He shook his head. “No problem. It’s cool.”
The smile returned to Teddy’s face. “So let’s check this place out, together.”
Ray’s eyes brightened. “Awesome!”
Teddy glanced past Ray toward the dumpster and door. “You check the door yet? Is it unlocked?”
Ray shook his head and looked slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t get that far.”
Teddy nodded. “You were playing it safe. Probably a good idea.”
Ray nodded vigorously in agreement.
Teddy walked past Ray. “So let’s check it out.”
Ray looked surprised at his friend’s relaxed attitude and watched as the smaller boy moved toward the door, the rifle loose in his left hand. He ran to catch up just as Teddy jiggled the handle. He glanced at Ray and shook his head.
“Locked.”
He moved toward the dumpster, but Ray put a hand on his shoulder. Teddy turned with a question on his face.
“I think there’s something in there.”
Teddy tried to crack a smile, thinking it had to be a joke, but his lips tightened as he saw the serious expression on Ray’s face. The smaller boy swiveled his head to look at the dumpster, shifting the rifle up to his shoulder as he did.
Ray moved beside him, the Beretta pointed at the metal box. He looked over at Teddy and whispered, “I heard something, I’m sure. I think a slug crawled in there and is just waiting for us to get close.”
“Are you positive? Wouldn’t the dumpster be moving? I mean, it would have heard us talking, right?”
Ray paused, considering as Teddy inched forward. He swallowed hard as he walked next to his friend. Ray was the closer of the two to the dumpster, and with every step they took, he could feel his heart beating faster. They stopped when they were about ten feet away. There was no movement or sound coming from the metal box.
“Switch places with me,” Teddy said.
“Huh? Why?”
“Because I have the rifle,” Teddy explained. “I’m going to lift the lid with the barrel. That way if one of those things is inside, it won’t be able to grab me.”
Ray nodded. “Okay, good plan. But before you do, I’m going to check around the corner. Last thing we need is one of those things springing up on us while you’re checking out the dumpster.”
Teddy nodded and moved forward a little, angling away from the building. Ray inched toward the edge of the building, holding his pistol out like he had seen every cop and criminal do on TV and in movies his entire life.
Tensing, Ray sprang to the corner. He remembered the pain from before and gently pressed against the brick surface instead of slamming his back against it this time. He absently pushed his glasses up his nose with the barrel of the gun. Tightening his grip on the weapon, he paused, listening. Nothing. Not a breeze, not even the sound of a cricket. He blinked several times and swiveled his head around the corner.
He pulled back quickly, expecting a hand to be reaching for him. When one didn’t, Ray swallowed hard and tilted forward again.
The high grass ran all the way across the back of the general store. It was thick in most places, but there were several bald spots where gravel was mixed in with soil. The grass was thick enough to hide someone, but there was no movement. Ray looked at the field that stretched back behind the building and let his breath out. His shoulders slumped as he relaxed. Lowering the gun, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his other arm.
“All clear.” He turned to face the dumpster, but did not raise his gun again.
Teddy nodded. The muzzle of the old Springfield dipped toward the overhanging lip of the right dumpster lid as he prepared to flip it open. Looking one last time at Ray to make sure he was ready, Teddy sent the lid flying up and over the iron box.
It slammed into the back of the dumpster with a resounding BOOM that echoed off the buildings surrounding the two teens. Both boys jumped at the sudden noise. It was the loudest thing either had heard in a long time.
Teddy saw nothing from his vantage point and stepped forward, moving the rifle into the container. He had kept his distance when flipping the lid, but the loud noise changed his perspective on things. They needed to get back to the front doors of the store before the adults discovered them screwing around. He knew that Jeff and George had probably heard the noise, and Marcus might have as well.
He surveyed the darkened dumpster and saw it was halfway filled with trash. Teddy did not bother lifting the other lid, giving the other side only a vague glance. Instead, he turned to Ray.
“We need to get back to the front of the store, now. This shit is going to—”
Ray was nodding when Teddy cut off and stumbled forward. He slipped and fell, jamming his left arm up against the metal edge of the dumpster. His rifle kept moving forward, and he almost lost his grip on it.
