The Plague: Dead Solstice

by M. Scott Burgess

  It was all too much for her though. Ava shut the door and went back outside. Everyone was where she left them- waiting to get back on that truck. The only person who seemed to notice her was Elias, who had smiled at her on his way in to scrounge up any snacks that might have been missed. Next door to the gas station was an Indian casino. With no one paying attention to her, she headed for it.

  She opened the door slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. She scanned the building before fully committing to it. It was dark; the only light came from the front windows which reflected off the rows upon rows of polished slot machines. There was no movement or noise. And given the lack of ghouls on their way through town, Ava thought it looked safe enough.

  She gave her flashlight a few more cranks and headed in. She pulled out a hammer from her belt that she had found after the gun fight in the park. Ava walked as quietly as her shoes would allow. She minimized her breathing, thinking that it would improve her hearing. She reached the bathroom and slowly opened the door. It was empty and greeted her with the refreshing smell of mint.

  Ava entered and got down on her knees, shining her flashlight below the stalls. They all looked empty, so she dead bolted the lock on the door and went in for another look. She pushed open each stall door with the head of her hammer until she reached the end. She took in a deep breath. Finally, she felt safe.

  Ava set the hammer and flashlight on the floor, bolted the door of her stall, and sat down to do her business. She froze when she thought she heard a bang on the other side of the bathroom door. She waited and listened for another sound. But it didn’t come. She told herself it had to be her imagination, or air pressure, or something else. A ghoul would have kept banging on the door, right?

  When she was finished, Ava climbed back up and pulled up her pants. She put her foot against the flush handle but then stopped- It would be too much noise. She figured she could get away with a lapse in decency this time. Ava picked up the hammer and flashlight and went to the sink. She shined the light on herself. She was shocked at how terrible she looked. No one had told her she had a black smudge on her chin. She wondered how long it had been there. Ava looked for the faucet handle but quickly discovered in relied on a sensor.

  “Fucking technology,” she whispered to herself.

  Ava pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and scrubbed the black smear off. She then scrubbed it against her hands trying to clean them as much as possible. She felt dirty and disgusting. She resolved that she should start stockpiling wet naps.

  Ava went to the bathroom door and put her hand up to the deadlock. She stopped, giving more thought to what she had heard before. She told herself to stop worrying, it had to be her imagination. And if it wasn’t, what was her other option? Stay in the bathroom and miss her ride to Mammoth? Ava unlocked the door and swung it open. She held her hammer ready for whatever might have been on the other side. But she was happy to find nothing.

  She stepped out to leave the place, but only a few feet out of the bathroom, she froze. Her light passed over something that caught her eye. She swung the light back and found exactly what she feared. She had heard something after all. It was a ghoul, standing between her and the front door. His face was fat and peeling. His one remaining eye was black as night. Half his gnarled teeth were missing. He moaned as he began to lurch toward her.

  A million thoughts blasted through her mind. Could she make the door? Could she get passed this thing? She had to! There was no other choice.

  Ava lunged forward and raised the hammer, ready to take the thing on. But before she could take a step forward, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her back.

  4

  Ava struggled to pull away, but the strong arms held her tight. She screamed for help, hoping someone outside might hear, but a hand reached up to muffle her cry. It was at that moment she realized that whoever had her was alive.

  “Shhh,” a voice whispered in her ear. “It’s me.” Ava turned to see Elias’s eyes inches away from hers. “Quiet…” he said as he removed his hand from her mouth. And then, without wasting any time, he used the free hand to grab her flashlight and hurl it toward the ghoul.

  The flashlight flickered as it bounced off a slot machine. The fat ghoul stopped in its tracks and move toward the new location of the light. Ava tried to push forward to make a run for the door, but Elias held her tight. It was firm and powerful. It was comforting. Something Ava longed for since this all started.

