Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (26 page)

In the smaller cities, there wasn’t as much needed and people were friendly and helpful. The big cities had looting and rioting at an all-time high. They were on their way to the small town of Brunswick, Maryland where Tyler’s brother lived with his wife, Ronni. They had a small farm with plenty of room. This was going to be a big break for them. Not to mention the new job. The new house cost a lot less than the rental in the city. Besides all that, he was going to see his brother again. The weather wasn’t as iffy on this side of the world also. It was very close to the way the seasons were supposed to run.

“It’s been twenty years since our mother died and fourteen for our father. So about fourteen years, if I had to guess. We were never really close. After they were gone, we both went our separate ways,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Why, what’s wrong?”

Tyler, or Ty as she called him, had dirty blonde hair with a slight five o’clock shadow. She teased him about how it gave him a sexy
George Michael
appearance. She swore his blue eyes were able to see through to her soul. He was just a few years older, having celebrated his thirtieth birthday a week ago.

“Do you think he’ll like me?”

Smiling, he chuckled as he took her hand, kissing the top of her knuckles. “Darling, he’s going to love you as much as I do.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

“It’s been so long. How do you know he’s still the same as when you left?”

“My brother?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m talking about the bus driver. Of course I mean your brother!”

“Honey, if the world came to an end today, and we needed someone to help us survive, I’d want Jackson on my side.”

“Why?”

“He was in the army, or the marines, whichever one teaches you how to survive without getting yourself killed.”

“I think that’s all of them. Are you trying to ease my mind or make me more terrified than before?” Laughing, she leaned her head into his arm, eyes intent on his.

“What’s to be afraid of Jackson?”

“Just because
you
love me isn’t a requirement for your brother to love me.”

“Sure it is. He’ll love you just as much as I do. Well, maybe not
as
much,” he said, winking.

“It’s not like there’s a brother’s love rule. In fact, the last time I checked, with sisters it’s just the opposite. It was my job to give all of my sister’s boyfriends the third degree, and she had a lot. I loved finding new ways to torture them.”

“Yeah well, brothers are different.”

“How so?”

“The things we talk about would make you blush. Besides, my brother and I don’t get along, so I really don’t think he’ll give a shit to be honest.”

“Oh, that makes me feel
so
much better,” she said sarcastically. “If you don’t get along then why would he invite you to his house to live,
and
get you a job where he works?”

“I don’t know. I guess he cares. We’re the only ones left in our family. He has a wife and I have you, but as immediate family go, just us.”

“Yeah, you’re not helping here.”

He laughed. “You should stop worrying. We crossed the city limits and will be there soon.”

“The wheels on the bus go round and round all over town.” The little girl sang again, and clapped her hands. “Yaaaaay! Are we there yet?”

“Lord, I hope so,” many of the people on the bus answered at the same time.

Suddenly, the bus jolted. The brakes locked, and it veered all over the road. It made hard turns, sending some of the passengers out of their seat, as the bus moved from the left to the right and back again. It hit cars parked on the side of the road as well as the many abandoned in the street, and yet the driver didn’t stop. In fact, he continued his high rate of speed. Thuds were felt as they slammed into, pushed, and ran over things in their speed to escape what chased them. The passengers did their best to stay seated through it all. There wasn’t any seatbelts to keep them locked in, so they held onto each other and the seat in front of them, each with a look of terror plastered on their face.

Twenty

As she bounced around, Jessi looked out the window. In the darkness, it was hard to see what was going on. However, what she saw scared her more than the roller coaster the bus suddenly became.

The people outside, desperately chasing the bus, didn’t look normal; more like wild animals. The sounds happening outside were louder than the screams going on inside as fear took a firm hold of the passengers.

The bus driver tried desperately to keep control. He swerved to avoid the many people who threw themselves at the front of the bus. Another thud felt as they ran over one body and then another, continuously. The first tire felt like they went over a small speed bump, but the second tire flattened it. It joined the other stains on the asphalt with spare parts littering the road. A head here, a few limbs scattered over there as they ripped from the body on impact.

Nell Goodrow was in her late thirties, a shrewd executive on her way to another town. It was supposed to change her world. A bit on the heavy side, she carried herself well. Dressing appropriately for the flaws in her body. She learned that trick of the trade while working in the clothing department. Her beak of a nose might symbolize she was a bird in a past life. Most of the people working under her thought she used it to peck into the depths of someone’s soul. She was an upcoming black woman who was going to make a difference in the world. After working her fingers to the bone, putting in more hours than the boss does, they finally realized she was an asset to the company and gave her a promotion to match.

Her idea, which no one would even consider before, was to have people volunteer to work on the holidays. She gave a well thought out presentation that impressed the board of directors. They realized that she was right in her estimation of how much business it was going to generate, due to the boredom that set in after the celebrating was over. As long as they kept it as a volunteer basis then the community wouldn’t think of them harshly. They were also surprised how many people wanted to work on a holiday as well.

Her fear of flying, made her choose the bus. Finding an express route, she didn’t have to worry about the many stops the others took. She regretted that decision the moment the bus started out. Standing, she looked out the window, curiously. “Why the hell are those people chasing us?”

Her reaction caused others to stand up, looking out the window in shock. Suddenly, the bus jerked and slammed into another car on the road that sent her, as well as the others flying into the person seated beside them.