Ray stepped away from the wall, ready to laugh at the klutzy maneuver, just before he saw a hand reaching out of the dumpster.
He watched in horror as the appendage landed on the top edge of the container next to his friend. Teddy didn’t react immediately as another hand became visible, the one that had yanked on the barrel of the rifle.
Teddy noticed the first hand about a second after Ray, but he did not move, even as it slid toward him. The other hand still had a hold on his weapon, to which Teddy now barely clung. He did not see the head that followed both hands out into the light like Ray did. Teddy adjusted his grip on the rifle, pulling on it hard, which helped yank the man who had a hold of it free of the prison in which he had been trapped for the past few weeks.
Ray watched as a ghostly white head peeked out of the trash receptacle. It rose into daylight as Teddy continued tugging on his rifle. A large chunk of the slug’s forearm was gone, but most of his face was still intact. He made eye contact with Ray and opened his jaws. No sound came out, and a moment later, Ray saw why. Its throat had been ripped free, and tendons and gristle dangled and flopped against the creature’s chest. It appeared as if they had been yanked out by hand rather than shredded with teeth. A barely audible bubbling hiss emanated from the hole in its neck as the ghoul grabbed the side of the dumpster and slithered out.
Teddy saw the man’s face and finally let go of the rifle, darting back out of the range of its hands. The rotter wobbled momentarily, but kept its balance on the edge of the trash bin. It took a swipe at Teddy, who promptly tumbled backwards. The mangled man toppled over the side and out of the container to follow him. It fell in front of Teddy and landed on its shoulder. There was an audible snap as the monster’s collarbone broke. Lifting its head, it attempted a moan at the teen who was whimpering pitifully and trying desperately to scoot away from the dumpster. The dead man’s shattered legs flopped uselessly as its body quivered with excitement.
The slug latched onto one of Teddy’s shoes and held on tight as the teenager let out a full-throttle scream and frantically tried to shake the creature off. The boy screamed again, this time in pain, as the creature clamped down hard on his ankle. Its arm flapped wildly as Teddy jitterbugged, but the fingers only tightened their grip. It slid forward, clawing the ground with its other hand in an attempt to gain purchase on the smooth surface. Two fingernails peeled back, and the pockmarked skin underneath ruptured, splitting as its small finger bones clawed even harder on the asphalt.
Teddy landed a sharp kick with his free leg and caved in the ghoul’s nose. Its head rocketed backwards, but the hands continued pulling it toward the boy. As its head came back down after the kick, the teen swore that the slug was smiling at him. The blackened tongue wiggled in its mouth as the monster moved closer to Teddy’s leg.
Three shots rang out in quick succession, startling Teddy as he prepared to kick at his assailant again. The first bullet made the rotting body jump; the second hit its shoulder, sending a spray of bone fragments and shredded flesh into the air. There was no blood, but the arm wobbled. The third shot sheared off the back of its skull along with a sizeable chunk of brain
matter. The monster glared at Teddy a moment longer and then collapsed on its jaw, which slammed shut as it hit the ground. The milky white irises remained fixed on Teddy as the boy wrestled his foot free from the ghoul’s clenched fist. He scrambled backwards, desperate to put some distance between him and the corpse.
“Holy shit, I got him!”
Ray had barely stirred the whole time the infected man attacked his friend. The only things he had moved were his arm and his trigger finger. A small wisp of smoke curling up from the barrel was the only hint that he had done anything at all.
“I nailed that thing! Yeah!” Ray raised the gun above his head and roared in exhilaration. It was the first time he had fired the weapon and the first infected he had ever killed. He felt ecstatic.
Teddy was staring at him, stunned, as Ray did several more fist pumps. He missed the movement near his friend’s feet.
Ray’s cries of joy turned to howls of agony as he felt teeth sinking into his ankle.
Chapter 15
Jeff and George were making swift work of the general store when they heard the shots.
A quick inspection had found few useful items remaining on the shelves. The place had been ransacked and abandoned long ago. George had set to work collecting anything that looked edible, but the pickings were slim. Jeff searched the store for bodies, living or dead, and found neither. There were no blood trails or splatters marking any sort of battle. Just dust bunnies and a few useless items like surge protectors and garden hoses to pick through.