  She looked at Elias for a moment and then kissed him. Ava didn’t know why she did it. Was it what he wanted? Was this why he was still holding her? A reward for saving her. The kiss was right, wasn’t it? Or had she made a mistake? Ava pulled away and looked at his face to find the truth. A bewildered grin was painted on it. Elias moved in to kiss her again but then stopped. Suddenly, his face was serious again.

  “I’m sorry?” Ava asked, deciding that the kiss was wrong.

  “No,” he answered. “There’s more of them.”

  Ava followed his eyes to see a few more ghouls lurching toward them from different corners of the building. Elias grabbed onto her hand and pulled her toward the door. He got low, bending his shoulders to try and hide under the height of the slot machines. Ava did the same.

  As they got closer to the front doors, they picked up in speed, eventually approaching a full sprint. But right before they reached the outside world, something caught Ava’s peripheral vision. It was small and darting toward them at incredible speed. But just as it was about to get them, Elias let go of Ava’s hand and turned. He had a gun. He steadied it and shot the small monster. It collapsed at his feet and screamed in pain.

  Elias turned to go for the door, but Ava stopped. Something wasn’t right here.

  Across the room, the ghouls were running in their direction, beckoned by the gunshot.

  “Hurry!” Elias yelled at her, reaching out with his free hand.

  But Ava didn’t move. “It’s a boy!” She yelled. He was on the ground, rolling in pain from the gunshot. It was clear as day that he was alive. “We need to help him!”

  Elias looked at the boy, realizing what he had done. “Shit…” He stuck the gun in his pocket and rushed to the boy, scooping him up in his arms. “I’ve got him! You go!”

  This time, Ava listened, sprinting for the door and bursting out into the daylight. She held it open for Elias as he rushed out with the boy over one shoulder. He tripped on the curb and collapsed, spilling the boy onto the pavement. Ava moved to help them to their feet but, behind her, the ghouls were pulling themselves out of the building.

  They moaned hungrily as they descended on the three people. Ava cringed, trying to pull Elias up. But before she could, an explosion went off behind Ava and half of the nearest ghoul’s head disappeared into a blackish spray.

  A second later, a third of another one’s head liquidized with another bang. Jadon walked past Ava and calmly pumped the shotgun in his hands. By the time the third ghoul reached the door, Jadon was close enough that he was able to rest the end of the barrel on its temple and completely remove the entire head.

  5

  Without thinking, Kai ran toward the sound of gunfire, drawing his gun out of instinct. “Any more of them?” he asked when he reached the Indian casino.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” Jadon answered, sticking the barrel of his shotgun into the open door.

  Kai’s gaze reached Ava, “You bit?” But he didn’t wait for an answer when he saw the boy, “Who the hell is he?”

  “No idea,” Elias said, climbing to his feet and going to the boy. He was crying and rolling in pain on the pavement. “Damn it, I thought he was one of those things!”

  Kai went to the boy and got a better look at the gunshot wound in his shoulder. The blood was coming out in a steady flow. “How you doing, buddy?” Kai asked, but the boy didn’t respond; he was in shock. Kai’s mind immediately went into EMT mode, evaluating the situation and coming up with a plan.

  “W
e got more coming,” Jadon announced, nodding at a pair of ghouls coming up the road.

  “Those aren’t going to be the only ones.” Kai scooped up the boy and carried him toward the dump truck. “We need to get everyone back on the truck.”

  Jaden nodded and called out, “Load up, y’all. We’re gonna move out!”

  Hector wiped his hands off and approached the situation to get a good look at it. After observing the boy in Kai’s arms and the sulk on Elias’s face, Hector smiled. “Hey, looks like you’re just as bad as me now, ain’t ya?” he taunted with a wink.

  Elias’s sulk exploded into anger. “Shut your trap or I’ll kill you next!” Hector responded with laughter. This only angered Elias more. He aimed his gun at Hector, “I said shut the hell up!”

