“We are almost there. Just up the hill.” Charlotte said through an exasperated yawn. She was worn down. The sun zapped any energy she had. It took all that any of them had just to make it up the hill. But, once they caught site of the police station for the first time, they seemed to find a little energy out of nowhere and pressed on. They finally reached the front door of the station.
Ian pulled on the door and walked inside as the others followed him. It was quiet and dusty just like the store earlier. They didn’t smell dead rotting flesh here, though. The air smelt a little musty but, otherwise normal having been stagnating for a year. The roomy lobby was completely empty. It looked like the peace officers working at the station left in a rush. Files were all over the floors and chairs were knocked over. A couple of the computers were broken on the floor. “There must have been so many calls that day that there was no one left to take care of this place. And now, they were more than likely all dead.” Ian thought.
He and Sam checked the rest of the station. It was eerily quiet down in the cells where law breakers were normally held. Now, the barred doors were left halfway open, as if the prisoners just left. They didn’t spend much time there. After checking the rest of the building, they found it to also be empty. Soon, they found the armory was locked. But, Ian was sure that he could find some bolt cutters in the evidence room and took off to search for it. A few moments later he came back with a pair looking quite satisfied with himself.
“What?” He said smiling at her cheekily.
“Nothing. You just look quite happy with yourself.” Sam said through a toothy grin. It was nice to see Ian happy again. She missed him being that way. It wasn’t very often that he would have moments like that so, she soaked them in generously. Ian walked passed her with the cutters in his hands.
“Can you hold the chain up? I need to cut it.” He asked Sam. She pulled up on the chain attached to the doors and Ian took the cutter and snapped the chain in two. He pulled on the chain and it fell to the floor. Ian grabbed the handle to the door and opened it. Once inside they noticed that many of the guns had already been picked over. If every officer was called to duty that day, Ian expected it to be this way. There were only three people in his group who could use a fire arm and there were still plenty to go around.
“I think I want this one.” Sam said, holding up a shotgun that was hanging on the wall.
“Make sure you can find the right ammo to go with it. I think shotgun shells are over there.” He pointed over to the ammo casings on the right side of the wall.
Ian was searching for a few items to take with him. He wanted a rifle and a handgun. And if he could find anything else to help with distractions he would take it. Walking down an aisle, he found both guns he had been looking for and the rounds he needed to work them. He also found a few smoke bombs and stuffed them into his pockets. Those would come in handy at some point.
“Look what I found!” Sam yelled across the room. She was holding up two bullet proof vests.
“I don’t think we have humans to worry about right now.” Ian intimated.
“I know that I just thought it couldn’t hurt.” She giggled. Her soft voice danced around Ian’s ears. He had grown to love the sound.
“I think we have enough for now. Grab something for Charlotte, would you?” He asked, stuffing his pockets with more ammo. There wasn’t much room for more.
Sam nodded and picked up a .45 that was sitting next to her. “This should do.” she thought. Sam quickly grabbed enough ammo for the gun and headed after Ian as he left the armory and headed back to the lobby of the police station.
“We found enough weapons and ammo to last us at least until the next town over.” Ian said to Charlotte. Sam walked up to her and handed the .45 over. She pulled a box of ammunition to go along with it from her pocket.
“Hope you don’t mind a little kick.” Sam smiled.
“It’s the same thing I chose. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
“No, of course not.” Charlotte disclosed.
“I’ll take all that I can get.” She quickly placed the gun in the small of her back and threw the ammunition in her pocket.
“So, how long are we staying here? And what’s our plan? We need to try and find others like us.” Sam said looking to Ian for an answer.
He hadn’t really thought about what would come next. Obviously, they would have to stay here for the night. Darkness was coming and it wasn’t safe out. Ian pondered on what they ought to do for a moment.
“You said earlier that there were other CDC facilities under lock down. Do you know the closest one from here?” That was really the only safe option they had. They couldn’t take their chances out here in the open. This world had evolved without them. What they really needed to do was seek shelter.
“I do. We are about 500 miles from the closest location. We would need transportation.” Charlotte added. Her eyes darted to the front parking lot.
“We are at a police station; there’s gotta be something in the back we can take.” Ian voiced. He was already walking over to the bulletin board filled with keys to the cities vehicles.
“This one says there is a van out back with our name on it!” He said happily. He tossed the keys over to Sam who put them in her jeans.
“You’re driving. I need some shut eye.” He said grabbing a cot he had found in the cells downstairs.
“We can stay here for a few more hours. At sun up, we leave. I don’t want to be here any longer than needed. Not with the Wasteling racking us. Who knows how far off he is.” The others nodded and watched as he laid himself down on the cot and placed his hands underneath the back of his neck, stretching his legs out over the edge.
“I honestly have no idea how much time we have. But, traveling at night isn’t a good idea. I agree that we should stay here until sunrise. No longer.” Charlotte uttered. She was already lying down. Jamie was fast asleep, now. The heat had tired the boy greatly.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The wary group slept the remaining few short hours left in the night, practically snoozing up until just before sunrise. It was the hardest any of them had slept in quite some time, knowing they had their freedom back helped considerably. As morning came, Sam awoke first. She sat up slowly; rubbing her blood shot, blue eyes until they burned. Sam leaned down for a moment, resting her chin on top of her knees. She took a good, long look at her surrounding’s before reaching down and lightly shaking Ian. It took him a few minutes to rouse.
