fathom. Don’t you think?”

  The knees of the infected buckle as the skin peels away from the man’s fingers and a green ooze bubbles from the exposed bone. Yellow jaundice eyes ro
ll back, the yellowed whites crystallizing and flaking as the skin cracks and falls away. Wet pops crackle within the creature’s chest, a bubble of dark liquid pooling in its gut as it settles onto the ground. At last the growth bursts and the liquified innards pour onto the dirt in front of Kelly.

  She vomits like nothing she has before. Involuntary spasms that pull deep from within her to hurl her gut across the ground. The smell is beyond anything she can comprehend. A vile sludge of decay and her stomach heaves again. Deep down within her the trauma pulls from the pit of her soul and parts of her she doesn’t even know she has wretches through her throat and burns the inside of her mouth.

  “Ah!” Brother George screams.

  The last of the bolts are pulled and the infected let him drop to the ground without support. Weakened legs buckle and his ankle twists, a dark pool of blood filling beneath him where he crumples to the ground.

  “Father!” Kelly screams.

  She begins to crawl over to him. The man watching her go, hands shaking, she digs into the ground to pull herself to him. The smell of wet dog, musky and thick yanks at her gut but there is nothing left.

  Her eyes stay locked on the man she needs to survive. The last of everything she has ever known. Fingers dip into blackened gore. The warmth and stickiness vile against her skin as she pulls herself through.

  “Go to our dear old cousin. Tend to his wounds. He’s used to that. Not the first time he’s let young women care for him after he’s paid for his mistakes. Isn’t that true, brother?”

  Merchant doesn’t answer.

  Kelly can see his shadow, a darkness in the glaring sun as he watches her struggle to reach Brother George. The army of monsters behind him nothing more than a distant image. All she can concentrate on is reaching him in time, the pool of blood beneath growing faster than she can cover the ground.

  “Kk.. elly,” Brother George moans.

  “Shh, I’m here,” she says back, a whisper meant to comfort, but it’s all she can get out. “I’m going to get us out of here.”

  “Mm.. Merchant,” he adds as she pulls herself up against him.

  The skin across his body burns, peeling from the exposure to the sun and elements. Dark skin has turned ashy and the wound on his side is red and swollen. The meat beneath bubbles and with each breath more lines of blood trickle down to mix into the dirt and stones coating him where he has fallen.

  “Merchant is here. He’s going to stay behind while we go find a new home. Some place safe where we can start again. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Kelly adds between the tears that run down her face.

  “He needs,” Brother George begins to say, “to understand.”

  “Yes, cousin,” the demonic man cuts in. “My dear brother here has so much to remember and understand. I am in full agreement that it is time that he hold up his end of the bargain.”

  Stepping away, the body of rags and disease leaves them where they lay and approaches Merchant.

  “They will be set free and allowed safe passage away from this place. They can make whatever is left of this life while you and I stay here and begin to get further acquainted. Still sound like a good deal?”

  Kelly looks up and can see Merchant’s dark eyes watching her. She pulls Brother George closer to her. It takes all her strength just to move him the few inches until he is settled against her. The idea of lifting him from the ground and leading him out finally sets in.

  She sighs.

  There really is going to be no way out. The growls and the calls from the monsters beyond begin to settle in again. This is it.

  Kelly closes her eyes and lets her chin fall against her chest.

  “We had a deal,” Merchant says.

  No conviction, no hatred in that voice.

  The man who has destroyed everything in her life squeals like a young child. The wet rags that cover him from head to toe flap in the air as he scoots from side to side in what she can only imagine is some kind of dance.

  “Our brothers are going to be so pissed. You and me. A team at last,” he says without settling down. “I can only imagine the look in their—.”

  All hell breaks loose as a blur of violence and anger sweeps across them all.

  Merchant has barely any chance to register the attack before it lands.

  All nails and teeth, a flash of red hair sweeps across the monster and greenish blood spirts into the sky with a howl and a hiss. Red’s grip on the man’s back is weak, but the cutting of her teeth across his cheek is deep.

  Flesh tears and a vile liquid spews as she rips. Swollen hands grab her arms and shoulders, the long fingers cutting through cloth and skin, sizzling as the disease eats into her. With a sweep of wretched arms, Red goes flying before hitting the ground and tumbling into the monsters who remain frozen in confusion.

  Merchant does not wait. There is no time. He jumps for the monster in front of him.

  Hands lock down on shoulder and wet cloth. Ripping away, dark liquid splatters across the ground as the man spins from his grip.

