by Joseph Zuko
Amber returned. “You won’t believe it. No saw, but the garage is full of bodies and one of them was a cop. Look what I found.” She held out the key.
Ryder swooned, “You are amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”
Amber worked her hands behind the toilet and got the key into the cuffs. In preparation, she put her hand on Ryder’s lips. “Sorry.” She twisted the key and the restraint popped free from his wrist.
He wailed and brought his arms out from under the bowl. They were dark purple.
Amber got the key into the second cuff and released it. “I know you’re going after your wife, but I… I can’t go with you. I’m heading for the hills. I’m going to ride this mess out and do some extreme camping. I’ve managed to stay out of sight from those things. You’re lucky. I was sneaking past this house when I heard the alarm. I came in to shut it off, to stop it from drawing attention to this street. Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to anyone.”
Amber released Ryder’s mouth. “You think you can stand?”
“Yeah!”
She hooked her hands under his armpits and lifted him to his feet.
Ryder wobbled. His legs were like a newborn foal’s. He stared at his dark hands and concentrated on getting his fingers to flex. “I can’t thank you enough. You saved me.”
Amber propped him against the sink. “I’m sure you would have done the same for me.”
“I hate to ask, but could I trouble you for some water? I left all mine on the floor.” He nodded toward the puddle of sweat.
“Yeah, let’s hit the kitchen.” Amber snagged her crossbow and led the way.
Ryder shuffled slowly. His feet were like boulders. He pushed his hands together and got the blood pumping.
Amber asked, “How do you plan to get your wife back?”
“I’m going to kill the bastards that took her.” He got the tips of his fingers moving.
“Are you serious?”
Amber paused in front of a cupboard.
“I’m willing to do anything to get her back. She’s the love of my life.” Ryder ached head to toe, but the constant deception helped ease his wounds.
Amber grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then searched a few drawers until she located a straw. She held the water in front of Ryder as he wrapped his lips around the plastic tube and sucked at the fluid.
Ryder slurped the last of the water. “Thank you so much. You’re an angel.” He turned away and scanned the counter. A basket sat next to the range. It was full of cooking utensils. “I better find a weapon if I’m going to get Jessica back.” A stainless-steel meat tenderizer poked from the basket. He got his thumb to move enough to grab the tool.
Amber smirked, “You’re going to need more than that… hey, wasn’t her name, Jennifer?”
“Oh, right. You know what, I’ve been knocked unconscious twice today. I’m having a tough time remembering my lies.” Ryder spun on his heels.
The tenderizer tagged Amber square in the jaw. A sick crack echoed through the house. She collapsed in the middle of the kitchen. The crossbow skidded into the fridge.
Ryder closed in on her. “I’m going to need your weapons if I want to kill the bitch that did this to me.” He straddled her and raised the tenderizer. “Thanks again for setting me free.” He smirked and brought the spiked tool down onto her forehead.
He hit her again. Then again.
Images of that bitch, Red, flashed through his mind. He wished it was her lying on the floor in this goddamn suburban nightmare. Anger and humiliation raged inside Ryder. He couldn’t stop himself. He pounded the lifeless corpse of the woman that saved him. His world rotated and flipped upside down. He hit her again.
Ryder tossed the hammer to the floor, dove for the sink, and puked into the basin. His body shook uncontrollably. It was like being reborn. Ryder passed through one plain of existence and entered another.
Now, he was a killer.
Chapter 18
Beth inched her way through the blood drenched stairway to the main floor of her house. Every piece of furniture was destroyed or covered in slop. It looked like the zombies threw a raging kegger and invited a Greek row to come party.
Beth surveyed her damaged possessions and said, “You can’t take it with you.” Her shoulders slumped as she landed at the foyer.
The new group of strangers were cautiously stepping across the dead bodies as they followed her. The parents carried their children. A few tears of joy still clung to their cheeks.
Beth entered her living room. She sounded like an android. “I’ve got to take care of something, pack some supplies. I’ll be done in a few. You folks think I could tag along with you?”
Karen cleared her throat and sounded close to normal. “We’ve got room.”
Troy watched the two men from the Hummer head toward the house. “We need to hurry.”
Beth squatted and picked up a framed photo. The glass was shattered, and a muddy footprint covered the picture of her family. “What’s the rush?”
Troy clenched his jaw, “Someone else was taken from our group and we have to find her.”
Beth brushed away the mud. “I’ll pack quickly.”
Jim recognized the boy in the photo. He was tied to the chair in the next room. Everyone could hear it struggling against its restraints.
The infected elephant in the room, thought Jim as he planted an extra kiss on Robin’s forehead. She wrapped her arms around his neck and patted him softly.
Beth’s finger traced an outline around her son’s image.
Jim asked Beth, “Do you need help with… him?”
“No.” She pulled the photo from the broken glass, folded it, and slid the paper into her pocket.
Beth moved with purpose toward the rustling noise in the other room.
Brother Paul and Cooper stepped through the wrecked entrance of the house.
Paul’s gaze could burn a hole through granite. He grunted at Jim. “You said you would explain what happened.”
Jim’s head cocked to the side. “How much do you really want to know?”
