Death & Decay (Book 2): Divided Read online

  “I think that if they were still…alive,” he said finally, “they would either be here with the car or the car would be gone.”

  The group stood there, nobody looking at each other for a moment.

  “Listen,” Samuel said solemnly, “things are fucked up right now. We can’t dwell on all the little things that make this fucked up. We just have to take the good with the bad and hope we end up with more of the good.” Everyone nodded. “Whoever these people were”—he gestured to the van—“I’m sure they’d rather someone survive because of their preparations, even if it’s not them.”

  “We need to find someplace to stop for the night.” Eric glanced back at the others through the rearview mirror. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, and the sky was darkening into brilliant shades of orange, red, and purple.

  They were driving down the wrong side of the Maryland Heights Expressway, headed towards Page Avenue. The northbound lanes were entirely congested. Freaks prowled between the cars, wailing as the van sped by on the southbound side.

  They weren’t far from the bridge. When Highway 364 had been completed a few months earlier, Page Avenue had become part of the highway. Just one more turn and a short drive.

  Colin didn’t want to stop now. They were so close. Despite his desire to keep moving, he knew that approaching the bridge in the dark wouldn’t be smart.

  “What’s around here?” Colin asked. He had never really ventured this far north of his work. He had never really needed to.

  “Uh.” Samuel scratched at his head while he thought about it. “There’s a couple soccer complexes, a high school, some churches…”

  “There’s the airport,” Rotna volunteered.

  “Airport? What airport is around here?” Laura asked.

  “It’s not really a functional airport anymore. I think they do more restoration than anything, but they would have a lot of space, probably some fences, and I would bet there probably wouldn’t be many people around. Plus, Thies Farm is close. I know they’re open to the public, but they would have been close to closing time when things went…bad.”

  “I think that sounds like a winner,” Samuel said. “Do you know how to get there?”

  “It’s just a few miles up the road. We’ll see signs on the expressway,” Rotna said simply.

  “Hey, guys.” Eric’s voice was uneasy. “I think I see something up ahead.”

  Everyone’s head turned to the front.

  “Where?” Samuel asked, scanning the horizon.

  “Over there.” Eric gestured to the right. They were coming up on Highway 364. It crossed over the top of the expressway. Colin’s heart sank. The westbound lanes leading to the bridge were entirely clogged with cars. By the looks of it, the bridge would be a nightmare.

  He finally spotted the movement. A large black Humvee sped westbound in the eastbound lanes. Without slowing down, the vehicle plowed over a few of the freaks standing in the road.

  “That looks like a military vehicle,” Laura said, hope creeping into her voice. “Maybe they’re here to save us and get things under control.”

  “How can you tell it’s military?” Colin asked.

  Laura shrugged. “It sure as shit doesn’t look like anything you usually see on the road.”

  “We should try to get their attention.” Rotna was sitting up straight. She grasped the seat ahead of her tightly as she leaned forward to get a better look. “Maybe there is somewhere we can go. Somewhere safe.”

  “They may not be military,” Samuel said warily. “We have no idea who they are.”

  “But we have to find out, don’t we?” A bit of hysteria crept into Rotna’s voice. They exchanged nervous looks.

  “Guys, what am I doing?” Eric asked, his eyes darting between the rearview mirror and the road. “We’re going to have to make a decision quickly.”

  “We have to know,” Rotna said firmly. “Even if they aren’t military, they are survivors like us.”

  “Guys? A decision.”

  “Get ahead of them,” Samuel growled. “Everyone be ready.” He glanced back at Rotna. “Whether they are military or other survivors, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be friendly.”

  Eric made a sharp turn and gunned the van up the ramp that led down from Highway 364. The van jerked as he maneuvered around a car crashed into the walls of the ramp.

  “Are we ahead of them?” Eric asked, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

  “It’s close,” Samuel’s voice was tense.

  Colin clutched the seat as the vehicle picked up speed and the ramp leveled out.