“It’s time we head out babe,” Sam mumbled as she kissed his hot cheek.
Ian slowly opened his well-rested and crusted over eyes. He rubbed them with his dirty fingertips until the grittiness left them. As he touched the warm skin on his face, Ian could feel the lines from lying on an uneven surface. They covered the left side of his face.
As the sunrise rose outside, light splashed into the Police station. Different yellow and orange hues overwhelmed the room; instantly warming the temperature. The colors vaguely reminded Ian of Autumn. He felt more relaxed than ever.
“Funny how something so simple, could be so beautiful.” Ian murmured as he leaned in closer to Sam, tenderly brushing her soft blonde hair.
The room had grown frigid in the late night hours. Presently, it was nice and toasty and gently warming the others. Ian hadn’t seen the sunset or sunrise since being locked up at the CDC. He wanted to cherish this moment for as long as he could.
“It’s beautiful.” Sam said smiling as she kissed Ian on the cheek and rubbed at the lines indenting his face.
“It sure is. I definitely missed that.” He admitted as he grasped Sam fervidly and stared deep into her ocean blue eyes. The color reminded him of the promise of hope. He took her face into his hand, feeling her enticing, sun-kissed skin trembling underneath. Leaning in, Ian kissed her passionately; locking eyes with her as if it were the first time they’d done so. The two sat for a moment, holding one another. They were grateful for their uninterrupted time to
gether. It was a rarity indeed.
The group managed to find a few empty duffle bags in the evidence room. They decided to put supplies and weapons in them for the trip.
“Fill them until you can’t zip them. We will have a vehicle and won’t have to worry about carrying them.” Ian suggested to the others as he walked into the room. He was carrying his own empty duffle bag.
They grabbed the rest of the ammunition and handguns, which entirely wiped the rest of the inventory out. The large weapons and evidence room barely had anything left. Any noise made in the room echoed freely, bouncing off of the walls. There were mainly drugs and narcotics left, which were safely locked away behind a glass door to an even smaller room behind the armory.
“The more, the merrier!” Ian told the group. He knew that carrying more guns than food was a substantial risk, but, not having anything to arm themselves with, would be far worse.
“We are going to need everything they’ve got here to survive. We have no idea when we’ll be able to replenish our ammo supply. So, we take everything.” Ian reiterated strongly.
The group enjoyed a small breakfast consisting of potato chips and Vienna sausages. It was the only thing they could find in the vending machines still edible. There, unfortunately wasn’t a cafeteria at the station that they could readily replenish their reserves. So, they made do with what they could find.
“We’ll get a vehicle soon and find something more filling,” Sam promised the famished group. They were forced to ration their remaining food supply.
They packed everything up and headed to the back of the building where the police vehicles were kept.
“Once we find a vehicle we can high tail it out of Georgia. We’ve got no time to waste; daylight’s burning.” Ian reminded them as they neared the back door.
“Stay close. If we see a Cold One, let me handle it. I have a combat knife. We don’t need them hearing and following us on the road.” Ian whispered to the group as he slowly pushed the heavy metal back door of the station open. It creaked loudly on its rusty hinges, creating far too much noise for anyone to be comfortable with. The group looked around hastily; making sure nothing had heard them.
The air was much cooler than it was the previous day. Ian took in a deep breath of its crispiness and let it out slowly. He still couldn’t believe that he missed the smell of the city so much. That was something he thought he would never dwell on.
He held the creaky back door open for Sam and the others to follow him. Ian winced as the door made another strident noise the further he opened it. Ripping his head around, Ian realized that nothing had heard the noise, and he eased up a bit as the group left the building behind.
They shuffled passed a few empty Police vehicles as they searched for any intruders they might need to take care of. Ian proceeded down rows upon rows of cars and motorcycles. So far, they hadn’t seen a single undead traipsing around.
“Why are there so many vehicles?” Ian wondered.
“Just doesn’t make much sense with all of the personnel being gone…” He questioned, wondering if Charlotte would pipe up with some sort of explanation. When she didn’t answer, he decided to give up on the guesswork.
The group stayed alert long enough for Jamie to spot a Cold One lurking behind the gates of the station. There was only one, so they’d gotten lucky.
“There!” He whispered into Sam’s ear. Jamie lifted a small, pale arm and pointed to the left of them. A single undead was nearing the back fence.
Ian hastily jogged over to the Cold One with his knife out, pointing it in the direction of the undead; his hand was quavering from the immense anxiety pulsing through his body. Taking a moment to steady his aim, Ian thought about the fact that he was terrified again. It had been far too long since the last interaction with a Cold One to keep control of his nerves. Deep inside himself, Ian worried about his resolve and whether or not he could be who he needed to in order to survive.
“The world has after all turned into a cesspool of monstrosities’ and lab rejects.” Ian thought crestfallen.