Paul held his head high, “Tell me how both groups died. You say Eric attacked you, but that doesn’t explain why everyone except Shawna is dead.”
Leon chimed in. “Maybe we should set our guns aside before we discuss this?”
No one moved.
Leon continued. “I want to remind everyone; the past is done. There’s no changing it. Humanity is on the brink and everyone’s life is more important than ever. I was there this morning and I’m confused as to why and how it all went down.”
Bang!
The gunshot startled everyone. Beth stepped from the dining room. Smoke wafted from the barrel of her rifle. “Sorry.” She passed the group and headed for the stairs. “I’ll pack my bag and be down in a minute.” She took the first step and stopped. She lowered her head and said, “This is my house and I don’t want anyone killing anyone, ya understand? Stop your pissing contest and make peace or take your hate somewhere else.”
Beth headed for her bedroom.
She crossed paths with Shawna at the top of the stairs.
Jim and Karen stared switchblades at her. Hate and anger seethed from the couple.
Shawna avoided eye contact until she got to the main floor.
Cooper gave her a welcome hug and asked, “Are you okay?”
“That’s a loaded question,” said Shawna as she took her place beside Brother Paul and Cooper. She grappled with herself but managed to force the words from her mouth. “I deeply apologize to you all. I didn’t know the children were on the bus when I took it and Leon-”
Leon cut her off. “I’m good. You can keep your apology.”
Shawna lowered her head in shame.
Jim looked at Karen. His wife’s face was flush. He could tell she wanted to rip Shawna a new asshole, and the truth was he would have loved to watch her do it, but it wasn’t going to help.
Jim had to state his case and expl
ain what happened before this nut ordered the Hummer to open fire and snuff out his family. Jim saw yesterday what this group does to people they deemed evil. He had seen them execute two humans they claimed were violent criminals.
This maniac thinks God is in his corner. Jim figured he better tread lightly.
Karen shifted Valerie in her arms and told her story with a little extra vinegar in it, “Your brother arrived at my mother’s this morning. He threatened me and my girls. I’ll spare you the exact details, but he asked for me to be a willing participant and if I didn’t…” she searched for a kid friendly way to say the next part. “…he’d have his men hurt me and my girls. I wasn’t willing and that’s when he did this to me.” Karen lifted her shirt and exposed her bruised and battered midsection. “He was going to kill me. I’m sure of it… I got lucky. He had my head in the kitchen sink as he punched the back of my skull. A frying pan was left in the basin and I used it to defend myself.”
Valerie whimpered. “He was the Scary Man.”
Brother Paul swallowed the lump in his throat as he listened. Cooper took off his sunglasses and baseball cap. He lowered his head.
Hearing his wife explain her ordeal ripped at Jim’s heart and now it was his turn. “That’s when I showed up. Eric ordered his men to fire on us and we lost Devon.”
Paul’s eyes narrowed. He remembered the young man when he interviewed the four of them yesterday.
Jim’s features hardened. “We had another family with us. A Mother and her children. They were slaughtered.”
Shawna turned to Paul and confirmed the detail. “I saw the van. It was…” She got lost trying to describe the macabre scene.
Jim continued before she could finish her sentence. “The man driving his family to safety… he survived, picked up a saw and hacked the men responsible to pieces. He lost his mother, wife and three young girls. It broke him.”
This news hit Paul hard. He himself had handpicked the men for Eric’s mission and the idea that they could take the lives of anyone seemed impossible. With gravel in his throat he asked, “Couldn’t you have stopped him?”
Jim shook his head. “I’d found my wife beaten and bloody, my girls were terrified, and I just lost a friend. I wasn’t overly concerned for the men that caused the damage.”
Paul fidgeted with his rifle.
Jim was right. Maybe he didn’t want to know everything. Paul surprised himself when he asked, “And the second group?”
Karen blurted out, “Eric wasn’t dead. He was hurt badly, and...”
Troy finished for her. “…we patched him up the best we could.”
Karen coughed and altered her stance. Reliving the trauma put her on edge. “I’m only saying this because you seem desperate to understand what happened.” She exhaled a deep breath. “The last thing Eric did before he died was hold a shard of glass to my children’s necks and threaten to kill them in front of me. I got the girls away… he was losing a lot of blood… he was about to turn and one of our people waited until he…”
Jim nodded at Shawna. “That’s when they arrived. And the big guy?”
“Dallas.”
“Right. He heard the gunshot, rushed to the bedroom where Eric had just died. Then he killed our man, Frank. Dallas pinned me to the floor with a knife and was choking the life out of me.”
Paul scratched the stubble on his chin, “How did you-”
Karen cut him off, “I killed him.”
Anger and confusion flooded Paul’s weathered mug.
“He came into my mother’s house, shot a sweet old man in the face and was about to kill my husband. What would you have done?” Karen asked flatly.
Leon tried to rush it along and blurted out, “The guy that lost his family. He went berserk. Killed everyone but Shawna. Then one of your guys blasted him.”
“Why did you take Shawna with you?” asked Cooper.
