Dead Heat: A Hollow Dead Novel

by Young, D. M.

  Finally, Alicia broke the silence, “OK, so what do you think happened? I mean, what causes a nice, normal family to go crazy and kill each other? Why would an honor roll student and all-around good kid suddenly show up covered in blood at your trailer and attack Amber? You said he was biting her?”

  Ray sighed. “Yep, and I don’t know why any of it happened. Amber knows some crazy people. Hell, she’s crazy, but I don’t think the Roberts boy was involved in any of that. He wasn’t the type,” he said as he stood up, signaling the end of this little brainstorming session. “If it’s OK with you, I really just want to crash now.”

  Alicia went to find him a blanket and pillow. Ray watched her check the lock on the front door. Good idea. Josh was no longer a threat, but there was some seriously weird shit going on out there. With several people still missing, he wasn’t sure Josh was the only concern.

  “Hey, you still got that old shotgun?” Ray asked.

  “Yeah, why?” Alicia asked.

  “Well, considering all that’s happened today, I think it might be a good idea to keep it handy,” he said.

  “OK, sure. Why not?”

  Alicia disappeared into her bedroom, and Ray settled in on the couch. Before long, he felt himself drifting off to sleep.

  * * *

  Clyde “Booger” James motioned for the waitress to refill his coffee cup as he listened to the other old men around him talk. At seventy-seven, he had nothing better to do with his evenings. His wife had passed away ten years ago. His only son lived three states away and rarely even called. He had no other living family.

  Booger refused to be one of those old men who sat in front of the television all day listening to the load of bullshit that passed for news these days and getting angry over what some idiot politician up in Washington was doing. He was flat out terrified of ending up in a nursing home with a bunch of old folks who couldn’t even remember their own names. He’d rather be put down like an old mule than wither away in one of those places. So, he found ways to keep himself active.

  In his younger days, he’d been a carpenter, and he was still healthy and fit for a man his age. Though he was officially retired, he often mowed lawns and did odd jobs. The extra money was nice, but it was more about having something to do with his time. Lots of folks needed a handyman from time to time, but it was, by no means, full-time work. So, he spent a good portion of most of his days right here, shootin’ the shit with this lot.

  The topic of conversation varied by the day. In a small town, it’s never hard to find something or someone to talk about. Someone is always out of work, getting arrested, or having an affair. Occasionally, something more interesting happens, but no one had ever seen a day quite like today. Murders, police shootings, and folks going missing just didn’t happen very often in a place like Hollow Springs, and they surely didn’t all happen on the same day.

  So, the group had spent the past few hours discussing the day’s events at Merle’s Café, picking up new information from other customers as they passed through and trying to make the new information fit into one of the many theories they’d developed to explain just what the hell had happened in their quiet, little town.

  At one point, Booger had suggested that today’s events might be connected to the monster, but the others groaned and laughed. Bobby Mayhew chuckled, “Well, you better hope not. You was a lot more spry thirty years ago. If that booger comes for you again, you’re in trouble. You’re too damned old to fight him off this time.”

  They continued discussing what they considered more plausible reasons for the chaos. “I ain’t accusing nobody of nothing, but I think it was most likely drugs,” Bobby said. “Everybody seems to think they was good, upstanding folks, but you just can’t know what a person gets up to in the privacy of their own home. Y’all remember ol’ Tommy Benson’s boy. Everybody thought he was a real upstanding man, at church every Sunday. Had himself a pretty wife and a good job. Next thing you know, the Feds was a-carting him away on drug charges. Now, I could be wrong, but I – ”

  Skip Morgan cut him off, looking annoyed, “I knowed them folks for years, at least in passing, and that’s a bunch of crap. They was good people!” Skip told them he thought it was more likely that someone had done something to them. He leaned in closer to the others, at this point, “I don’t want to say it too loud. Don’t want to start a panic or nothing, but I think it was the terrorists. I think they let something loose, some sort of chemical warfare or something, and it’s making people crazy.”