  The black Humvee was only a few dozen yards behind them. It began to slow down. A figure clad in desert camouflage emerged behind a large fifty-caliber machine gun mounted on top of the vehicle.

  “Shit!” Samuel swore.

  “Oh fuck! They’re going to start shooting at us!” Laura exclaimed.

  “Stop!” A loud voice boomed over speakers mounted somewhere on the Humvee.

  “Shit!”

  “Stop!” the voice called out again. “Do not attempt to cross the bridge. Repeat—do not attempt to cross the bridge.”

  “What do I do?” Panic was creeping into Eric’s voice and the vehicle slowed down. “Keep going or stop.”

  Keep going? Colin thought wildly. Were they trying to cross the bridge now? Was it even passable?

  “If you do not stop,” the voice boomed, “we will be forced to fire. Pull over!”

  “I’m pulling over,” Eric said. “I’m not getting shot.”

  “If we pull over,” Laura said hysterically, “it doesn’t mean they won’t shoot us anyway.”

  “Well, they are definitely going to kill us if we don’t stop.” The car began to quickly lose speed.

  “We can’t stop here!” Colin exclaimed suddenly. “Look!” He pointed to the cement barriers that divided the two sides of the highway. The freaks on the other side had taken notice of the vehicles and were pressing up against them. The barriers were long, though, not even waist high on most of the freaks. A few tumbled over and fell face first onto the pavement.

  “That fifty-cal they’re pointing at us has to be good for something.” Eric’s fingers were wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel that they had turned white.

  Two loud reports cut through the air, making Colin and the others jump. Nothing impacted their vehicle.

  “What are we going to do?” Laura turned in her seat to track the military Humvee as Eric pulled the van onto the highway’s shoulder.

  The Humvee stopped a few yards behind them. “Get out of your vehicle,” the voice demanded.

  “I am not getting out,” Laura said adamantly.

  “Everybody calm down,” Samuel said, though he himself hardly looked calm. “I’m sure once they see that we’re uninfected, they’ll point us to safety or let us be on our way. We just all need to keep calm. Now everybody out.” Samuel unbuckled his seatbelt and threw his door open.

  Cautiously, Samuel stuck his hands out first and then stepped out of the vehicle. One by one, the others followed. By the time Colin was able to crawl out of the backseat, four soldiers had exited the Humvee. The fifty-caliber assault rifle barked in the background.

  “Hello.” Samuel waved, not making a move towards the tense soldiers. “Can you guys help us?”

  “What are you doing out of your residence?” one of the soldiers asked.

  The group looked at each other confusedly.

  “Uh.” Samuel searched for a response. “I’m sorry, but we don’t know what you mean. It’s not safe.”

  “The city is under quarantine. All citizens must stay inside.”

  Samuel looked down at the ground for a moment. “Did you know about this?” he quietly asked Colin.

  “The news kept jumping through different feeds. They said we were encouraged to stay indoors but not required,” Colin whispered back.

  “Gentlemen,” Samuel said, raising his voice so the soldiers could hear hi
m once again. “Our home was not safe. Nor did we have the supplies to stay there for an extended amount of time.” The soldiers shifted uneasily. “We’re not infected,” Samuel continued quickly when none of them made a move to speak. “We’re just trying to survive. If you can tell us where to go, we’ll gladly head to a center or whenever we should be.”

  The soldiers were talking among themselves, their voices drowned out by the moaning of the freaks on the other side of the highway. As the soldiers talked, the fifty-cal belched out round after round. The first few shots were sparse and sporadic. The reports quickly increased as more freaks were drawn in by the noise.

  Colin’s eyes darted from the freaks to the soldiers. The freaks gathered at the cement divider, their arms outstretched and fingers flexed as they reached for the soldiers. Though the soldiers were trained to fight, they were no more prepared for the freaks than Colin and the others. Colin could see it in their nervous glances. The way they fidgeted and jumped at any movement. Nobody could have been prepared for the end of the world.

  “Gentlemen.” Samuel took a step forward.