Troy spit blood onto the floor. “She said she could patch Jim’s wound and we didn’t want to leave her stranded. We promised to let her go and set her up with a vehicle once she helped us to keep his shoulder from getting infected.”
Paul glanced at Shawna.
Shawna nodded, “It’s true.”
Jim stepped across the room and headed for the door. “We’ve both suffered losses. There’s no fixing any of it. Now, we must go. The last person from my group, Sara, was kidnapped by a real sick bastard.”
“Ryder’s alive?” asked Shawna.
“He took Sara the same time you took the bus,” said Troy.
Beth descended the stairs. She slung a pack over her shoulder. “Good, everyone’s still alive.”
Jim stood toe to toe with Paul. “It’s up to you. Do we need to die, too, or are we good?”
Paul stood silent for a long time.
In Jim’s past life as a salesperson there was a tactic he never enjoyed using because it leaned toward the high-pressure side of the business and it wasn’t his style. It went like this:
Whoever talks first loses.
If Jim or anyone in his group spoke, it meant they were at fault and subject to punishment by Brother Paul’s self-righteous followers.
If Paul uttered a word it meant he was willing to accept his peoples part in this disaster.
The silence was brutal.
Jim never had run into trouble with the law, but he imagined this would be like waiting for a judge to render his final verdict.
As their life hung in the balance Jim wondered, what kind of man was Paul?
Was he the type of leader that only craved power?
Or was he truly concerned for the safety of his people and the others around him?
He studied Paul’s expression, looking for a crack in the veneer or a signal to what the man was thinking.
Paul was like a professional poker player. Blank. No indication. The man could reach out for a hug or deck Jim in the face. Neither would have surprised him.
Jim was about to break and say something. Anything to end the awkward noiseless void. When, without warning Paul turned from the doorway and headed for the Hummer.
Paul twisted his neck and said, “Let’s get that bus out of the ditch. Then you folks can be on your way.”
Jim looked to his people. They were taken aback as much as he was. He shrugged and followed Paul onto the porch. “You’re giving us the bus?”
“It is the least we can do. You have to keep your girls safe.” Paul pointed to the old van. “That is not going to cut it.” He stepped from the porch. “Cooper and Shawna, can you search the barn? See if they have a length of chain we can use to free the bus?”
Cooper took off toward the barn with Shawna on his heels.
Paul popped the door open to the Hummer and set his rifle in the passenger seat. “Your man is right. Life is even more valuable than ever before. This was a horrible mess. I will never get my brother back, but perhaps he was not meant for this world. It is difficult to say all this. The truth is often a challenge to accept.”
Jim and crew headed for the van.
Paul continued. “Despite all the transgressions our groups have caused each other, I want to help you find your friend. Sara Foster, correct?”
Jim was perplexed, and Paul could tell. “Yes.”
“I read her file. She is someone worth saving.” Paul watched as Jim’s confusion grew. “We are neighbors now. We have to look out for one other, right?” When Paul finished, he jumped into the Hummer and slammed the door.
Cooper and Shawna emerged from the barn with a ten-foot length of thick metal chain.
Troy and Leon climbed into the front.
Beth crawled into the rear third row of the van and asked. “Is it just me, or are those guys kind of weird?”
“Very weird, but they are willing to help, and we need it,” said Troy as he checked his swollen lips in the rearview mirror.
Jim kept his voice low for only them to hear as they set the girls in the middle row. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that.”
/> Troy barked, “Let’s get the lead out and find Sara before it gets dark.”
Leon cranked the ignition and headed for the street. The trip was bumpy with a layer of corpses spread across the road. It was like taking an old logging road. The shocks bottomed out as the passengers bounced around the cabin.
Jim’s stomach did backflips. He would never get used to the sound of bones snapping under the vehicle’s wheels.
His family huddled together. Optimism was given a chance to blossom. They suffered so many losses in such a fleeting period that this swing of fortune allowed Jim’s brain to work on a list of their recent wins.
Jim glanced through the rear window and watched the Hummer enter the highway.
Beth pulled her graying hair back into a ponytail.
We even gained a rifle carrying farmer. Jim shifted to the next task.
Now, if we can get Sara back in one peice and make it to my folks we will be aces, thought Jim as hope returned to his heart.
Troy huffed, “Where should we look for Sara first?”
Jim ran his hand through Valerie’s hair and said, “Ryder left a trail of blood. We follow that.”
Chapter 19
Amanda wiped the blood from her chin as she released Lindsey.
“You’re delicious, Doc.”
Lindsey’s body convulsed on the floor.
Amanda got to her feet. “I lied earlier. It doesn’t take hours. I changed quickly. I wanted to get a few people alone, so I could make you like me.” She walked around the desk and checked on Michael.
His body vibrated. Eyes became cloudy. Lips pulled tight.
“He’s turning into the other kind. That’s fine. I really don’t understand how it works and I really don’t give a shit. You’ll see. It’s freeing.” Amanda squatted over Lindsey and held her by the chin. She studied the Doctor. One of Lindsey’s eyes was turning. The dark color slowly crept in from the edges of her eyelid. “I’m sorry I ate so much of your shoulder. I hope your arm still works. I wasn’t lying about how badly I was starving.”
