Legend of Mace (13 page)

The girls were in instant hysterics. They’d never seen Mace get scared before.

Slightly embarrassed, Mace reached up to grab the lizard. It hopped onto his hand and twitched its head as he pulled it closer to take a good look at it.

Chelsea suddenly jumped up from the hay. The sight of Mace with Herman sobered her up quickly. “Please don’t hurt him,” she said a little frightened. “He’s just a baby.”

Mace looked carefully at the lizard. “I wouldn’t dream about it, Chelse. He’s actually a cool little dragon.” He smiled at her and she beamed.

Travis now stood at the entrance of the barn. “You really do have a dragon?” he said in complete amazement. “I thought it was just a story.”

“Great,” Chelsea said as she glared at Maya. “Now everybody knows.”

Marching with an overstated sense of importance and purpose, the Plaguers goosestepped in union behind Marty and Stephen. The men led the pack forward on horseback. Sixty-two men, women, and children, all connected by the effects of the new virus, remained locked in synergistic communion. They considered themselves an army, born to stamp out the Curse from the face of the earth.

Their steady clomping through the main street of Kirby, TX, caught the attention of a large group congregated in a dilapidated Catholic Church in the middle of town. The old woman behind the pulpit, a new seer named Joline, spewed a message filled with paranoia and madness.

“This world is a cesspool of death and curses!” she yelled loudly. “In order to survive, we need to destroy all witches and evildoers! ” She pointed towards the large crucifixes behind her. The crowd was enthralled.

She stopped her sermon as the noise drew closer, her ears pricked for any sound of wickedness outside their sanctum’s doors. “Quiet!” she yelled to her congregation as they murmured to themselves in uncertainty. The noise drew closer.

Joline moved quickly around the pulpit, straight down the center row of the church towards the large double doors to the street. Everyone watched her pass, anxious for her to discover the meaning of the approaching noise.

Thrusting the church door open, Joline watched as Marty and Stephen led the soldiers of paranoid righteousness right up the middle of her street. They were almost to the front door. “Stop!” she commanded as they made eye contact.

Marty held his hand up and the crowd behind him stopped in unison. They all stared at Joline, waiting for the signal to destroy the evil.

“Kill, kill, kill, kill...” The chanting started low, ready to grow to shouting level if the word was given. The crowd grew restless. They needed blood.

Sizing each other up for a few long seconds, Joline scrutinized Marty and Stephen carefully. “You don't appear to be sorcerers,” she declared slowly.

“We aren't,” answered Marty. Still not completely sure about her, he said, "You don't appear to have the curse in you."

The chanting behind them ended. Studying Joline carefully, Stephen added, "There's a curse. We've all felt it. We're trying to find its source.”

Joline's eyebrows raised. “There is evil all around us. We've been praying to Gozer, the God of Destruction, to guide us." 

“I'm not familiar with this Gozer," stated Stephen uncertainly, "but there must be a reason why we've met."

"Gozer is powerful. We pray for his return in form to stomp down on our enemies." As her mind twisted in infection, it somehow latched onto the dark deity from the movie, 'Ghostbusters.'

They stared at each other for a few long seconds and the bonds of infection strengthened. Gozer became the new and powerful God for all of them.

“We’ve won some battles," Marty said proudly as he stared at Joline, thankful they'd met. "In order to win the war, we should fight together.”

“My people are ready to kill for Gozer,” Joline said in all seriousness.

“Do you feel it?” Marty asked her as he pointed in the direction of San Antonio, TX. “It comes from there. The curse originates from there.”

“I do,” answered Joline, surprising herself and growing excited at the realization. “We’ve been waiting for a sign. You must be it."

“Join us, then,” said Stephen, "and help us destroy it for Gozer." His eyes looked completely mad.

“Come,” Joline declared. “We'll wage this war together. But first we sacrifice the witches.”

“You caught some?” Stephen grew instantly more excited.

“Inside the church. They are being crucified.”

“Can we watch?” asked Stephen.

Joline smiled. “Of course. Their deaths bring us power. If we kill enough, Gozer will return.”