When they heard the loud reports from outside, they both froze in place. The walls muffled the noise enough that Jeff did not immediately realize what it was. He wondered why in the hell a car was backfiring and moved to the front door. He blinked in the harsh sunlight as his eyes adjusted. When he was able to see, the first thing he noticed was that Ray and Teddy were not standing by the door. A sickening dread filled him.
George navigated across the debris-strewn floor when he saw Jeff pushing open the door, also noticing that the two teenagers were missing.
“Where the hell are the boys?”
Jeff didn’t bother answering as he rushed out to the parking lot. He heard a bloodcurdling scream and several more shots. Another scream intermingled with the first, this one higher in pitch and filled with shock, not pain. Jeff swore he could hear shouting, but the gunshots devoured everything else. He had no idea where it was coming from. George was right behind him, and they ignored the flattened corpse of the jumper as they tried to track the sounds. After a few seconds of listening, Jeff ran to the side of the building.
As he did, Jeff caught a glimpse of Marcus stepping out of the Hole in the Wall across the street, a small crate under one arm, the pump-action shotgun in the other. Frank’s buddy didn’t appear to be in any sort of rush to find out what had happened. Instead, he stood watching as Jeff ran furiously toward the sound of screaming.
Jeff felt the shakes coming on as he rounded the corner.
What he saw at first confused him. There was an inert corpse next to the dumpster, but that was not what drew his eye. It appeared as if Teddy and Ray were wrestling with one another. Teddy was yanking on Ray’s leg like he was possessed as the other boy beat on Teddy in response. Jeff stutter-stepped, trying to get his bearings. As he moved closer, he realized what was actually happening.
“Oh my God,” George said as he caught up to Jeff.
One of the infected had attached itself to Ray’s ankle. He and Teddy were doing their best to force it to let go by yanking at it and beating on its head, but it was ignoring their efforts. Jeff rushed up and pushed Teddy out of the way, dropping his baseball bat as he knelt next to Ray.
George dropped his bag and grabbed Teddy before the boy could react. He wrapped the teen in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground as Teddy struggled. George was shocked at the kid’s strength; he was wiry and compact, a bundle of muscle with the vigor and energy of youth behind it. But as determined as Teddy was to break free, George was twice his size, and his arms were like bands of iron.
Jeff swallowed hard as nausea nearly overpowered him. Ray was still alert and pounding on the creature with the butt of his empty handgun. Despite the urgency of the situation, Jeff took a steadying breath and tried to figure out what to do.
The ghoul on Ray was probably as decrepit a specimen as Jeff had ever seen. Its tangled greasy hair was pressed to its scalp, and the age spots beneath were pronounced. Major patches of graying skin were missing from the skull, and it had no nose or eyes. Instead, there were gaping holes where its facial features had once been. The ears had been torn off, and some sort of black oil oozed from the ragged holes on the sides of the creature’s skull. Its lone arm was latched firmly onto Ray’s leg. The skeletal hand had only a spider web of skin remaining, but there were strips of flesh still dangling from the arm, displaying sinewy muscle underneath. Both legs were gone, along with a significant portion of the lower torso. The spinal column, with various threads of meat still attached, dangled below a violent tear at the base of its ribcage. It was hard to tell, but the throat and chest, which were facing the ground, also looked decimated. What remained of the pathetic creature was latched firmly to Ray’s ankle, smacking its lips as its teeth dug deeper into his flesh. The boy screamed, and Jeff flinched.
After a moment, Ray whimpered and Jeff noticed the pool of blood forming beneath the boy’s foot. “P-p-p-please get it off of me. P-p-pl… ” the teenager begged as he stared at Jeff, his glasses dangling at the tip of his nose. He bashed at the creature again, but its hard skull absorbed the weak blow, and Ray moaned as the ghoul gnawed on his ankle.