With Nell, that seat belonged by another woman who didn’t appreciate being used as a cushion. “Woman, keep your ass in the seat!” She too was heavyset. Between the two of them, they barely had room to move. She roughly shoved her back in her own seat. “We got too much shit going on around here without having you getting flung all over the place!”

“Yeah, but something’s going on out there!”

“No shit, Sherlock. What’s your next fucking case? I think we figured that out, but it ain’t gonna help with you jumping all over the place!”

When the bus lurched, Nell crossed herself. “Oh please, God. Don’t let us die.” Considering she didn’t believe; that was the first time she ever prayed.

Alice looked out the window, frightened and reached for her mother’s hand. “Mommy, I’m scared.”

Sheila looked out just as terrified, but snuggled her daughter, trying to offer her some comfort that wasn’t felt. “It’s okay honey. We’re almost there.” She didn’t think they were going to be okay. She thought just the opposite. However, she didn’t want her little girl worrying. She was doing enough of that for the both of them.

“At least she’s not singing anymore,” a man said from the front.

The bus popped over the curb to a crashing stop. It was so sudden to go from fifty miles an hour to a dead stop that everyone on board took a flying lesson as they lurched forward, slamming into each other as well as the front. The jolt was so hard it threw anything not anchored down forward. Not one person stayed seated, instead tossed into the aisles. They each slammed into some object or person who didn’t move and stopped their flight.

Those located at the front of the bus were pinned under the layer of passengers that toppled over them. They were the ones who got it worse and any of them who were oddly enough still alive but injured soon released their last breath, trapped under the sea of bodies.

Out of the forty-two passengers, twenty-five had their necks snapped as they hit some immovable object. A few mangled, resembling pretzels, as the onrush of people piled on top of them, snapping limbs while crushing them. The sound was loud, metal scraping concrete, bones snapping, and melons squashing as the bus came to a complete stop.

When the dust cleared, it was deathly silent.

The few, who survived without serious injury, emerged from the pile. They looked around in shock. It was a massacre of bodies. The bus was full when they started with four people per aisle, two on each side. Now, they were littering the floor of the bus. It didn’t take long for the survivors to climb out of the pile.

Blood speckled the interior of the bus, on the seats, windows, ceilings, and floors. One by one, the people sat up, looking around, assessing the situation. The first thing they needed to do was find out who was still alive, who was injured, and what to do. They looked dazed and confused, not sure where to start. There were bodies on top of bodies and only the top row moved, but not many.

Tyler’s head bled where he slammed into an unmovable object. He quickly scrambled over the pile, frantically searching for Jessi. “Jessi! Where are you? Grunt or groan or make some kind of noise so I can find you.”

Bounced around, she was pinned beneath the heavyset woman who had been sitting next to Nell. She pushed her way up, as if fighting the undercurrent in the ocean. As she did, she noticed one of the woman. Her head rested against the heel of her foot with bones protruding from her hips, legs, and arms. Her head twisted in a manner with dead eyes staring straight at Jessi.

“I’m over here,” she cried out.

He rushed over, scaling the dead as if rock climbing. Reaching her, he pulled her into a hug. Once he hugged her, he looked her over for any injuries. “Oh baby, are you okay?”

A lump the size of a goose egg was on the side of her head. She winced as she touched it, gingerly. “We’re never taking the bus again.”

Chuckling, he hugged her again. “I agree. Are you hurt? Can you move around?”

“I’m fine, but you’re bleeding,” she said, reaching up to check his wound.

He pushed her hand away. “I’ll survive. Come on. We have to find out who needs help.”

She looked down at the dead scattered all around. “Yeah, I think we’re both a little better off than some.”

He turned, looking around at the others. “Okay, does anyone need any help?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” One person asked from the back of the bus.

“No, I mean is anyone stuck under someone, or have a broken bone? Does anyone need any medical attention we might be able to help with?”

“Are you a doctor?”

“No, but I was a lifeguard. We were trained on how to handle emergencies.”

“In case you can’t tell this wasn’t a shark attack.”

“Are you going to sit there and argue, or are you going to help us find people who actually need help? We don’t have time for this.” Turning, he started searching the people for any sign of life.

Nell struggled to be free from the people crushing her. “Ow, someone get over here and help me out of this mess!” Placing a hand to her forehead, she felt a trickle of blood. When they stopped, she hit the back of the seat in front of her. The person there felt the impact to the back of his head, which split open like a rotten melon. The two then landed on the pile of people.

The good-looking man in the back with dark hair and sea-green eyes was Charles Landon the third. He spent a lot of time at the gym and it showed. He recently had a death in the family. His rich father was supposed to leave him a fortune. However, that wasn’t the case during the reading of the will. His father had a gambling problem. He not only spent his millions, but he attacked the trust fund as well. He was penniless. If that wasn’t bad enough, a visit from the local bookie told him that his father’s debts were now his and it was a lot.

He had big plans to raise millions more with that money just to find out his dreams were shot. If that wasn’t bad enough, he got a call from his sick sister who needed his help. The only thing he could afford was the bus fare. Gone were the big fancy limos that paraded him around town. Now, he was stuck traveling by bus. However, it only took this time to realize, he would never do it again.

He staggered over to help Nell, ignoring the blood dripping down the side of his head. He reached in, took a hold of her, and pulled; only she yanked and pulled him in instead. He staggered, bracing himself against the wall. “Wait, let me pull you.”

“So then pull me!” When he pulled her free, she checked to make sure nothing was broken. Glancing out the window, she arched a brow. “What the fuck did we hit?”