  A fist hits Merchant square in the chest. Like a battering ram it sends him flying into the side of the truck. Air blasts from his lungs, a ringing in his ears rattles his mind and he slides to the ground.

  “Fucking little ingrate,” the man barks.

  Merchant growls and pivots from his heels and attacks again. This time he wraps his arms around the man’s body and spins with all of his weight. Releasing as he falls, he lets the man lift from the ground, the sound of his body and rags hitting the dirt with a wet thump.

  The infected go wild. Charging as one, Merchant is barely on his feet as the first swipes at his face. Long claws cut into the flesh of his shoulder, but he grabs it by the jaw and rips as hard as he can. Blood spurts as bone snaps and with a kick he sends it tumbling into the three behind.

  Another jumps onto his back. Grabbing clothes and hair, he lifts and tosses the monster into the mass fighting their way to reach him. A blur of commotion knocks several down as they clear their fallen and go to charge him.

  Red, soaked in blood and dirt, tears into the back of the one she has fallen onto. Blood and flesh fly into the air, covering her with gore as she doesn’t stop until she reaches spine and snaps it between her hands.

  One throws itself onto her back, teeth digging deep into her neck. Muscles pull and Red falls. Merchant jams his fingers deep into the infected’s eyes, its jaw and teeth releasing as he wrenches the head back, the spine crunching as he folds it like a piece of paper.

  Holding the broken body in front of him, Merchant rams himself and the dead infected into the wave that come after them. He does not have time to check on Red. There is only one way that this can end.

  Bulldozing his way through, hands and nails cut at his arms. Legs stick out to trip him as they tumble before him, but he crunches the bones beneath his books and he presses through. A stooped figure shambles away in the distance.

  Not looking back, his target continues its escape. Merchant roars and gives chase.

  Dropping the body, he lets his long legs stretch to cut the distance between the man he must kill and the army chasing him.

  “You do not know what you are doing, brother,” the man yells as he rounds the corner of a nearby building.

  The front walls are burned out, the roof caved in over the remnants of the slabs of wood that made this home. Piles of chopped logs are tumbled ashes mixed with resilient knots that refuse to burn.

  “Just think of what we could have together. Father always said you were the unforgiving type. Grow a little. Prove him wrong.”

  Merchant roars again and jumps the next mountain of ash as he reaches the back of the house’s foundation.

  A log slams into his chest and sends him spinning. The ground is relentlessly angry as his shoulders and elbows cut deep rivets into the surface and an infected jumps onto his prone body.

  Blood leaks from the creature’s lips as he tries to bite down. Merchant pushes him off, lifting him into the air a
nd then rolls to drop him to the side like a child. Climbing onto the creature’s back, he grabs the thing’s face, and twists until the neck breaks.

  Another attacks, and he shrugs the assault off. Spinning to turn around, this one catches a log across the side of its head and the skull crushes like a melon and the body drops.

  “I cannot let you leave here alive,” Merchant says.

  “Of course you can. See, we can even leave your friends here. They don’t have to move away. This is their home, isn’t it? You and me. We’ll head south. There are plenty of places I haven’t visited yet. Plus, I’ve heard the bombs did less damage down there. More survivors. Think of what you and I could do.”

  The man backs away, white hands up and green eyes squinted, flames smoking in the stare of a trapped animal ready to spring. Reaching down, Merchant picks up an ax, the head charred, but the handle still solid beneath his grip.

  “I’m not headed south. There is only one place for me and I will make it there even if it takes me a thousand years to reach it.”

  The man spits on the ground, his phlegm sizzling as the grass wilts on contact.

  “Stubborn. Father always said that was one of your worst traits.”

  An infected throws itself at Merchant. The ax head cuts through neck and chest, guts and cancerous lungs spilling onto the ground.

  The man launches himself at Merchant. Long fingers rake across face and chest. The gashes opened spew blood, and the burning pulses deep into the tissue.

  Merchant staggers backward. The fire in his belly flares into a boiling inferno.

  “Do you think you could actually hurt me?” the man asks. He rips more of his soaking rags away, the skin beneath revealed to the burning sun and the flesh sits untouched. “Those scratches your friend gave me were little more than tickles from an insignificant child. I’ve seen kittens do worse.”

  Charging like lightening, Merchant has no time to bring the ax to bear. All he can do is put it between them.

  All skin and bones, the man hits like an out-of-control train. Bones crunch against bones, the world spins and they tumble to the ground. Merchant does all he can to roll the man to the side.