  “Stop right there!” one of the soldiers shouted, his assault rifle quickly coming up and centering on Samuel. His comrades quickly followed.

  “Whoa!” Eric said. “Come on, guys. We’re just trying to get someplace safe.”

  “Let’s just get out of here, Hull,” one of the soldiers said quietly to his comrade, his rifle dipping.

  “We have our orders,” another sneered back. “Do you want this to get out of control?”

  “I think it’s a little late for that. Have you seen what’s going on?”

  “Shut up and do your fucking job, Ervin,” the second soldier growled.

  Ervin bristled, his hazel eyes glowing with anger underneath his helmet. “My job is to protect people, not gun them down. I’m doing my job. What are you doing?” The two men locked eyes. Ervin was a few inches taller than the other soldier. He was a stocky man who looked even more intimidating with the bulk of the extra layers of gear.

  “Gun us down?” Laura took a few steps back towards the van, her voice tinged with hysteria.

  “Stay right where you are!” Hull screamed.

  Behind them, the freaks were falling over the cement barrier faster than the gunner could dispatch them. Even after being hit, many would rise again, missing chunks of flesh leaving gaping holes in their already battered bodies.

  Colin pressed his lips together tightly. He wanted to cry out, to warn the soldiers, but the soldiers would kill them as if they were freaks. The words caught in his throat and stuck there as more of the freaks tumbled over the divider.

  “Behind you!” Colin flinched at Eric’s words. Ervin and Hull didn’t seem to hear over the ruckus created by the fifty-cal. One of the other soldiers turned, immediately firing his weapon at a freak no more than five feet behind him. While Hull was distracted, Ervin struck him in the jaw with the butt of his rifle.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Ervin ran towards the van.

  Colin spun on his heel, throwing himself into the side door. A scream reached his ears as the others piled into the van. Several of the freaks had wedged themselves into the open door of the Humvee. The gunner screamed again and disappeared from sight into the vehicle.

  “Is the bridge clear?” Eric asked as he started up the van.

  “No. Go back down the ramp you came from.” The soldier fired shots from the open side door at the approaching freaks. With the gunner gone, the other soldiers had disappeared into the writhing mass of freaks clambering over the concrete barrier.

  The van lurched backwards, and Colin grabbed the back of the soldier’s vest as he rocked unsteadily. Colin pushed the door closed and the soldier sat back in the free seat next to Colin.

  “Where were you going if the bridge is all jammed up?” Colin asked.

  “We were doing recon. Trying to get a good look at how bad things were on the bridge and what kind of firepower we’d need to clear it.” Ervin didn’t look at Colin but stared out the window.

  “So what was that shit?” Samuel turned around in his seat to face the soldier. “What just happened?”

  “What just happened is,” Ervin shouted at Samuel, “because you assholes decided to break quarantine I had to leave my squad for dead so your sorry asses could live another day!”

  “Don’t get lippy with me,” Samuel sneered. “Why the hell were you pointing guns at us?”

  “Have you looked around?” Ervin gestured out the window. “Everybody is losing their goddamned minds. I think we had a right to be wary.”

  “Don’t be fucking coy with me. You were more than wary. What the hell kind of orders were you given?” The soldier fell silent. Samuel snarled and lunged to grab the soldier’s shirt.

  The van erupted into chaos. Eric shouted as he drove, the van swerving across the road as he was jostled in the fray. Colin shoved his way between the two men.

  “Stop it!” Colin shouted at Samuel. “This isn’t solving anything!”

  “You’re really defending him?” Samuel snapped. “They were going to kill us.”

  “How were they supposed to know whether or not we were infected?” Colin glared at Samuel.

  “It didn’t matter if you were infected or not.” The van was suddenly utterly silent as everyone turned towards the soldier. “There aren’t any safe houses or secure areas. If you’re out of your home, if it’s up and moving, our orders were to kill it. When we were sent in, we had been ordered to wipe the city clean.”

  “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself,” Colin started as the silence around him was suddenly broken. The world seemed to be in mourning with its silence. Without the hum of vehicles, everything was oddly still. Even the crickets and other night creatures that usually lent their music were silent.

