by Maxey, Phil
He quickly got out, taking his radio with him, but leaving Flint in the car. He pushed the hotel front door open, expecting the usual din of hushed conversations filling the foyer, but instead there were just a few voices, most of whom he recognized.
Kelly was behind the counter. She nervously looked at him, then continued cleaning a glass. Reg stopped talking to a man and woman, and they all looked his way. Apart from them, the place was empty. He walked into the dining area, which was similarly devoid of people.
He walked back into the foyer. “Where is everyone?” He looked to any of the four inside to give him an answer.
“We’re it,” said Reg.
For a moment, Joel considered the possibility that people just hadn’t heard him when he announced the time to meet, but then a more realistic concept started to push its way into his thoughts.
The scourge got them.
Claire appeared from the dining area. “Anyone want coffee? There’s a lot brewed…” She looked around the empty foyer. “I thought there’d be more—”
The front door burst open making all but Joel jump.
He knew it was Jim even before he turned around to see the tall man in the doorway. “I tried you on your radio.”
Jim walked forward. “Yeah, the damn battery is flat, I need to charge it while the engine’s running.” He looked around the room. “Where is… everyone?”
“We were wondering the same,” said Claire.
Jim rubbed his chin, trying to ignore the implications for the town if they were all that was left. “We should go check on people, see how they are.”
Anna’s words then repeated in Joel’s mind, and he looked up at Jim. “Anna said she’s going to check on some of her patients.”
Jim frowned, then looked at Reg, and the two others. “Reg, Dawn, Gabe, start on the west of the town, check on each home, but be careful! If there’s any sign of anyone that’s changed, just note where they are and leave them there.”
A man in a red checked shirt and worn denim pants stepped forward. “Shouldn’t we… put them down if we see them?” The woman by his side looked shocked at the suggestion.
“And if you miss, and they cut you, then you’re infected too. No, just leave them be.”
Gabe nodded, then with Reg and Dawn, walked past and left.
Jim went to reach for the nonexistent radio in his pocket, then swore under his breath. He looked at Claire. “Your radio still working, right?” She nodded, and he walked through the lounge area, opening the door at the back, which Joel had sensed someone in days before.
Claire noticed her granddaughter’s unease. “You alright, girl?”
Kelly nodded. “I’m fine.”
Claire detected the slight looks her granddaughter was giving Joel.
He sat on one of the bar stools.
Jim reappeared. “I just talked to Faraday. Told her to be careful, and that there’s hardly anyone here.” He looked at Claire. “You might want to barricade the rest of your windows, and make sure the doors are secure. And keep your guns loaded.”
“Will do.”
He walked up to Joel.
“Where now?” said Joel.
“We’ll start on the east side of the town and sweep westwards. Maybe folks were just too busy to get here.”
Joel could tell Jim didn’t really believe that. He could also hear the older man’s heart rate was slower than the first day he had met him. The scourge would soon claim another victim.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Anna Faraday drove cautiously down a quiet road. The buildings that slid by, she did not see as brick and wooden constructions, but rather as the illnesses and incidents she had treated in them. The large two-story brick building was not where the Richardsons lived, but where she treated their son for chicken pox in 2012, and a single-story mundane building was where she helped treat Ms. Hightower for her prescription-drugs addiction. Each place a story in her own life, and all part of the life of the town which she had spent the last fifteen years in.
“Twenty… five… Twenty… three…” She stopped her red compact outside number twenty-one, otherwise known as the home of little Johnny Winter’s, broken leg. The son who was now grown up, had been away at university when the scourge happened, but his parents still resided at the residence, and Sean, husband to Heather had a bad chest infection last time she saw him, which was three days ago.
She pushed her glasses up her nose, and looked down at her large leather bag, pulling it open and checking if she had the right pills with her.
She whipped her head back up. She felt a presence, even though there was no obvious movement around her. Immediately, she felt for the main door lock and made sure all the other doors were still locked. They were.
“Get a grip, Anna.” She looked back down at the weathered bag that used to belong to the former head of the Bellweather clinic and rummaged around. “Ah, there you are.” She brought the small plastic bottle out of the bag and sat up. And froze.
A being with black eyes stood in front of the car. Despite its angular face, she recognized it as the man she was hoping to visit. Her heart sank, despite her fear. He had been a good man, sacrificing a high-paying job in Phoenix to look after his wife.
God. His wife.
She slowly moved her hand and put the car into reverse, then slammed on the gas pedal. The car charged backwards along the reasonably straight road, and only slowed when it started to scrape along the side of another vehicle. Taking her eyes from the thing that was motionless, she turned around to steer. Out of the corner of her eye she could see them, emerging from their homes, staggering forward, most covered in blood, all watching her as she tried to navigate her way along the road without crashing.
The car swung out onto the main street, and she slid the gear back into drive, and screeched away along the main road.