  Carl Jacobs chimed in, “Horseshit! What in the hell would be the point of using something like that way out here? It ain’t like we got anything they want. We’re not exactly a strategic target. Why not hit somewhere with more people than cows?”

  Skip shot him a disgusted look, “Well, I was going to say – before you cut me off – it might be some kind of a test. You know so they could see how it worked before they hit some big city.”

  “That don’t make it make no more sense. What would be the good in that? You think they want to give us time to figure out how to stop it before they hit a real target? No, if they was going to use something like that, they’d have hit somewhere important – not Cow Shit, Arkansas.”

  “So, what’s your theory then, Mr. Know-It-All?” asked Skip.

  Carl’s face got serious. “I think it’s devil worshippers.”

  Skip snorted. The others groaned and shook their heads. Booger rolled his eyes and decided this was a good time to bow out of the conversation for the night. He was tired. This was the most excitement Hollow Springs had seen in, well probably forever, and it was exhausting keeping up with all the news. He laid a few bills on the table to cover the cost of his coffee and the tip. Then he stood and said his goodbyes.

  As he was walking out the door, Bobby shouted after him, “Be careful. Don’t let that booger get you again.”

  Booger waved him off and headed home as the evening light slowly faded from the sky.

  * * *

  Amber’s body had lain in Ray’s trailer for only a few minutes after Josh had abandoned it to chase Ray. Then she had gotten back up. Josh had moved on so she wandered alone through the woods until she came across Martin Kembry, a local hunter who was out checking his land for signs of poaching. Not long after, Amber and Martin wandered off together. Occasionally, they happened across someone else, and their hunting party grew. By the time night fell, there were more than a dozen shambling figures in the thick woods outside of Hollow Springs, and they were hungry.

  CHAPTER 11

  Melissa Conner sat on the sofa, her legs tucked under her and a book in one hand. Her other hand was twirling a strand of dark brown hair that had escaped her ponytail. She’d been trying to read for the past hour, but her mind wouldn’t let her. Finally, she closed the book and sat it on the table next to the now cold cup of English tea.

  She sat for a few moments listening to the thunder. The weatherman had gotten it right this time. For the better part of the last hour, rain had been falling heavily on the roof of her little house. It seemed to be slowing now. She pulled up her weather app, and it confirmed that most of it had already passed.

  After Matt left today, she had checked Facebook to see what she could find out about the mess. A few of the teachers had posted about it, but they were careful not to say much since a student was involved. While a few of Melissa’s students still had Facebook accounts, most of what they had posted had more to do with how tragic it was. Others posted about funny moments they’d shared with Josh through the years. Some shared pictures of him, and Melissa found those hard to look at.

  Olivia Mackey had posted a long tribute to Josh and their friendship saying how heartbroken she was and how much he would be missed by everyone, but especially by her. It would have been touching had Olivia actually ever spoken to Josh, but Melissa could not remember ever having seen them together. In fact, Josh was probably one of the last people with whom Olivia would have chosen to associate. She wa
s the most popular girl in school and, frankly, she was a snotty, little brat. Josh was a sweet kid and an excellent student, but he wasn’t in her clique.

  Melissa noticed that the post had racked up over two hundred likes and sighed. She saw that the first comment on the post was from Elaine, Olivia’s mother. She ignored the comment and clicked over to Elaine’s page. She was an awful woman, but nobody was better at getting and sharing information. Sure enough, her posts gave a detailed account of everything that had happened.

  Melissa learned that Nathan Roberts had last been seen by Randy Coleman on Friday afternoon when Randy treated him for a bite he’d gotten while trying to help Betty Winford. The helicopter transporting Betty later crashed en route to the hospital. Of the four people on board, not one body was recovered from the crash site. They were all still missing and presumed dead.

