Dead Heat: A Hollow Dead Novel

by Young, D. M.

  “Wait,” the man said, still gripping Adam’s arm. “I don’t think you want to go over there.”

  “Why not?” Adam asked wondering how much the man knew about what was going on in town.

  The man looked at him, “I’m a deputy sheriff. There’s something going on in town. I don’t have time to explain it all right now – ”

  “No need. I’ve seen it.” Adam interrupted. “What makes you think he’s one of them? He just crashed his truck. He might just be injured.”

  The man was shaking his head. “I know him. That’s Officer Graham. He was bitten last night at the hospital. I figured he was already dead, but I guess not. You should probably get moving.” He stepped away from Adam and opened the door to the store. “Melissa, get the others in the car.”

  Adam heard a woman’s voice reply from inside the store, “What’s going on, Matt?”

  Matt didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled his gun and began walking toward where Officer Graham lay on the pavement. A group had gathered around the man now, and Matt shouted for them to move away. A large woman in a blue tee shirt was kneeling beside the body. Upon hearing Matt shout, she turned, spotted the gun, and screamed. A man that was kneeling beside her looked toward Matt. He saw the gun and tried to stand.

  “Don’t shoot!” he cried as he lost his balance. His butt hit the pavement hard, and he rolled to his knees and began to crawl away.

  Matt shouted toward the group, “Police, move away from him. Get back.”

  The woman in the blue shirt was still crouched beside Officer Graham, her eyes fixed on the gun. She didn’t seem to hear Matt’s instructions. Most of the others in the crowd began backing away, but a few still stood between Matt and the officer lying on the ground.

  A woman in a brightly colored sun dress, shouted without turning toward Matt, “I’m a nurse. This man is not breathing.”

  Ignoring Matt’s instructions, she began chest compressions. Adam couldn’t peg her accent, but she definitely wasn’t a local. She was probably one of the summer tourists staying at the lake. That meant she likely had no idea what was going on in town.

  Matt shouted again and began to move closer, “That man is dangerous. Move away.”

  The nurse ignored him. As Matt closed the distance, Adam saw Officer Graham’s hand lock down on the nurse’s dress and pull. She stopped confused as his other hand clasped her arm. His mouth moved and she leaned toward him, thinking he was trying to speak. Suddenly, he pulled hard on her dress, and the nurse lost her balance. Officer Graham crawled on top of her. The nurse screamed and tried to push him away, but he bit her arm.

  Another bystander, a large man with a ponytail and grease-stained blue jeans, stepped in to pull the officer off of her. The thing that used to be Graham ignored him. The man tried to put an arm around the front of Graham’s neck to pull him away, but Graham clamped his teeth down on ponytail man’s wrist. He screamed, a surprisingly high-pitched sound, and pulled his wrist away. Blood poured from the wound as Officer Graham returned to the nurse.

  Adam had seen enough. He knew how this ended. People were running in all directions now. He turned to see Edward waving him toward the Jeep. Adam began walking quickly in that direction, but a man hit him from behind. Adam fell, banging his knee against the pavement. The man stayed on his feet and kept running. A panicked driver sped through the parking lot. The running man didn’t see her, and she hit him. He landed on the hood of the car.

  Adam tried to stand, and pain shot through his knee. Someone grabbed his arm, and he looked up. It was Matt. He helped Adam to his feet. More screams behind them now. Adam looked across the parking lot to Edward. People were darting between the cars that packed the lot. Officer Graham was on the move again. A stunned man in a tee shirt and swim shorts stood watching as the zombie closed in on him.

  Panicked drivers tried to navigate the crowded lot while avoiding the pedestrians. Adam’s mind raced. He could try to make it to the Jeep, but, between the drivers and the zombies, he didn’t care much for his chances. Besides, the others needed to go now if they were going to make it all. He looked toward Edward again and waved him off. “Just go! I’ll catch a ride with him.” he yelled and looked at Matt for his approval, hoping to God that he would agree. Matt nodded.

