The Scourge Box Set [Books 1-6]

by Maxey, Phil

  Lucian nodded, then smiled, and sat back in his throne-like chair. “There’s no need for us to be enemies. A power greater than either of us has brought us together.”

  Anna shook her head and sat on the seating behind her, next to Evan. “I’m not helping some two-bit con man take advantage of these people.”

  Lucian’s face grew angry. “You know nothing about me, young woman! When I got infected, I thought I was going to become like all the others. A monster.” His expression softened. “Instead, I became something else… and with it came certain advantages.” He leaned forward. “But how comes there’s so many of you? If there’s one thing I know, it’s that our kind are rare. But here I am, sitting in front of four of you.”

  There was only silence amongst the group.

  “What do you want from us?” said Joel.

  Lucian sat back, taking another sip from the crimson liquid. “I want you to stay. Help me build this place.”

  “Help you murder, you mean?” said Marina.

  Lucian nodded. “It’s true, I do end the lives of those that are infected, but we haven’t had an instance of the scourge in Haven for over a month. And everyone knows if you become infected, you can’t stay here. They are banished… no one in the town knows what happens to them after that… apart from myself and those close to me.”

  Marina and Anna both sighed, and Jess hugged her mother’s waist tighter.

  “If we agree to stay for some time, you’ll let us use your radio?” said Joel.

  “Why do you want to contact the outside so much? The last I heard the federal government folded over a month ago. The whole country reverted to being state run, and even that fell apart shortly after.”

  “We know people that worked in the government. We want to try and contact them…” Joel knew it was a vague answer, but it was the best he had.

  Lucian looked down into his glass, swishing the liquid around. “You’ll be monitored, and if you even hint at this location, you will be stopped. But as long as you agree to that, and you agree to stay, then okay. We have a deal.” He spit in his hand and held it out.

  Joel walked forward and went to grab the older man’s hand.

  “You have to spit in your hand, son.”

  Joel did and shook Lucian’s hand.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Joel looked at the buildings and roads, all of which looked like they had been attacked by an army of religious graffiti artists. “You know the crucifixes don’t work, right?” he said to Lucian, standing next to him.

  Lucian frowned, then quickly smiled and waved at a woman across the street, who was painting one on the side of a building. She waved back to him. He leaned into Joel. “They don’t know that. It helps with morale and gives them something to do. Lets not talk about that here.”

  Joel nodded.

  Lucian, together with an armed guard, led them forward walking along Main St. which ran through the center of the small town. People smiled and nodded as they walked past them.

  After walking for a while they left the small group of buildings behind.

  Anna looked at the large man that was escorting them with Lucian, then back to him. “So, some people know who you really are?”

  Lucian nodded. “Vince and some others. We came across each other on the journey out here. We’ve been through a lot.”

  “How did this place get started?” said Evan.

  Lucian paused. He looked to make sure they were alone. For a moment, his gaze was lost in the distance. “An abandoned building on twelfth street in Salt Lake was what you would call my home for the past five years. I had seen some of the others that slept there at night get sick and turn, but no one cared of course. Regular folks went about their daily business, ignoring the likes of us. Until it spilled into their neighborhoods, but by then it was too late.”

  “A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members,” said Bill, quoting Gandhi.

  “Yeah, well I saw what it was doing, what was really going on, and I knew I had to get the hell out. Myself and some others packed up our shit and headed east. We didn’t even know this place was out there. When I arrived, it was just a small community of vacation homes owned by the rich. But those that were here were desperate to keep the scourge out, and myself, Vince, and the others were happy to help.”

  “What’s with all the ‘brother’, ‘sister’ stuff?” said Evan.

  “We are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of the Lord!” Lucian patted Evan on his shoulder. Evan smiled awkwardly.

  “When did you change?” said Joel.

  “I was already infected when I left the city. Didn’t know it, of course. I was ill with a hundred other things and probably would have died by any one of them, if it weren’t for the change. One day, I woke up and my shoe was missing, and my foot was bloody, I just presumed it was a stray dog that had been chewing on me.” He looked into the eyes of the group around him. “For most, the scourge was a plague, but for some, for myself and some of you, it was a miracle sent from above.” He could see most did not share his faith. “Anyway, it took a week to get out here. I changed on the way. In the middle of nowhere.”

  “What did you first feed on?” said Marina.

  He started walking again. The others followed.

  “Anything and everything I could catch. Which was a lot.”

  “So no humans?” said Joel.

  “That came later. But once you feed on another human, it’s hard to go back.”

  Joel did his best to hide his guilt.

  They approached a forecourt, ringed by a high metal fence. Two armed guards stood at the entrance. Beyond, was a two-story blocklike building with hardly any windows, and on its roof a radio mast.

  “This is our local radio station. It’s how we spread the word to the good people of the town. There’s also a transceiver here, but we have not heard anything back from anyone for over a month.”