  “Hector, get the damn truck started!” Jadon ordered as he grabbed the back of Elias’s neck. “You. Get in the back of that truck before you do something you’ll regret.” Elias resisted, but to this, Jadon pushed him toward the tail end of the truck and yelled, “Get!” Elias shook his head, but this time, he did as he was told.

  Kai dumped the boy into the back of the truck and climbed in. Within an instant, the group was loaded up and the White Whale was back on the road. Kai gazed out the back as a group of about ten more ghouls spilled out from a side street. Returning his attention to the boy, Kai called out, “Teddy! I need you over here.”

  Teddy groaned as he climbed to his feet and slipped a small bottle of rum into his pocket. He steadied himself with his one arm against the side of the truck and stumbled over. He stood over the boy and squinted his eyes at where the bullet was lodged in the boy’s shoulder.

  “Tell me what to do to get this out,” Kai said.

  Teddy shook his head and responded, “You do nothing.”

  “We can’t…”

  “You can’t do anything until we stop,” Teddy interrupted. “We’re riding on a god damn mechanical bull. If you try to get that bullet out, you’re just going to make it worse.”

  Kai ran his hands through his hair as he tried to think. They were out of the town and there was no sign of the ghouls anymore. But how the hell could they communicate with Hector and Dante up in the cab? “So, what then?” he asked.

  “Until we stop? Stop the bleeding.”

  Before Kai could ask, Blair was already in his bag and pulling out bandages and towels for him. Kai grabbed a towel and pressed it against the boy’s wound. Kai wondered how the hell Elias could mistake this kid for a ghoul. He looked healthy, must have had a decent amount of food and water. He was a good-looking kid, around eleven or twelve, long limbs skinny as broomsticks. His hair was a dark brown and his skin had a summer tan. His eyes were clenched shut, soaked with tears.

  “You’re gonna be alright, buddy.” The boy’s eyes opened and locked with Kai’s. They were a light hazel. “What’s your name?” The boy just stared back at him. “Were you alone? Where are you from?” Instead of answering, the boy rolled his head and looked at Dean. He was still dead to the world, snoring up a storm. The black wound on Dean’s neck looked even worse than before. The boy’s breathing increased. “Hey, look at me!” Kai ordered and the boy’s gaze returned to him.

  “He’s in shock,” Ava half-suggested, half-asked.

  Kai nodded. The blood was already beginning to soak through the towel. Kai could only hope that Hector and Dante were smart enough to find a place to stop.

  It was a long while before they finally did. Ava had taken over putting pressure on the wound as Kai got together what he could to operate on the wound. The harsh desert was beginning to surrender to grasses and vegetation as they ascended the incline leading into the mountain range.

  The engine quieted and the truck rolled uphill until it came to a stop. The entire thing jerked as the parking brake was set.

  Kai immediately jumped out and was ready to pull the boy out too until he saw around the side of the truck.

  Up ahead, a short distance away. There was a large group of men standing on the road. Every one of them had rifle. And in front of them stood cement barricades.

  6

  Kai stared at the men for a while. It was a full blockade of the highway. All four lanes were obstructed by heavy cement barricades. A few more were sitting on the back of a flatbed. Only a car-wide opening in the median remained, but already the men were parking a pickup truck in the way. As if that could stop what we had, Kai thought in a fleeting air of cockiness.

  The men had picked the ideal position- they were just on the other side of a gorge, in between two hills. At the top of one of the hills, Kai spotted a makeshift outpost guarded by three men with rifles. All three rifles were spotted on Kai. Above them, they had hoisted up a white flag with the word Mammoth scribbled under a lopsided M in the rough shape of a mammoth. Kai figured they had repurposed it from the ski resort.

  The men on the road all had guns as well, but theirs were at their sides. They didn’t show signs of aggression. We might still have a chance, Kai thought hopefully. There were about a dozen trucks full of gear. Kai concluded that this outpost must have been only a day or two old.

  Dante climbed out of the cab and came directly to Kai. “What do you want to do?” he asked.