  Edward hesitated for a moment. Then he climbed back in the Jeep, and they pulled away. Matt motioned for Adam to follow him and turned. He bumped into the red-haired woman. She met his eyes for a moment and then turned back to stare at the chaos. Matt laid his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. “Ma’am, you need to get in your car and get out of here.”

  “My car’s over there!” she said pointing toward the bloody scene. The nurse in the sundress was on her feet now. There was a wreck blocking the entrance on that side of the lot now. Nobody was getting out that way.

  Matt shook his head. “Never mind then. Follow me. You won’t make it through that.” He moved quickly to the opposite end of the parking lot. Adam and the red-haired woman followed. Adam glanced back toward the car with the pedestrian on the hood. The driver had stepped out and was staring in horror as the man began to move. Adam heard him growl, and he picked up his pace, still limping a bit from the pain in his knee.

  At the car, Matt jerked open the back driver’s side door, “Get in,” he said, and Adam obliged.

  The red-haired woman hurried to the back passenger’s seat and slid in. A dark-haired woman sat in the front passenger’s seat. “Alicia said she would follow us. Where are we going now?” the woman asked.

  He put the car in gear but didn’t take his foot off of the brake, “I don’t know, but we can’t stay here.”

  The red-haired woman spoke up, “I have a cabin not far from here. It’s a little out of the way, but I need to get back. My little dog is there all alone. Nobody really lives out that way. It would be a safe place for you to at least stop and figure out what you’re doing. I’m Margaret, by the way. Margaret Harding.”

  “That works. Just tell me how to get there,” he said and pulled toward the parking lot’s side exit.

  As the woman pointed across the narrow highway. “You can see the turn off for the county road just up there. The cabin is up that road a ways.”

  Adam stared out the window and wondered if Booger and the others had made it safely to their cabin. His mind flashed to the scene of the growling pedestrian lying on the hood of the car. Something about that whole thing seemed wrong, but Adam couldn’t figure out what was bothering him.

  Margaret had finished her directions for the moment, and the car was silent. The woman in the front seat spoke, “We never introduced ourselves. I’m Melissa. I teach high school English in Hollow Springs. This is my brother Matt. He’s a sheriff’s deputy.” She turned to look at Adam, waiting.

  “Oh, I’m Adam Keeling. I’m a doctor. I was at the hospital last night when everything happened.”

  Margaret looked at him, “Wait, what’s going on? I mean, I heard about the shooting at the Roberts’ house. I live in town, but I was up at the cabin last night. What did I miss?”

  “I was one of the officers who did the welfare check at the Roberts’ house,” Matt said. “The dad was dead when we got there, but the mom and little girl attacked us.” Matt gave a detailed account of what happened at the house. When he was finished he said, “Later I learned that Josh Roberts, the teenage son, broke into someone else’s house and was shot.

  Margaret still looked confused. “It was my house, and I’m the one who shot him.”

  Melissa turned around in her seat and looked over it at Margaret. “So, you do know. You’ve seen one.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean. All I know is that a dangerous young man broke into my house,” she said.

  Adam and Matt took turns telling her about the hospital and the other things that had happened overnight as the car climbed higher into the hills. Margaret listened quietly. Adam could see that she didn’t quite know what to say about their story. When Matt told her that
he believed the attackers were zombies, she looked at him like he was crazy. By the time they finished, they were nearly at the cabin. Margaret didn’t comment on the story they told. Adam thought she was probably still trying to process all of it.

  “The driveway is up here on the left, just over the hill,” Margaret said.

  Matt turned into the driveway. A little cabin was set back off of the road, but Adam barely noticed it. His eyes were focused on the blue Jeep parked in front of it. Margaret had seen the Jeep, too. “Looks like Booger decided to come pay me a visit. Wonder what he’ll have to say about all of this.”

