Downfall
Page 30
She was fighting unconsciousness. Her face was bloodied. The laceration on her neck was so bad blood kept pouring out between both her hands. Something had cut her when what Matt could only assume was one of those Titans launched a car into the side of the van.
He hadn’t seen it. None of them had.
One minute, he’d been sharing a joint with his two friends and Randy, the next they were tumbling across the highway, rolling violently. The van coming to a rest upside down.
Matt looked back to Cole and Randy. They were both lying in an awkward manner, unconscious, but still breathing. He turned back to Angela, who was staring back with moist eyes.
“Come on, Angela.”
There was another roar from somewhere in front of him. His sight, however, was obscured, the windshield cracked and webbed. He could only make out a vague form, the details lost in the haze of destruction. It roared again, over the gunfire. There were voices, probably from the other survivors, yet Matt couldn’t be sure.
“Go,” Angela whispered, voice trembling.
“I’m not leaving you behind, Angie.” Matt looked back to Cole again. Still not moving. Neither was Randy.
“Matt,” Angela said, drawing the man’s attention back to her. She smiled and touched his cheek with her bloodstained right hand. “You have to go, handsome. I don’t think I’m gonna make it.”
Matt took her hand and squeezed as hard as he could, fighting away the tears. She was already blanching.
“Angela, no. Please.” Matt let out a brief, strangled cry and wiped his eyes.
The van slid back, the windshield finally breaking from some horrendous assault.
Her grip slackened in his as she exhaled. Matt watched her eyes as she took sight of the afterlife. She had a strange smile, as if in relief, and then she was gone.
“No, no, no.” Matt shook her face, then her arm.
Again, he’d lost someone about whom he truly cared. One minute there, gone the next.
“Get out of the van!” someone yelled. Following the order, there was an explosion which shook the ground and the interior. Then the sounds of debris colliding with the van, peppering holes in its sides, erupted.
Though he had freed himself after the wreck, Matt felt more trapped than ever. With the van upturned, everything was in a state of disarray. Guns and blood were everywhere.
Another explosion went off. Another pounding roar sounded, and the road shook with it.
Adam opened the back of the van, only his tank top visible through the moonlight.
“You guys alive?” he yelled as more gunshots went off.
“Clear!” Jay’s yell came muffled.
“Shit.” Adam shut the door and was out of sight as quickly as he’d been there.
A third explosion.
The back door opened again, and this time Matt saw Dennis and Adam. Dennis pulled Cole’s unconscious form out into the night and to the side of the road, then Randy’s.
“Matt? Angela? You two alive?” Adam said.
Matt moved his arm. Adam jumped into the back and grabbed his hand while at the same time surveying Angela’s dangling corpse, which dripped what blood that remained in her veins to the dashboard and floor.
“Holy shit,” Adam said, and then turned to Matt. “Come on, we’ve got to get you out of here.”
Adam pulled him from the heap that was the front seat. Upon exiting, Matt saw Jennifer tending to Cole at the side of the road by the Mountaineer, Randy by her side—who appeared to be regaining consciousness. She looked over with a grim expression, tears glistening in the dim light offered above the highway. Dennis had one of the assault rifles in his hand, Matt’s 556, and ran past the van, out of sight.
“You all right?” Adam said as he rushed to grab two AK-47s. “That car hit your van really hard.”
Matt blinked hard and nodded, rubbing his head.
With that, Adam was out of sight, following Dennis. Another explosion lit the night, and the van was once again assaulted by debris. Matt glanced over to Jennifer once more. She had a shotgun and an assault rifle leaning against the side wall of the interstate, which was tall enough here, Matt surmised, that nothing could easily get over, living or dead.
More rattling gunfire and frantic screams.
Matt grabbed an AK-47, emptied three others for their magazines, discovered four more spread throughout the mess in the back, and found a home for each in his pockets and between his pants and skin. He set the assault rifle against the bumper and reached for another of the assault rifles. When he seized the weapon, he noticed that this one in particular resembled a gun he’d only read about in gun magazines.
A fucking Saiga twelve gauge! Matt snatched it with a sense of relief. It had what looked to be a ten-shot magazine installed. He searched for more mags, but found none.
Another explosion shook the ground.
Matt hung the Saiga behind him and reached for the first pistol he could find. His P226 was lost somewhere up front, as was his sword. He shook off the thoughts of his blade tearing through Angela’s neck as more shots went off from the direction in which Adam and Dennis had gone.