  He nodded at the two guards, who unlocked the gate and dragged it open. “Vince will escort you from here on.” He leaned in closer to the muscular looking individual, and whispered into his ear, to which he nodded in reply. He then looked across to the group. “After you get done, Abigail has some accommodation lined up for you.” He took a radio from Vince. “Unless some of you want to go there now?”

  “Myself and Bill will stay here,” said Joel.

  The others agreed, and were led away, while Joel and Bill walked across the clean but dry-looking forecourt and into the building. Vince followed closely.

  Once inside, he led them past an unmanned desk, up a set of stairs, and into a recording studio. A young woman and an older man, the latter of which had headphones on, looked at them with surprise.

  “Brother Lucian says let them use the ham radio,” said Vince.

  “Okay…” said the man with the headset. He looked at the young woman.

  She looked at the two newcomers. “This way.” She led them through another door and into a smaller space with walls of gray metal cabinets full of blinking lights and dials and switches. Almost lost amongst them, against the wall, was a small desk, which a large ham radio set sat on top of. She flicked a switch on the molded box and a humming burst from the nearby speaker. She then pointed at the free-standing mike. “There’s the mike. There’s the frequency dial. Good luck.” She then walked back into the other room.

  Joel and Bill looked at each other, trying to ignore the large man standing near the door.

  After a fifteen-minute walk, Marina and the others, led by Abigail, arrived outside a large house with a sign at the end of a green and yellow lawn which stated that the house was for rent. Without stopping, she walked up the sandy-white path to the front door and pulled a set of keys from her pants pocket. “This was always one of my clients’ favourite places before the scourge hit. Most homes in Haven were on my books.” Marina noticed a ripple of sadness in her face before it was pushed away with another forced smile. She unlocked the blue and white door and push
ed it open. She stood just inside as everyone else filed past her.

  Jess, pulled by Flint, moved quickly through the large hall, disappearing into what looked like a kitchen. “Don’t go too far!” shouted Marina in her direction.

  “This property has five bedrooms, but there are other rooms which I’m sure could be converted for your needs,” said Abigail. She walked through to the modern kitchen. “I’ve had the kitchen stocked with some of our reserves, and the fresh food we produce on our two farms in Haven. Water comes from a well, but you also need to filter it through the filtering system we have out back.”

  Most of the group smiled and nodded.

  “So, I think that’s all. There’s a town meeting tonight if you would like to come along. We like to say a prayer together before we start…”

  “Sounds great…” said Anna.

  Abigail smiled. “I’ll leave you all to it then.” She went to turn and leave when she stopped. “Oh, Brother Lucian told me to tell you that there is a special present left in the refrigerator. I have no idea what it is, but he said it’s something you need.” She then turned and left, closing the front door behind her.

  Evan was the first to move across the room and pull open the fridge door. In the bright glow of the artificial lights, on the top shelf were five blood bags. As he grabbed the nearest, his eyes darkened, and his teeth extended. Anna grabbed the next, and Marina, after checking her daughter was away from the back of the house, did the same.

  Mary and Hardin stepped back as the three of them gorged themselves.

  Anna went to grab the fourth bag when Marina grabbed her hand. The doctor looked angrily at her, but Marina just shook her head.

  After blinking a few times and taking deep breaths, Marina’s eyes and teeth reverted to their normal human appearance. Anna and Evan looked in anguish at the remaining blood, then went through the same process.

  Anna wiped the blood from her mouth. Without turning, she reached behind and pushed the refrigerator door closed, and leaned forward on the kitchen counter.

  “We have to learn to stop,” said Marina.

  Anna nodded. “I know.”

  Evan wiped flickers of crimson from his lower jaw. “Am I the only one that thinks all of this is too good to be true?”

  “Not the only one,” said Marina. She walked forward and looked through the window to Jess who was playing in the large garden.

  Hardin frowned, then uneasily stepped past them. “Let’s see what they got for us normal people.” He opened one of the clean cupboards. “They weren’t joking about the food.” He pulled out a tin of tuna and set about looking for a can opener.

  Anna sat on one of the country-kitchen style chairs around a good-sized wooden table. Evan leaned up against the counter.

  “So, what’s the plan?” said Anna. “Do we play along with the cult leader?”

  Even though the question wasn’t aimed at him, Hardin replied anyway. “I say—” He munched on some of the tuna. “—If he’s not hurting anyone that’s not infected, then where’s the harm in us staying here and enjoying his hospitality?”

  Marina sighed. “These people think he’s some kind of messiah. Who knows what he’s really doing with them. Let’s see what Joel says when he comes back. If he makes contact with anyone, maybe there’re better options out there.”

  “This place could be good for us!” Hardin nodded towards the sun-bathed back garden. “Think of your daughter!”

  Marina turned angrily towards him. He frowned and looked away.

  *****

  As the sun dipped beneath the mountains, Joel opened his eyes. The other hybrids did too at the exact same point, but none were aware of that. He sat up, pushing himself up against the headboard of the single bed. Around him, was a small room which looked like it belonged in an interior decorating magazine. The rest of the house was the same, with everything feeling clean, new, and light. It was the kind of place his family would have loved, and that made him hate it.