  None of this new information sat well with Melissa. She liked to think of herself as a decently intelligent, mature woman, but she was also a fan of the zombie genre. She couldn’t help noticing the parallels between the events in town and the start of every zombie story ever. Nathan was bitten. He went home to his family. Today, his daughter bit Brody and his son bit Amber and tried to attack another woman. Try as she may to dismiss her fears, she kept thinking about the possibility that zombies were wandering around outside her door tonight.

  There was no one she could tell about this. They would think she was crazy. If she was wrong, and, surely, she was wrong, she didn’t want to have to explain why a thirty-three-year-old high school teacher couldn’t tell the difference between reality and fiction. Well, she supposed she could tell Matt. He would never let her live it down, but he was her brother. He wouldn’t tell anyone else about her crazy ideas. Besides, in the unlikely event that she was right, he needed to know. It was his job to keep people safe.

  Matt had called about an hour earlier and told her Brody had taken a turn for the worse. He was headed to the hospital to check up on him. She texted him and asked if he could stop by on his way home. It was late when he replied and told her that he was just walking out the hospital door. Brody was in bad shape.

  They were watching him carefully, but if he hadn’t improved by morning, they were transferring him. There was nothing else Matt could do for him, and it was getting late. So, he would be over in a few minutes. Melissa sat her phone down and went to the kitchen. She started a pot of coffee and tried to decide what in the world she was going to say to Matt when he got there.

  * * *

  Kim Martin watched her husband sleeping. Brody had developed a high fever earlier in the day, but they had managed to bring it back down a little and keep him hydrated. For the first time in hours, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She let herself sink into the recliner and relax a little. She’d been up since six this morning, but, even now, she was afraid to drift off. Still, the nurses were monitoring him carefully, and she was losing her battle with sleep. She knew she couldn’t stay up much longer. She decided to close her eyes and try to rest.

  Just as she drifted off, an alarm sounded. Kim was still trying to figure out what was happening when nurses started rushing in and ushered her out of the room. She waited outside the room while people came and went. How long had it been? Two minutes? Five? Suddenly, she heard someone yelling from inside Brody’s room. Then a scream. People began talking over each other. Another scream and the sound of things hitting the floor.

  A nurse came running from the room, blood pouring from her neck. Another nurse followed close behind. They disappeared into a room down the hall. Kim stepped closer to the door and saw a woman on the floor. Brody was on top of her, gripping her shoulders. She watched as he leaned down and bit the woman’s face. Someone pushed past Kim, headed for the hospital exit.

  A young doctor tried to pull Brody away, but backed off when Brody reached for his arm. Kim saw her husband try to stand, but the floor was wet and slippery with blood. The doctor glanced toward the nurse on the floor. She was no longer moving. He looked around for a moment, trying to find a way to subdue Brody. As he made another attempt to stand, the doctor pushed a cart into him and knocked him back down.

  Another scream came from the opposite direction. The second nurse to run from Brody’s room came bursting out of the room where she and the first nurse had taken shelter. Nurse 1 was close behind. Kim watched as Nurse 1 tackled Nurse 2, biting and scratching as Nurse 2 tried to fight her off. The doctor grabbed Kim’s arm and pulled her away from the chaos just as the third nurse, the one Brody had been straddling, started moving again.

  Other patients, staff, and family members had stepped out into the hallway to figure out what was happening. Some were attacked as they ran toward the front exit. An elderly patient, too ill to flee, waited for someone to come help him. The doctor closed the door to his room as he passed by. Kim and the doctor rounded the corner, headed toward the back exit, and bumped into an older woman who had stepped out into the hallway to see what the fuss was about.

  Now there was noise at the other end of the hallway, between them and the rear exit. Without warning, the doctor shoved both women into a room and shut the door. He put his finger to his lips to silence them. Kim looked around the room and noticed a young girl standing beside the bed, her face pale. There were footsteps outside the door as someone ran by. Kim watched as tears began streaming down the girl’s face. As the noise outside the door faded, she whispered, “It’s happening again, isn’t it?”