*****
Joel followed Jim’s pickup along the narrow country routes, with mostly desert, small trees, and cacti stretched out in front of them. A modern single-story residence came into view at the top of a small incline, its large windows boarded up. In its large driveway sat a black truck in front of an open garage. The driver’s side door was wide open.
“Three live here, a middle-aged couple and their brother. Over,” said Jim from Joel’s radio.
Jim’s vehicle came to a stop, as did Joel’s sedan.
They both got out. Joel looked back at Flint who looked enthusiastically at him. “Gotta stay there, buddy.” He ducked back inside and wound the rear window down a little.
Don’t think that window’s going to stop him from leaving the car if he really wants to.
Jim already had his shotgun pointing towards the house, and Joel unslung his M4 from his shoulder. As he walked towards the former sheriff, Jim pointed at the door of the truck, and the obvious large smear of blood along the side of it.
They both raised their weapons and walked forward. Joel couldn’t sense anything in or around the house, but that was information he wasn’t able to pass onto Jim without arousing suspicions.
Joel walked up to the stone-colored door, which was closed. He went to knock with the barrel of the gun but stopped. Instead, he walked around and stood where the living room windows would have been and tried to peek through the flat timbers covering them. Shaking his head, he walked back to the door and banged on it.
There was no response.
“Ethan? Jerry? Laura? Anyone in there?”
Only silence came through the door. In fact, Joel was aware of just how quiet it was all around them.
Jim walked past Joel and into the garage. A tray of hammers and wrenches was tipped on one side, its contents strewn across the dusty floor, and more spots of dark red formed a trail which ran up to the door at the rear.
They both moved forward slowly. The door was open, and Jim pushed it with the end of the shotgun. He walked slowly into a hallway. A picture frame, showing a well-tanned man and woman, lay smashed on the wooden floor. Jim p
ointed towards the left end of the hallway, while indicating he would go to the right. Joel nodded and moved off towards the living room.
Before he entered he could smell the rot. But it wasn’t of the human kind, this was rotting food. He walked inside and immediately was drawn towards the far end where a large wooden table set on a tiled floor. On it were plates with flies and what was left of the previous night’s dinner. He walked forward, past a black three-piece sofa neatly arranged around a glass coffee table and more pictures of the couple nestled amongst vases on top of shelves.
He looked around the room, but there was no sign of any struggle.
“Think you’re going to want to see this…” shouted Jim down the hall.
Joel quickly retraced his steps, moving along the hallway and into the kitchen. It was a large space with three counters, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. Across the room was a good-sized hole in the ground, just in front of a large double-doored fridge.
Jim was kneeled, pointing his flashlight into it.
Joel then noticed the large smears of blood which were spread across the floor, most of which converged at the edge of the rip in the kitchen tiles.
“Was there an earthquake last night that I didn’t feel?” said Joel, joining him.
“This wasn’t an earthquake. I’ve seen something like this before, in the mine. It’s just until now I thought I’d imagined it.”
Joel kneeled, looking into the jagged tunnel which seemed to be a gateway to hell. “So, they’re digging tunnels?” It was an idea that was strange even to him.
Jim stood. “We’re not even safe inside our homes.”
“I wonder how extensive the system is.”
Jim looked at the large fridge. “Help me with this.”
They both shuffled and slid the heavy appliance a few feet forward until it dropped, then lodged in the hole.
“Might plug it for now,” said Jim.
Joel thought about the original plan for the morning. Sealing the mine tunnels. “Looks like we’re going to need more TNT.”
Jim clicked on his radio. “Reg. How’s things where you are? Over.”
A few seconds of static passed.
“Can’t find anyone, Jim. But we are finding some weird holes in the ground. Over.”
Joel walked to the window and peered through one of the gaps in the wooden planks out to the ground around the property. It was a mixture of dirt and sand with the occasional rock.
“Keep looking and stay away from those holes. Over.”
“Will do. Over.”
Joel turned to Jim. “What buildings in Bellweather are built close to the bedrock?”
Jim looked down in thought. “From what I can remember, most are on top of a good amount of sand and dirt before they get to anything more solid… apart from the school. I remember the construction foreman was constantly complaining about having to drill down into the rock.”
“Then that’s where we have to get everyone… whoever’s remaining.” Joel went to leave, but Jim had his hands on the edge of the counter. “What?” said Joel.
“I’ve spent my whole life in and around this town… but maybe it’s time we left. If there’s only a few of us…”
“And go where? We don’t know if it’s any different anywhere else. We hunker down at the school, then figure out a plan to drive the vamps out.”
Jim sighed, then clicked on his radio, telling Reg that once he’s finished up the search, to get as much supplies as he can, then get to the school. He also passed the same message onto Claire at the hotel, and Bill, but the old man was refusing to take the advice. He looked at Joel. “Let’s check the other homes, then get to Bill’s.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Marina heard the heated discussion between Bill and his grandson, despite their hushed voices, as she walked down the steps to the basement. They both stopped talking when she appeared. “Anything wrong?”
“They’re digging,” said Evan.
Bill shook his head in displeasure at Evan being too honest.
Marina looked unsure. “Who’s digging?”
Bill sat on the edge of one of the computer desks. “The vampires. It would seem they are creating tunnels beneath the town.”
“Jim says we need to evacuate to the school,” said Evan.
“Why the school?”
“Because it’s basically built on top of a rock cliff, there’s practically nothing for the creatures to dig through,” said Bill.
Marina looked at the floor around her. “And we’re not on rock?”
Bill shook his head. “No, but as I was telling Evan, we are at a much lower elevation, they would have to dig far deeper to be able to get in here.”
Evan threw his hands up in the air. “We don’t know what they can do!”
Bill crossed his arms, looking at Evan. “I’m not leaving, and neither are you.”
Evan leaned in closer to his grandfather. “But we are ready if we need—”
“We’re not at that point yet.”
Evan’s cheeks were flushed, and he shook his head, walked to another of the desks and sat down in front of a keyboard and monitor.
Bill looked at his grandson. “We can’t leave, Evan. We’ll have nothing out there. Here, we have food, water, we have all of our research… we’ll die out there.”
A creaking step made Marina turn around. Jess was standing at the top of the stairs. “What is it? You okay?”
Jess sat on the top step, placed her head in her hands and started to cry. Marina ran up the steps, sat on the one lower down, and placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Hey, what is it?”
“We’re never safe,” she said between gulps of air.
“We’re not leaving, okay? We are safe here.”
Jess looked up at her mother with wet red eyes. “How do you know?”
“Because I’m sure if Bill wasn’t, he would leave.”
Jess looked past her mother to the bottom of the stairs.
Bill smiled. “We’re quite safe here, young lady.”
“But if they can dig—”
“The mine is halfway up the mountain, we are almost at ground level. And anyway, this basement is below the house above me, so if anything suddenly happened we just close this basement off. Okay?”
Jess nodded.
Bill looked back to his grandson. “Evan, can you see if we have any more candy left upstairs, maybe Jessica would like some.”
Evan went to frown, but then got to his feet. “Sure.” He moved past Bill and Marina. “Follow me, let’s see what we got left,” he said to the girl.
Bill gestured for Marina to come down into the basement, which she did.
Before he started to talk, Marina spoke first. “Are we safe here?”
Bill briefly looked down. “I think so, yes. The amount of tunneling they would have to do to even approach this property is… well unless these things suddenly grow more intelligent and understand how to use drilling equipment, I think there’s no chance of them making it this far.”
“But how are they even doing any digging? And why would they do that?”
Bill looked up the stairs making sure it was clear, then closed the basement door at the bottom. “Look at this,” he said, moving to the nearby computer screen. He tapped on the mouse a few times, shifting through digital folders until he found one that contained photos. Double-clicking, he opened the folder and a plethora of thumbnail images sprawled across the screen. He then started to click on them.
Marina put her hand to her mouth, for the photos showed a scene of death and destruction, and in the center of it, standing in the middle of a street in one of the main cities, was three of the scourge, their hands and faces covered in crimson blood.
Bill noticed Marina’s discomfort. “Sorry, I should have warned you. Many of these are quite graphic. They are from the first month, when news organizations were still reporting on the outbreak. Luckily for us, they provide a record.” He zoomed in on
one of the creatures’ faces. Its mouth was open impossibly wide, showing multiple rows of scalpel-like teeth, with two much larger canines at the front. The photographer seemed to have captured the monster just at the moment of taking another victim.
“It looks like a cross between a Baboon and a shark,” said Marina.
Bill nodded. “That is well observed. Yes, apart from the thirst to kill and drink the blood of its victims, the virus seems to produce a mutation in humans, at least it appears so in some of those we have photos of.” Bill clicked on another image, then another. Each one showing the creatures taken by the scourge, and each mutated human looking slightly different to the last.
Bill stopped clicking and leaned back. “Who knows what other types of things the scourge created.”
*****
Jim and Joel pulled up outside the hotel, and quickly moved inside. A heap of boxes sat near the door.
“Claire? Kelly?” shouted Jim.
Joel walked into the dining area. Most of the chairs and tables had been pushed against the far wall. Reg appeared from the kitchen with another box.
“We need to get these supplies and everyone to the school as soon as we can,” said Joel. “We got maybe another four hours of light.”
Reg nodded and continued into the foyer. Joel walked into the kitchen. Silver counters and ovens filled a narrow area, with a freezer room at the back.
Kelly came out with frozen meat in both hands. She jumped a little on seeing Joel looking at her.
“Sorry…”
“It’s fine.”
“The meat in there still good?”
Kelly nodded, walking past him. He followed. Claire and Jim were in the back office.
Claire looked down at her old ham radio set. “Reckon we should take this, but that would also mean bringing the radio antenna on the roof as well.”
“I’ll go take a look,” said Joel.
“You’ll need to go into the attic, and then climb out on the rear ledge. You’ll also need some tools, you should find them up there.”