Jeff clenched his jaw as he realized what he had to do. Moving his hand toward the gruesome creature’s head, he gritted his teeth and slid his fingers into its empty eye sockets. Swallowing hard, he gave a vicious tug. Ray let out another high-pitched scream as his leg was lifted off the ground but the ghoul did not detach. Its hand let go of the boy’s leg and swung around erratically, trying to discover who had a hold of it.
Jeff slammed his foot down on the arm and smashed it to the ground. Grinding his heel back and forth, he felt the remaining flesh loosen and separate from the bone on the monster’s arm.
Fighting a wave of nausea, he pressed his free hand down on Ray’s leg for leverage and pulled with all his might on the skull one more time.
The boy’s screams grew louder, but could not blot out the sound of flesh and muscle tearing away from the bone. A spray of blood hit the side of the building in a wide arc, and Ray rolled over on his belly, finally free of the horrible teeth. He crawled into a fetal position and wrapped his hands around his bloody wound. A good hunk of meat and tendon had been pulled free and remained between the ghoul’s gnashing teeth. Jeff dropped the wretched creature and stood, slamming his heel repeatedly into the back of its skull. The monster’s face was driven into the asphalt, and its hand twitched furiously as it went through its death spasms.
There was no time to get sick as Jeff moved back toward Ray. Teddy, who had wriggled free of George’s limp grasp, was already next to his friend. The blond man was stunned, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. Jeff pulled off his t-shirt and used his teeth to tear strips from the bottom of it.
Teddy screamed at Ray, trying to lift him to a sitting position as he babbled unintelligible questions at his friend. When Jeff moved in this time, he did not push Teddy away, allowing the boy to remain close as he focused on Ray’s shredded ankle. As he drew near, the boy screamed in panic, his eyes wide and terrified. Ray tried to push himself backwards, and as he did, more blood gushed onto the pavement. Jeff knew he needed to stop the bleeding quickly or Ray would go into shock.
“It’s going to be okay, Ray. It’ll be all right. I’m going to bandage you. Take it easy.” Jeff showed him the strips of cotton fabric in his hands.
Ray’s screams stopped as he desperately tried to cover the wound with his hands, which were slippery with blood. He cupped his ankle, but
the red liquid continued to pour through his fingers. The boy flinched, but let Jeff get close enough to wrap the wound with the first strip of cloth. When Ray did not protest further, Jeff put another strip on top of the first.
“You need to wrap one around his upper leg, like a tourniquet.” Jeff nodded in acknowledgement at George’s instruction from behind him. Ray moaned loudly and began weeping.
“He’s going to be okay, right? He’s not going to die, is he?” Teddy leaned in, nearly knocking Jeff into the injured boy. Jeff ignored the question, but Ray didn’t. He wailed, and his eyes filled with fear.
“I’m not going to die, am I?” Ray repeated the question over and over as Jeff mumbled a response the boy did not hear. Finally, after Ray’s voice reached a high-pitched squeal, Jeff shook the boy roughly. The babbling stopped and Ray gaped at Jeff, eyes wide with fear.
“Listen carefully to me, Ray. I’m going to take good care of you, but you have to calm down. I need to get the bleeding to stop so we can get you back to camp.” He looked at Teddy and forced his expression to become gentler. Teddy was almost as much of a mess as Ray was. “Everything is going to be fine.”
The smaller boy’s chest heaved, fat tears rolling down his face. Teddy looked bewildered and hurt, but there was a glint of comprehension there. Jeff continued to look at him as George put his hands on the boy’s narrow shoulders and squeezed soothingly. Teddy did not shrug him away, but leaned back, his knees suddenly weak. He gave Jeff a half nod. It wasn’t much, but would have to do as Jeff turned back to face Ray and repeated himself. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“Like hell it is.”
Everyone, including Ray, looked at Marcus, who had arrived from across the street and was walking up to them with the shotgun pointed lazily in Jeff and Ray’s direction, the small crate of booze still snug under his other arm.
“What the fuck did you do, boy?” Before Ray could respond, Marcus answered his own question. “Went and got yourself in a mess of trouble, and now we’re all in deep shit.” He looked around, scanning the area nervously.
The Dark Trilogy 02 - Into the Dark Page 10