  Kai didn’t answer. he gave the group one more look and then went to the back of the truck. Jadon was already climbing out with his shotgun in hand. “We might need your help,” he said, and Jadon nodded. Kai looked to Dean, he was still snoring. Kai decided there was no reason to wake him. Dean would probably end up just scaring them with that wound on his neck. “Do we talk to them?” Kai asked Jadon as he came around the edge of the truck to get a look.

  “What else are we going to do?”

  “What do you think they’ll say?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Jadon answered as he began walking toward the blockade.

  “I can help,” Dante offered.

  A single chuckle escaped from Kai as the thought of how awkward and creepy Dante came across. “I don’t think they’re in the market for a used car.”

  “Negations are just cashless deals.” Dante shot back.

  Dante had a point. “Okay,” Kay answered. “Come along then. But remember, we’re trying to make friends here.”

  Dante nodded and then peeked into the back of the truck. “Let the children outside to stretch.” Irene shot him a worried look.

  Kai intervened, “I don’t think that’s…”

  But then Dante interrupted, “Let them stretch in plain sight of these men. If you want to make friends, you target their heartstrings.”

  Kai took a moment to think it over. Jadon was already a quarter of the way to the barricade. Kai shrugged. “Do it,” he told Irene.

  Irene climbed out and looked at the group. “Kai, they have guns.”

  “They’re not going to shoot children.” Kai could tell Irene was hesitant. “This could be the difference maker, Irene.”

  Irene bit her lip thinking about it. “Cece, come here, honey,” she said holding her hand out for her daughter.

  “Are you sure we should do this?” Elias asked.

  “We’ve come this far,” Kai answered.

  Elias hopped out of the truck and looked up at the barricade. “I don’t like this,” he said. “It’s pretty clear they’re not going to let us through. We’re completely outgunned here. How do we know they won’t just kill us?”

  “What should we do then? Turn around? Go back down the hill?” Kai shot back. Elias didn’t answer. “And then what? Where will we go?” Elias still remained silent. “That’s what I thought,” Kai said and then turned to Dante. “Let’s go.”

  Realizing he walked half the distance along, Jadon stopped and waited for Kai and Dante before continuing on to the blockade. Kai studied the group of men- most of them wore hunter camo. They held their rifles with a confident calm. They looked healthy and fairly relaxed – sunflower seeds, chew or cigarettes in almost every mouth. They were grizzled, capable mountain men.

&n
bsp; “You fuckers best turn around and head back to where you came from,” a pock-faced teenager yelled at them. His camo baseball cap was on backward and his bag of sunflower seeds was sticking out of his front pocket.

  “Shut up, Owen,” a man with a bulbous nose and a San Diego Chargers hat ordered. The man stuck out his chin and looked Kai, Jadon, and Dante over for a moment before extending his hand. “My name’s Mason.”

  Kai shook it. “I’m Kai. This is Jadon and Dante.”

  Mason nodded and squinted at the White Whale. “That dump truck looks like it’s seen its fair share of hell. Where y’all coming from?”

  “Orange County,” Kai answered.

  “Orange County? No kidding, huh?” Kai nodded. “I grew up down near Dana Point.”

  We have a chance, Kai thought. “Most of us are from the Irvine area.”

  “So how bad are we looking down there?”

  “Bad.”

  “No help from Camp Pendleton?”

  “No help from anybody.”

  Mason nodded and looked back at the White Whale. “So, let’s just jump into it then. What can we do for you?”

  “We were hoping we could pass through,” Kai answered solemnly. “We’re just looking for somewhere safe. Somewhere safe from those things.”

  “I hate to say it, but I’m sorry. You’re going to need to find it somewhere else.” The words felt like a knife in the gut.

  “Where?” Kai choked out. “We’ve got nowhere else to go.”

  “I’m really sorry, guy, but there’s already too many of us. We’re struggling to just take care of the people we have.”