He made his way around the back of the van and almost stopped running, his will sinking like a disabled warship. The moon illuminated the middle of the road while various lights above the highway lit everywhere else. Two arms, monstrous in size, hideous in aspect, reached toward the sky, bloated and misshapen in appearance. Tentacles sprouted from its backside and snaked into the air. One of them stabbed at the semi, but was a few feet short. A chunk of the highway divider rested in the grip of the thing’s massive left hand.
Jay stepped out from behind semi-truck squeezed off a few rounds before returning to cover.
Matt watched as the slab of concrete flew from the thing’s arm. It slammed beside the semi and bounced into the van behind it. He ran up beside Adam and Dennis and advanced with cover fire as Jay lit and tossed another pipe bomb.
The ground shook from the explosion, and the Titan staggered back.
“Glad to see you’re still with us, man,” Jay said as he reloaded. “Don’t know how long you’re gonna live, though.” He readied and tossed another pipe bomb.
All four of them covered their ears and ducked until the ground trembled.
“Long enough to see this thing dead,” Matt answered, and peered around the edge of the semi to see that the Titan was shaking its head, distracted by the blast.
This was the first time he got a good look at the thing. Each limb was twice as long and ten times as big as any he’d ever seen before. The head of this monster was uneven, as if tumors riddled its face. One huge, bloodshot eye protruded from the face, pushing the other behind loose, pallid flesh. The thing’s mouth sunk back, its teeth sharp and crooked. Something, possibly an overgrown bone, stretched behind the Titan’s head, pulling its decaying skin taut.
It roared, finally catching its bearings. As it started to move forward, Matt left the safety of the semi and opened fire, aiming for its head. Some shots hit. Some missed. Not one brought the bastard down. The other three were right behind, emptying their magazines.
The sounds were deafening but, at the same time, uplifting. Though the creature was yards ahead of them and still gaining ground, Matt could see that it wasn’t invulnerable to the bullets. Each one left a mark from which viscous fluid seeped.
Jay pulled Matt back behind the semi as Dennis lit the wooden stakes on the last propane bomb and tossed it just in front of the beast. Adam fired three shots until there was another explosion. This one was much bigger than the pipe bombs, and when the blast ended, Matt rushed back to the firing line.
The Titan staggered, the swaying tentacles now limp, and wailed. Dark fluid wept from countless entry wounds, and the monster teetered and fell to its side. Matt ejected his mag in favor of one that was completely full and walked toward the creature as he fired. The other three were soon on his tail, following his actions.
When all four were out, Matt ha
nded Jay the AK-47 and all the magazines. He then readied the Saiga and made a slow approach. The monstrous, infected thing barely moved at all.
Matt stepped atop the Titan’s chest, which was easily three feet off the ground, and walked up to its head with Angela’s fresh corpse on his mind. Adam, Jay, and Dennis surrounded it, each ready with a fresh mag in his weapon and a nervous look on his face. The mutated zombie let out a few deep groans, but was still unable to do more than weakly flail.
“Nice try.”
Matt emptied the mag into the Titan’s head, effectively reducing it to a bloody pulp. Nothing on its body twitched anymore. It was dead, finally. And at what cost? He looked down once more, tossed the Saiga to the side—where it was caught by Adam—and pulled out his pistol. Matt racked the slide and fired until he could fire no more.
“Jesus H. Christ,” Jay said, wrapping his hand around his forehead. “What the fuck was that all about?”
Before Matt could answer, the roar of a screamer sounded from behind—from where Jennifer, Cole, and Randy were. A few shots went off in that direction, and the men ran back to the Mountaineer. Before he even saw the survivors, Matt made out runners and creepers approaching the highway from either side.
Jennifer screamed, and it was followed by a gunshot.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael S. Gardner resides in Virginia where he exterminates vermin by day and weaves tales of horror by night. Currently, he has a few publications available: Death in the Times of Madness, Betrayal, and The Blood of an Immortal. Co-editor of the Zombies Gone Wild! anthologies, he is a huge fan of the genre. You can find him on Facebook under his pen name and on Twitter @RottenWriter. Occasionally he blogs at www.atasteofterror.blogspot.com.
Table of Contents
Copyright
OTHER WORKS BY MICHAEL S. GARDNER
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE: AWAKENING
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
PART TWO: FAC-SIX
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
PART THREE: OPPOSITION
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR