The Scourge Box Set [Books 1-6]

by Maxey, Phil

  He jumped out of the passenger door, while the others left by the other exits and all ran forward and stopped just in front of the pleated red shutter.

  “Everyone, grab the bottom and pull it up!”

  They did as asked, and it creaked then gave way, sliding upwards.

  Anna jumped back into the driver’s seat and drove the RV into the shadows inside the vehicle bay. Once it was clear of the door, Joel jumped up, grabbing the latch, and pulled it back down into the ground.

  As they all stood in the darkness, the ground shuddered as if they were in the midst of an earthquake.

  Joel knelt near the door, pressing it down. Everyone else joined him, lending their weight to it.

  As the thunderous noise outside increased, so did the chaos in his mind.

  What’s happening to me…

  He looked at Anna next to him. Her mouth was opening and closing, but the chorus of rage and hunger was eclipsing any external sound. As a wave of fatigue washed through him, taking with it his strength, he slowly slumped to the side, and his world succumbed to darkness.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Marina looked at the man on the main bed in the RV. She presumed he was mid-thirties but, despite the beard, there was something about his features and skin tone that suggested he was younger. She wondered if it was the scourge virus that had given him a youthful appearance and if the same would happen to her.

  No more skin products.

  She laughed but quickly stifled the brief moment of humor before it turned into something darker.

  Since he passed out hours earlier they had not been able to wake him. But his pulse was strong and breathing regular, so once the hordes of growls and shrieks passed by they moved him to the RV. They then reversed the RV to the shutter and jammed a tire iron under the back of it, which rested on the latch, securing the door.

  She turned to the others who were resting where they could in the RV.

  “How long do we have to stay here?” said Jess, hugging one of the RV’s small rose patterned pillows.

  Marina sat next to her. “Probably until sun up.”

  “Then where are we going?”

  Hardin answered before Marina could. “That’s a good question?” He looked at Evan and Bill who were playing cards, and Mary’s back who was standing at the electric hob, cooking up some noodles for everyone. Anna was in the driver’s seat, her head back, while Shannon was in the seat next to her seemingly sleeping.

  “That’s up to Joel,” said Marina.

  “And why do we have to do what he says?” continued Hardin.

  “He’s kept us alive this far,” said Bill, not taking his eyes from his cards.

  Marina felt full of energy despite a whole day travelling and the events of a few hours earlier. She looked through the windscreen at the darkness, but was still able to make out a large cavernous space, full of huge airplane engines on rails, and robotic arms frozen in place.

  She pulled her jacket sleeve back revealing her anniversary present from Russell. It said 6:35 p.m.

  They hadn’t ventured ten feet from the RV since they pulled in to the vehicle bay, maybe now was the time to change that.

  She looked down at Flint, who had his nose to the ground. “Want to go—” Before she could finish he got up, his tail wagging. “I guess that’s a yes then.”

  “Can I come?” said Jess.

  “I don’t know what’s in the building, Jess. I think it’s better you stay here until I know it’s safe.”

  The hope in her daughter’s face quickly dissipated. Marina put her hand on Jess’s hair, briefly stroking it. “Once I know it’s safe we can go for a walk, okay?”

  Jess nodded.

  Marina fished Flint’s leash out from one of the top cupboards, attached it to his neck, and pushed open the side door. As she did the driver’s door opened as well.

  “I need to stretch my legs,” said Anna over her shoulder.

  Both women, who were now more than they were a week earlier, studied the large almost completely black space in front of them. There was nothing remarkable about any of the machines, but Marina pulled her pocket flashlight from her jacket anyway, and switched it on.

  They both walked forward into the gloom. Flint pulled on his leash, which even with her increased strength Marina had trouble holding onto.

  “So how you finding… being different?” said Anna as they strolled past the beams and structs that towered over them.

  Marina thought about it. “The sun seems brighter.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that too, like it’s closer or something.”

  They both smiled.

  “Honestly, I feel the same… well, apart from—”

  “The hunger…”

  “Yeah.”

  “And being able to see and hear better is a bit weird. Like I’m more—”

  “Plugged into the world?”

  “Yeah…”

  They walked up a set of stairs which ran up the wall to the right of the large hall, and out onto a balcony, which skirted the inside just below the roof. They both briefly looked back down to the RV, and the glows within, and continued walking along the gantry. At the end they stopped at a plain-looking door.

  Neither could sense anything on the other side, so Marina pulled the handle down and entered into a narrow corridor. Two sets of doors were on both sides, with a junction ten yards ahead.

  Each door they walked past had important sounding titles stamped on them of the people that worked in the building. ‘Chief engineer,’ ‘Parts manager.’

  They stopped at the junction. Marina noticed one door to their right had ‘Roof access’ printed above it.

  They were soon ascending a confined stairwell, to a final door, which took them out onto a large flat roof. They were glad to be outside.

  From the height of the three-story building, they could see most of the airforce base around them, including the lake a few miles to the west. They both momentarily became transfixed by the orange and pink ripples catching the failing light.

  Anna walked to the south side, and looked out to the way they came. A mile off, bodies rested on the fields and roads.

  “Vamps” said Marina joining her.

  “Not as many as before, but some stayed.” Anna peered over the wall. “Looks clear around the building.”

  Marina stayed watching the creatures, static like statues. “As soon as we lift that door and try to drive out, it will pull them towards us. Who knows how many more are out of our line of sight up here.”

  “Maybe we need a dis—”

  Anna stopped in mid-sentence. She looked at Marina, and they both looked to the east, to the mountains. Miles off in the distance a sparkle of light was moving in their direction. It was accompanied by a barely audible clattering.

  “Some kind of aircraft,” said Marina.

  “I think it’s a helicopter…” Anna ran back to the stairwell door. “Wait here, I’ll tell the others.”

  Before Marina could reply, Anna was gone.

  Marina walked across the roof to the east wall, briefly looking every few steps to the vamps in the distance. They seemed not to notice the oncoming visitor yet.

  Now she could hear the sound of the rotor blades a lot more clearly. Probably not loud enough for the woman she was a week ago to hear, but clear enough for her to know the chopper would be overhead within a few minutes.

  The sound of hurried footsteps came from the door behind her, and Joel, Evan, and Shannon appeared. The latter with a small handheld scope, which she immediately put to her eye.

  “Will they see us if they fly in this direction?” said Evan.

  “If we make enough fuss, they should,” said Joel. He swung around to the south. The once motionless hungry beings were now slowly moving. In the blink of an eye Joel crossed to the north side of the roof and looked down to the large empty parking lot which resided there. He turned back to the others. “They can land there!”

  The fuselage of the heli
copter could now be clearly seen along with its lights on the outside.

  “Its wheels are down!” said Evan.

  As the thunderous sound of the twin-engined aircraft consumed the early evening air, they all started waving their arms to try to get its attention.

  Bill, Mary, and Hardin appeared and started doing the same.

  Flint started barking, but Joel quickly realized it wasn’t at the object in the sky, for the dog was standing next to the west wall, barking into the sky. Joel quickly ran across.

  Hundreds of vamps were scurrying up the road towards the building. Inside his brain was the same constant droning, but the volume was lower. He was glad for that.

  He whirled back around to the helicopter and ran across the concrete, waving his arms towards the parking lot.

  “I think it’s going to land!” shouted Anna as it descended.

  Joel looked to the others. “Get downstairs, and into the RV, we’ll drive it as close to the chopper as possible,” he shouted, trying to be heard over the sound engulfing the area.

  Everyone ran into the stairwell, as Joel still waved his arms, directing it to a spot just tens of yards from the building.

  He shook his head trying to stop the other sound from overtaking his own thoughts, and ran to catch up with the others.

  Evan kicked out the tire iron, and pulled up the shutter. The RV’s engine was already running, and he jumped in through the side door just as Joel did the same.

  Anna reversed out, turning at the same time. As she did, something slammed into the rear window instantly shattering it.

  “Drive!” shouted Joel. He ran along the confined central aisle, picking up his M4 rifle as he went, and started firing at the vamps that were just yards behind.

  The RV skidded to a halt and Marina pushed open the side door, stepping outside and pulling Jess and Flint with her.

  As she ran around the front of the RV, she looked at the helicopter on the ground, and a man holding onto a Stetson with one hand while waving them towards him with the other.

  As they all ran towards him, he threw his hat back into the cockpit, pulled a shotgun from inside and started shooting as vamps got within a few feet of the helicopter’s draft.

  The side door of the helicopter was already open, and everyone started to bundle inside, squeezing in where they could on the leather seats.

  Joel ran across the lot, firing multiple shots and felling vamps as they scampered towards him. He approached the man.

  “Jump in alongside me!”

  Joel nodded and ran around the other side and climbed onboard, while the man got in the cockpit.

  He immediately pulled on the stick and the aircraft lifted into the air. As it did, they all got a view of swarms of vamps descending upon their location from every direction.

  The man leaned to his right and held out his hand, which Joel briefly shook. “I’m Everett, but folks call me Ev. How’d you all get out here?”

  “I’m Joel. We drove up from the south. We were almost swamped by vamps but we hid out in that building.”

  Ev looked over his shoulder as the airbase slid by hundreds of feet below. “She’s only meant to take six, so I know it’s a bit of a tight fit back there, but the Sanctuary isn’t too far.”

  Joel looked at Ev who was now wearing his hat again. “Sanctuary?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A blanket of dark green spikes and shadows effortlessly slid past hundreds of feet below. Jess sat on Marina's lap, with Flint at her feet, and they both watched as the mountains bathed in an orange glow, flowed past.

  “Where you from originally?” said Ev to Joel.

  The man next to Joel had graying black hair and similar whiskers across his jaw and chin. A headset sat beneath the weathered looking hat, and his dark brown leather jacket looked just as worn.

  Small points of light twinkled on the far side of a lake they were flying over.

  “LA. Picked up everyone else on my way moving east,” said Joel.

  The helicopter flew lower still until it was just tens of feet above the waves, and the dark shapes of buildings became clearer even in the shadows of the mountains.

  “Where we heading?” shouted Anna from the cabin.

  “A community of like-minded souls!” shouted Ev over his shoulder. “You'll be safe there!”

  Ev lowered his head as if listening to something on his headset. “Bringing in about eight… Yes… Not sure. Okay. Over.”

  They flew along a thin piece of land which contained a number of structures and then became wider. Joel noticed a string of lights to the south. He pointed in the direction. “What’s that?”

  “Oh, that’s the south wall. There are two more on the east and north.”

  Soon the buildings grew even more common, and they flew over a small town, towards a ring of lights contained within a large field.

  “It doubles as our sports ground!” said Ev.

  The helicopter drifted smoothly to the ground, landing with a small bump. Ev flicked downwards a number of switches, and the rotors began to slow.

  Joel looked outside to the three men that were waiting with guns. “Hey, what’s that about? We’re no threat.”

  Ev smiled. “I’m sure you’re not, but you might be infected. We need to keep you in quarantine for a few days. But after that, you’ll be free to roam.”

  Joel nodded. He had passed as human for months, he was sure he could manage a few days, but those that were new to the condition, he wasn’t sure about. He glanced back to the three others like him, the anxiety on their faces was obvious. He looked back to Ev and smiled. “It’s a relief to be somewhere with walls.”

  Ev patted him on the shoulder and opened the door. The others got out as well and walked towards the three burly looking individuals with rifles. Ev produced a radio from his jacket and got some instructions. “Follow me,” he said to the group.

  Night had now well and truly got a grip on their surroundings and the lights within the town were at a minimum, meaning they couldn’t see much around them other than a few rows of seats on the sports ground. A nearby complex of rectangular buildings looked to everyone like a school. Beyond that were only dark pointed shapes of buildings.

  The school was what they moved towards.

  As they walked towards it, Joel, as well as the others, started to notice something strange about its outside walls. They were covered in painted crucifixes. Large and small, in what appeared to be various colours.

  He knew by now the symbol had no power over vamps, but he still felt a bit uneasy as they approached the entrance.

  Two more weapon-carrying men stood guarding the door. Ev looked back to the others. “We now use this place for quarantining.”

  Ev nodded to one of the men, who slid a key into a padlock and pulled some chains which bound the large handle of the door. Once that was open, they all piled into a small area, to inner doors which Ev opened with his own set of keys.

  The pictures and posters on the clean walls, gave the school the look as if nothing had changed.

  Ev led them through the halls and into a gym with a high ceiling. It reminded Joel of the one in Bellweather. Inside were a number of camp beds, and around the outside were tables with plastic water containers and boxes containing packets of instant soup.

  “So, this is where you’ll be staying for around three days. As long as everything checks out then you will all be offered accommodation in Haven.”

  “That’s what this town is called?” said Marina.

  Ev nodded. “If, though, any of you are infected, unfortunately you won’t be able to stay, and you will be escorted from the town.”

  Joel noticed a few exchanged glances between those around him, but he kept his smile and walked forward and shook Ev’s hand. “We appreciate you taking us in.”

  “We are happy to have you. Sister Abigail will be around in the morning to see how you are all doing, but for now, get some rest. There are some books and games for the young ones
if they are so disposed.”

  Most of the group smiled in silence.

  “Oh, there’s one other thing. I’m afraid it’s something we ask of all visitors to Haven. You will need to hand over all weapons.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Marina.

  The two guards raised their rifles slightly.

  Ev shook his head to them, and they lowered them back down.

  “If you keep them then we will be escorting you to the gates, and you can be on your way, but if you want to stay, then we can’t have you in here with weapons. It would kind of defeat the object of us waiting to see if any of you are infected or not. For, if you are, and you have guns… then. Well, let’s just say we have learned the hard way.”

  Joel looked at the others and nodded, and one by one they removed what guns or rifles they had, and handed them to Ev and the guards.

  Ev smiled. “You’ll see it’s for the best.” He then turned and left, taking the men with him. The door they entered from was closed, and the sound of it being locked echoed throughout the mostly empty space.

  Hardin’s face grew red. “What are we going to do when they discover what you all are?” His head shifted between the four that weren’t fully human. “Well?”

  Joel walked closer to him, then leaned in. “Be quiet… we’ll figure it out.”

  Hardin shook his head then walked to one of the beds and sat.

  Joel walked to Marina, Anna, and Evan. They stood close together in a small huddle.

  “I don’t know if I can go three days without blood, Joel,” said Marina.

  “Leave the blood situation to me.” He looked at the high up windows and then briefly to the locked door. “I’ll find a way out of this gym, and I’ll get you what you all need. You just have to hold out for a bit. Can you do that?” He looked at the faces in front of him, most of which were not meeting his gaze.

  “I guess we got no choice,” said Evan.

  “What’s the worse they going to do if they discover what we are?” said Anna. “Kick us out? I can deal with that.”

  Marina sighed. “If they know what we are, Anna, they’re not going to kick us out…”