  * * *

  Bill Canton lay in bed staring. He’d gone to bed hours ago, but his mind wouldn’t shut off. In his twelve years as sheriff, Bill had never seen a crazier day. He hadn’t had enough bodies to respond to every call in a timely fashion. The city police had helped some, but there were still too many calls and not enough people. Add the shooting into the mix, and you had a real mess.

  Bill couldn’t stop thinking about that one. Brody had never been one of his favorite deputies. Hell, Brody probably wasn’t anyone’s favorite person, except maybe his wife. She seemed to like him well enough. Birds of a feather and all that. Brody was an entitled little shit. He was one of those people who let a little bit of authority go to his head. He was usually rude – sometimes downright obnoxious. Still, Bill had never imagined that he would shoot a kid.

  When things settled down, that was going to be one hell of a mess to fix. It seemed none of the media had picked up on it yet, but they would. Bill had no idea how to explain that one. More importantly, the townsfolk were pissed, and why wouldn’t they be? Regardless what the kid had done, there had to be a better way of handling it. The idea that two grown men couldn’t restrain a five-year-old girl wasn’t just difficult to accept. It was impossible.

  On the nightstand beside the bed, the phone rang. Bill cursed before answering. Beside him, Susan sat up and rubbed her eyes, waiting to hear the latest. Bill spoke with someone for a minute then hung up the phone.

  “What now?” Susan asked.

  “Something’s going on at the hospital. Said multiple calls have come in saying people are being attacked. I’d better get up there,” Bill said, already climbing out of bed.

  “The hospital is in town. That’s the city’s problem. Can’t you let them handle it?” Susan asked.

  “Well, Brody’s still there, and I should probably see if it’s related to any of the other stuff that happened today. Besides, it sounds like they might need our help.”

  Bill grabbed a fresh uniform out of the closet and dressed. Susan was still sitting in the bed watching him, and he bent down to kiss her goodbye. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone so just go on back to sleep. I’ll try not to wake you when I come in.”

  With that, Bill headed out for round two of this awful damned day.

  CHAPTER 12

  Edward Dennis grabbed his keys off of the table. He had left Rose at the hospital with Gracie while he ran home to check on Sammy. On his way home, Edward had stopped off to pick up some dog food. The poor dog had been hungry and a
little beaten up when he’d followed Gracie into the house this morning. Now his paws and face were cleaned up, and he’d had his second meal of the day. Edward thought Sammy had looked a bit disappointed when he sat the bowl of plain old kibble in front of him. Apparently, his breakfast of scrambled eggs and a slice of bacon had spoiled him. All the same, Sammy was fed.

  He checked the time. It was later than he’d thought. He’d better be getting back to the hospital for the night. He didn’t figure anyone would have a problem with him coming in so late, but Rose probably wouldn’t relax until he got back. He and Rose didn’t really have to stay. Gracie would be fine for the night, and social services would handle everything from there. Rose just thought Gracie would feel better if they did. Rose hadn’t let on, but Edward could tell that she was heartbroken about the whole situation. If Rose thought they should be there, then he would gladly oblige.

  Sammy should be fine by himself until morning. Gracie said he was used to spending most of his time indoors, and he’d done fine here alone while they were at the hospital. Anyway, that little girl had enough to worry about. He wasn’t going to toss her dog outside and risk something happening to him. Now, as Edward made his way toward the door, his phone chimed alerting him that a text had come through from Rose.

  “Hospital under attack. Trying to get out. Do not come inside! Text when you get here.”

  Edward had to read it a few times before it sank in. When it did, he sent a quick reply, retrieved his pistol from the nightstand, and headed for the car. When he opened the front door, Sammy bolted outside. Edward couldn’t waste time trying to get the dog back inside. He just hoped the dog would stay in the yard until he returned. Sammy stopped beside the car, waiting. When Edward opened the door, Sammy jumped inside. Edward decided it would just be quicker to take him with him than to drag him out. So, together, they headed toward town where Rose, Gracie and a whole lot of trouble awaited them.