  His sleep was dreamless, which was mostly the same since he changed. He wondered if the visions he was having were merely waking dreams, but in his gut knew that not to be the case. They always seemed to occur when Bill’s theories were being talked about, or he was close to whatever was in the vials. Nothing random about that.

  Six hours earlier, he and Bill had tried every federal and civil frequency that they could think of on the radio, all but one came back with white noise. The exception was an emergency message for people to stay in their homes. It was dated three months previously, but was still playing from somewhere.

  Before making a detour to the gym to collect their belongings, as they made their way to the house he and Bill discussed what to do with the contents of the silver suitcase. A number of options were discussed, including weighting it down and dropping it into the middle of the lake, but they both felt that whatever was in the vials and on the tablets might hold the key to stopping the scourge. They just needed to get them to those who would know what to do with them. But that definitely couldn’t be Copeland’s people.

  Once they arrived at the house which looked like a show home, they had hashed out a plan of where to go. They eventually settled on a place they felt sure would survive any kind of armageddon. The military base at Cheyenne Mountain. It also happened to only be a few days drive to the east.

  First though, they would take advantage of where they were and rest up for a few days. So far, Lucian hadn’t been a problem and Joel hoped it would stay that way, even so, he and Bill both agreed trusting the man that thought the scourge was a religious experience was probably not the best course of action, so they discussed plans to get away if the townspeople suddenly turned on them.

  He wandered into the gloom of the en suite bathroom and swung a tap which rested above the basin. To his surprise, a trickle of water began to run from it. The water felt good on his face despite being warm, but he avoided looking in the mirror. He knew it would just take him back a few weeks, and he didn’t need any more reminding of what happened in the gas station.

  Drying himself off, he put his clothes back on and made his way downstairs.

  He followed the sound of heartbeats, which led him to the large living room at the front of the house. Bill, Mary, and Hardin were bathed in candlelight.

  “Any progress?” said Joel to Bill who was squinting at his computer screen, with the ancient tablet sitting on the arm of his chair.

  Bill shook his head. “Nothing matches these symbols. I’ve looked through databases of modern and ancient symbols and languages. It’s almost as if they’re not symbols at all, but something else…”

  Joel leaned down and picked up the tablet. As soon as his fingers touched the cold surface he felt a flush of warmth through his body. As he looked down at the foot-long object the symbols started to change shape, morphing into other symbols.

  “What the…” For a fraction of a second he felt he must be having another vision. He looked around. The room was still there, as were the others who were looking at him. He dropped the tablet as if it had given him an electric shock.

  Bill lunged forward, briefly stopping the item’s fall to the floor, but it still hit the carpet with a thump. “Joel! What’s wrong?” Bill put the computer to the side, and knelt, rotating the tablet in his hands making sure it was not damaged. It was then he noticed that some of the symbols were different. His eyes widened, and he slowly looked up at Joel. “Some of these symbols are different… what did you do?”

  “I… nothing…”

  “So, who wants to go to this town meeting!” said Anna, bounding into the room, making everyone jump. She looked at the scornful faces. “What?”

  Bill offered the tablet back to Joel, who backed away.

  “I don’t want to touch that thing.”

  Anna frowned. “Why wouldn’t you want to touch the tablet? What happened?” She looked at Hardin and Mary for answers.

  Another set of footsteps came down the wide staircase to the hal
lway, and then kept on going to the kitchen. Jess could be heard running after them.

  Bill pulled the tablet closer to him, studying it. “I don’t think this is just a stone tablet…”

  Ten miles away, on the far shore of the lake, a column of Humvees sat in the dying light, with their engines turned off. The lights from the town twinkled, reflecting off the gentle waves.

  Corvin turned his head to the boy seated behind. “Are you sure?”

  The pale-faced kid nodded.

  Corvin sighed, took his phone from his pocket. Hit the speed dial, and when he heard it stop ringing, held it to his lips. “We got a problem…”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Amen.”

  The crowd of thirty or so people lifted their heads.

  Lucian opened his arms in their direction. “And I want to welcome the new people who have stumbled across our sanctuary.”

  Whispers and hushed words rippled around those seated in the pews.

  Lucian looked at Joel and the others who were looking uncomfortable. “Please, all of you stand so the rest can see you.”

  Bill swore under his breath, but they all slowly got to their feet. Joel nodded and grinned, then sat back down. The others followed.

  “Having spent a brief time getting to know them, I feel they will be an important addition to our community.”

  “Are the vamps still out there?” said a middle-aged woman to Marina who was the closest to her.

  “Umm…”

  Lucian replied for Marina. “Now, Daisy, you will have plenty of time to get to know—”

  The door at the back of the hall burst open, and Vince, out of breath, walked down the central aisle. He stepped up on the stage and whispered into Lucian’s ear.

  “Shit,” said Anna.

  Hardin, Bill, and Mary looked at each other, then Anna.

  “Someone’s at the gate. They’re saying they’re from the government…” she said.