  Colin shrugged then realized Samuel probably couldn’t see the gesture in the dark. “I just needed some space to think.” He looked up towards the sky. The moon was large and bright, casting a silvery glow over the darkened landscape. Despite its brilliance, more stars around it glittered against the black sky than Colin had ever seen.

  “Are you alright?” Samuel asked quietly.

  Colin sighed. “No.” His gaze fell to the lights across the river. There were fewer than there should have been. “My family needs me and I’m…here.”

  Samuel moved a small pebble around with the toe of his boot, the rock grating across the ground. “You’ll find them. Liv’s a fighter. She’s quick and smart. She’ll keep herself and Elli alive.”

  “I don’t know.” Colin shook his head. “With all that’s happened in the last few days…It’s just hard to believe”—that they’re still alive. Colin shuddered at the thought. He wanted to believe his family was out there waiting for him. But the more he saw of what the world was becoming, the more hope he lost of ever seeing them again.

  “Yeah,” Samuel sighed. “I know. We’ll find a boat, cross the river, and we’ll find them.”

  “I’m just so…” Colin sucked in a deep breath as he searched for the right word. “Afraid. Samuel, what if I never see them again? What if they don’t make? What am I—”

  “Stop.” Samuel’s voice was tender but stern. “We’re here. We’re alive. For now, that’s what matters. One step at a time. Tomorrow, we’ll regroup and figure out what to do next.” Samuel sighed wearily. “We’ll find your family, Colin. One way or another, we’ll find them.”

  One way or another. Did Colin really want to find them if that meant finding out they were dead?

  Colin nibbled on his lip. “I’m not sure I want to know if they’re dead,” he said slowly. “I’d rather think that they’re out there. Somewhere. Even if I’m not with them.”

  “Listen to me. We are going to find your family. They’re going to be alright. If it’s the last fucking thing I do, I’ll help you find them. Got it?”

  Colin nodded. His thoughts were racing.

  “Trust me.” Samuel took Colin’s shoulde
r firmly.

  Day 4

  “Alrighty, boys and girls! Let’s get down to business.” Ervin rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Today we’re going to learn some boring-ass shit, but you damn well better listen and listen well.”

  The group had gathered around Ervin in a small half circle just outside of one of the large hangars. Colin, Samuel, Eric, Rotna, and Laura sat cross-legged on the ground. Daniel and Greg, a father and son who had stopped at the bridge, had joined them as well. The group had decided that if they were going to continue surviving, it was time that more of them learn the basics of gunmanship.

  “We won’t be doing any shooting today—”

  Greg interrupted Ervin with a groan. At sixteen, he was already taller and heavier than Colin, with messy brown hair that curled around his ears.

  Ervin glowered at the boy. “Do you have a problem with that, son?”

  “Why even bother if we aren’t even going to shoot?” he complained.

  “Because before you can run, you have to learn to walk. Before you can shoot, you have to learn to handle your gun so you won’t blow your buddies balls off by accident. Then and only then will you be allowed to handle a gun.” Ervin looked out over the small group. “This shit may not be fun, but it is damn important. You need to learn how to carry your gun safely. If you end up shooting your partner, you’ll probably end up dead too. If you don’t know how to reload and fast, you’ll end up being freak food. Guns can be a wonderful thing.” He paused, his silence heavy. “Especially right now, but they are dangerous in untrained hands. You need to give them respect. Are we on the same page, boys and girls?”

  The group nodded solemnly, and even Greg looked down at the ground.

  “Alright, crowd in close.” Ervin mentioned them all to huddle around him. Once they were all close enough to see, he held up the handgun. “First and foremost, you don’t ever put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot something. Do you understand?” Again, nods all around. “When you’re holding your gun, you keep your index finger parallel to the barrel until you intend to shoot.” Ervin turned slowly to the small group, allowing everyone to see how he held the gun. His index finger lay against to the barrel with his thumb and other fingers wrapped around the grip.