  Matt parked the car close to the cabin, and they climbed out. The car that had followed them from the station pulled up behind the Jeep as the cabin’s door opened, and Booger stepped out. A small black and white dog followed him onto the porch, barking at the new arrivals. Booger ignored the barking. He had spotted Adam, “Well, lookie here. You found our lost doctor!”

  Margaret looked to Adam and back to Booger, confused. Adam pointed to Matt, “I guess, technically, he found me and Margaret.”

  Edward heard Adam’s voice and appeared at the door, “Well, I’ll be! You made it!”

  Adam saw the others appear behind Edward. Margaret looked from one person to another, waiting for someone to explain to her how all of these strangers ended up at her cabin. Plato stood at her feet now. He put his front paws on her leg and stretched, begging her to pick him up. She did so without thinking.

  Booger saw the confusion on her face and walked out to meet her, “I can see you’re wondering what they hell we’re all doing here. You can blame me for that. I dragged ‘em up here.” He lowered his voice, “I heard what happened at your house, and I thought I’d better warn you. The little girl in there is Gracie Roberts. She’s the sister of the kid who broke into your house. Might not want to mention it in front of her.”

  Adam saw the color drain from Margaret’s face. Adam imagined this was something Matt needed to know, too. He looked around and saw him carrying a suitcase into the cabin. “Matt, can you come here for a minute?” Adam asked.

  Matt set the suitcase he was carrying on the porch and walked over. “What’s up?”

  “The other little Roberts girl is in the cabin. I thought you’d want to know,” Adam said.

  “Shit,” Matt said. He looked at Booger, “How much does she know about what happened?”

  “Dunno. Hold on,” he said walking toward the cabin. He returned a minute later with Rose. “This is Margaret. It was her house that Gracie’s brother tried to break into.”

  Margaret nodded toward Matt, “And he’s one of the officers who went to the family’s house yesterday morning. We were wondering how much she knows about what happened. We don’t want to say the wrong thing and upset her.”

  Rose thought for a moment, “Well, I wasn’t in the room when they told her about her family, but she told me pretty much what they said. I don’t think they got real specific with it. She knows they’re dead. I don’t think they told her much more than that.”

  “Good,” Booger said. “Then we’ll just let everyone know not to say anything about it in front of her right now. If she starts asking questions, we’ll figure out how much we want to tell her.”

  Adam followed the others into the cabin and looked around the room. Gracie was sitting in the floor in the corner. Sammy lay beside her. Plato ran toward the larger dog, barking at him. Margaret tried to call him back, but he ignored her. Adam panicked for a moment, sure that Plato was about to become a snack for the huge dog. He saw Margaret stiffen. Apparently, she was thinking the same thing.

  “It’s OK, Sammy,” Gracie said. Sammy’s tail thumped. He laid his head on his paws and ignored Plato’s barking. Margaret relaxed and told them all to make themselves at home as she sunk into her recliner. Plato, obviously satisfied that Sammy had been sufficiently scolded, trotted to the recliner and hopped into Margaret’s lap.

  CHAPTER 22

  By late afternoon, the group had all settled in and gotten acquainted. Margaret was happy to let them stay as long as they needed. The small cabin was a bit cramped with so many people, but it was doable. There was an extra bedroom and loft upstairs that Margaret never used. Some of them could sleep up there, and there was room in the living room for a few of the others.

  Margaret stood in the kitchen sorting through the food with Rose. There wasn’t much there. Matt and his group had brought a little bit with them, and Booger’s group had picked up some stuff at the truck stop before making their way up. Margaret hadn’t managed to buy anything before all hell had broken loose. If they managed well, they would have enough for maybe two days, but even that was pushing it.

  “What do you think?” Rose asked.

  “Well, to be honest, I don’t think this is going to last long. If we stay here, we’re going to need more food,” Margaret said.

  “I agree, but the nearest place is the truck stop. If we go any further than that, we’d do better to just get keep going and find a nice quiet town with no monsters.”