“I’m just gonna have to get used to it again,” he reasoned, trying to pep himself up.
Ian took the knife and held it up; trying to get it aimed in the precise area he wanted to drive it through. The light of the bright, blistering sun caught the knife, reflecting off of its sharp, serrated edges. It cast a luminous light onto an area of the undead’s forehead, leaving a radiant circle behind. Ian watched as the Cold One closed in on him, trying to force its body through the metal wire.
Ian noticed that this time, his living nightmare came in the form of a female. Her face had been burned significantly on one side, and the rest of her body was rapidly decaying.
“I’ll call you Two-Face.” Ian joked, trying to get his mind where it needed to be. He forced himself to think about the monster inside, rather than the person in front of him. It just made it easier for him to cope with what he was doing.
Ian saw plump, yellow maggots feeding on the Cold One, weaving in and out of its eyeless, deep black eye socket and through its bloody ears. A few of them fell to the ground next to the monster; a loud and juicy crunch could be heard, as the dead weight of the undead’s foot crushed the maggots beneath its feet. She snarled at Ian, raising her hands and trying to scratch at him with her dirt incrusted nails. If the gate weren’t there, she would have gotten to Ian easily. She squeezed a heavily decomposed hand through the wire of the metal fence, ripping blackened flesh off in the process. She quickly broke through, exposing part of the bone, leaving her arm substantially mangled. Ian raised the knife once more, took in a deep breath and sunk the sharp blade into her rotten, decrepit skull.
“That went in much deeper than I thought it would.” Ian exclaimed. Feeling as though he might be getting his footing back, Ian drove the blade deeper into the creature’s battered skull.
He pulled the knife back out and the Cold One slid to the ground. It caught its face on every ring of the metal fence on the way down. Ian flinched as the undead tore part of its lip away exposing rotted teeth and more maggots.
“Ugh,” Ian gagged as more larva fell to the ground with a gross splat.
The undead stretched its jaw wide, ripping the skin and joints holding the pieces together and fell to the ground. It exposed the gum inside the Cold One’s mouth and how long ago it receded from the bone; no blood was pouring out; it was completely congealed. Ian looked closer and saw that the Cold One had chewed through its own tongue; there was only half left.
Ian looked back at the group. He could tell that they were worried he’d been compromised. He quickly ran back to them and noticed that his heart beat was smoother than it had been in a while. He felt more composed.
“Am I used to it again?” He wondered as he reached the nervous group.
“Press the automatic unlock button.” Ian whispered to Sam faintly.
As she pressed the button on the keyring, a light ‘beep, beep’ sounded and Ian and the others speedily ran towards it. They soon reached the vehicle and Ian saw that it was a newer Police surveillance van. He guessed that the department used it for stake outs and the like. The group loaded everything up carefully, making sure that they hadn’t left anything and hopped into the vehicle.
Ian decided to allow Sam to drive as he settled into the front passenger seat. He rolled his window down and adjusted the mirror so that he could get a better view of the back of the van. Charlotte and Jamie both sat in the backseat next to each other. Jamie was already nestling closer to Charlotte as Sam started the van and put it in gear.
Sam slowly coasted out of the parking lot. There were so many vehicles that she almost couldn’t make it to the exit. She brushed up against another van because its back doors were lying wide open. A single undead was lying inside half in, half out; a large gaping wound was stretched across its forehead. The group ignored it and turned away. As Sam neared the exit, the group saw the gate was locked.
“I’m not going to shoot the
lock. It would attract too much attention. Just ram it, Sam!” Ian deduced quickly. They had no time for any more delays.
“Okay.” Sam said, pulling back on the gear shift to back up. She pushed it back into drive and added pressure on the gas pedal. The van lurched forward, throwing them back into their seats. The group could hear the van’s tires give off a high pitched squeal and they were headed towards the heavy metal gate.
“Charlotte hold on to him tight!” Sam cried as she gripped the steering wheel and braced for impact.
The gate was a bit thicker than your average metal encasing. It was a Police facility, so the engineers reinforced it with double rows of barbed and regular wire fencing. Sam pressed a little firmer on the gas as they slammed into the gate, almost instantly destroying it. Luckily, it wasn’t as heavy as Ian presumed and the van made it out just fine. There were only a few dents that he could see on the hood. Ian got out and checked the tires for leaks. He kicked each one individually to make sure the pressure was still on point. After seeing they were full, Ian looked back at the mangled gate. As he did, he saw something massive staring back at him from a nearby restaurant. It was hiding just inside the dark lobby. He couldn’t quite tell what it was gawking at; all that he could see was a pair of eyes that glowed in pitch dark. As Ian stared longer, the creature closed its bright eyes just as several more luminous eyes opened.
“What the hell?” Ian asked perplexed. He gripped the side of the van tightly, taken aback by what he saw. Ian took a deep breath and waited. The eye’s eventually closed and the first pair illuminated the darkness once again.
A moment later, a giant plume of glass, dust and debris shot out through the window and onto the road. Behind it, the Wasteling landed on the sidewalk, crushing the concrete with its feet as it slid down the street.
Scarlet Memories (Book 2): Metamorphosis Page 9