  Margaret snorted, “It’s not that I don’t believe what y’all are telling me. I mean, if it was just Booger, I’d probably chalk it up to his active imagination.” Rose chuckled as Margaret continued, “But, when a doctor, a cop, and a teacher are telling you the same thing, it’s a little harder to deny.”

  Rose leaned back against the counter, “I felt the same way when Gracie showed up at my house talking about zombies yesterday. I figured she was just in shock and looking for some way to make it all make sense. Then, lo and behold, I’m sitting in the hospital with her last night and find myself in the middle of all that. You become a believer real quick, let me tell ya’.”

  The two women fell silent. Margaret looked across the room and saw that Gracie was sitting on the floor in the corner holding a toy as Plato tugged at it. Sammy was bouncing around them. Well, at least the dogs were enjoying themselves.

  Edward came down the stairs and walked over to join them. “I think we’ve got the upstairs ready for tonight. Booger brought some bedding, and I pulled some blankets and pillows out of the closet for everyone else.”

  “I think you and Rose should take the second bedroom,” Margaret said. “The women and Gracie can sleep on the sofa up there in the loft, and the men can sleep down here in the living room.”

  “That’s fine. How does the food situation look?” Edward asked as he sat down at the table.

  “Not great,” Rose said. “We think we’ve got about two days’ worth.”

  “Then I guess we need to figure out how long we might be here. My phone hasn’t got signal up here. I don’t think anyone has one. Margaret, do you have a radio?”

  “Yes, it’s in the bedroom,” she said as she made her way to the back of the cabin.

  She returned with a small clock radio and plugged it in just as Matt and Alicia came down the stairs. They all gathered around as Edward ran through the local stations listening for any news reports. On one of the local country stations, he found it. The station had suspended normal programming to keep listeners informed about the situation.

  According to the report, the violence in town had gotten worse throughout the day. State police were in town but had been unable to get control of the situation. The governor had been notified, and they speculated that the National Guard would be called in soon. There had been no confirmation of that from state officials, yet.

  The others came from across the living room and gathered around the radio to hear the news. The voices on the radio became jumbled and quiet for a moment as the men talked amongst themselves.

  “Has this been verified?” they heard one of the voices ask.

  A few seconds later the man’s voice came back over the radio, once again directed to the listeners. “We’re starting to get reports of rioting and violence in other towns in Mason County. Most of them are unconfirmed right now, but there have been two confirmed deaths in Marshall Springs. We also have a few unconfirmed r
eports of attacks in neighboring counties. Folks, we don’t have all the details on this right now. We don’t know how or even if this is even related to the situation in Hollow Springs, but we’re going to try to get some more information on this. As soon as we do, we will let you know.”

  Edward flipped the radio off. “Well, I guess that means we might be here for a while.”

  “Looks that way. Guess we better talk about the food situation then,” Margaret said. She looked at the others, “We’ve got a couple days’ worth of food. Rose and I were debating whether we should try to make a run to the store or just head on out of town, but I think this settles that issue. It looks like there might not be any way to get away from this thing.”

  “Wait, you want to go back to the truck stop?” Ray asked incredulously.

  “There aren’t a lot of options,” Margaret answered.

  “Hell, yeah there is. We load up our shit and hit the road. If there are zombies wandering around the next town, then we don’t stop. We keep driving until we’re out of this mess,” Ray said.

  Edward glanced over his shoulder at Ray, “And if you get to the next town and the same thing is going on there? You heard the radio. It’s spreading. How long before the next town is gone and the next?”

  Ray looked at Alicia, “I say we go.”

  Alicia stared back at him, “Go where? Even if we find a place that’s safe, do you have money for a hotel? I sure don’t. I mean, I could put it on my credit card. That would work for a while, but we don’t know when this will end or how bad it will get before it does.”

  Melissa looked at Matt, “I don’t know. I kinda think Ray might be right. You know Aunt Lisa wouldn’t mind us staying for a while, and her house is way out in the middle of nowhere.”