The big biker gripped the man by the throat. With his head pressed against the wall, the man squirmed against the pressure. Squeezing with all his might, the biker’s forearm shook as the man’s eyes rolled back in his head.

“I want to know what the hell is going on!” the big biker said, his filthy, overgrown beard inches away from the man’s face.

Turning blue as the life drained out of him, the man stared at him pleadingly before his eyes faded to a far-away distance. The large, rough looking convict released his grip and the man’s body slid slowly to the floor.

“He’s not going to tell us anything now,” Dawson said sarcastically from behind him. “He was the last one, Razor.”

Razor looked angrily around. She was right. He’d already killed the rest. “Doesn’t matter,” he said as he glanced down at the body. “He didn’t know anything anyway.”

Six other bodies littered the floor of the abandoned store. Razor had felt an instant connection with all of them upon entering. The gang had ridden into town twenty minutes earlier, forging for food and supplies. They'd found the people hiding inside.

“What are we going to do?” Dawson asked, confused herself. “This shit isn’t normal.”

As soon as she and Razor walked in, the people’s fear ended and they'd smiled at them in recognition. She’d felt the connection, too. It didn’t make any sense.

At the sight of the smile, Razor instantly pulled his knife, slashing the two closest-ones throats, unnerved by the feeling. Dawson reacted similarly, punching the first one who'd smiled at her in the face.

The others dropped their jaws at the act, looking up at them like it was some great betrayal. They'd tied up the rest and tortured them to try to get them to reveal the secret. None of them could. None of them knew the answer.

Motorcycle engines started to rumble and roar out front. The gang prepared to move on.

“We leave,” Razor said in answer to Dawson’s question. “Figure it out on our own.”

As they walked back out into the street, they felt the pull grow stronger. They were being drawn to something.

“You feel that?” Razor asked Stitch as he sat on his motorcycle out front, prepared to pull out. Several bikes rolled away and the engine noise grew louder.

“What’s that?” Stitch asked loudly over the grumble of the engines.

“It feels like something is calling us.” Looking out at the horizon, Razor looked to be in a state of shock. “There’s something going on. Something’s out there.” With the joining of the two Plaguer groups in Kirby, TX, the Plaguer connection grew stronger. Their magnetic pull reached farther.

“Damn,” Stitch said as he watched the trail of bikes roll away. “I do feel it.” He looked confused. “What the fuck is that?”

"I don't know. But we're going to find out."

Chelsea pulled the piece of plywood away from the hole. “C’mon,” she whispered to Kelly. “Just follow our lead. You don’t want to trip a mine.”

Kelly looked uncomfortable. “If I blow up, I’m going to come back and haunt you.”

Chelsea laughed quietly as Maya climbed through first. “Don’t worry, nobody’s blown up yet.”

The three girls rose early to explore. It being Kelly’s first time out, Chelsea and Maya had much to show her. Herman clung to Chelsea’s back as she ducked through the hole. Buster brought up the rear.

The night before, they'd exchanged their stories. Connected by the pain of their pasts, their bond grew tighter. 

"I watched both my parents get killed," Kelly shared as they sat together in the barn. Chelsea and Maya stayed quiet, nodding in understanding as she relayed her tale of loss and horror. "We got overrun in this little house we were staying at. We were all being really quiet. I still don't know why it happened." Kelly's face turned blank as she shut her emotions off, and her voice became more monotone. "The area was getting more active at night and we knew we needed to leave soon. We were going to leave the next morning."  Feeling the need to clarify, she added, "This was when those fuckers were still really fast."  Chelsea and Maya both responded with a nod. They remembered all too clearly.

Describing the situation exactly as she remembered it, Kelly continued solemnly. "My mom pulled the curtain back an inch to look. I swear it was just an inch. Literally, like three seconds later, one just crashed through the window. It grabbed her and she screamed as it tried to pull her through." Kelly's voice trailed as she finished the sentence. That was all she would say about her mom. They all remained silent. A few seconds later Kelly cleared her throat. "My dad," she said, finally ready to continue, "they got him because he tried to get her back. Big mistake," she laughed uncomfortably as she tried to block the images from her mind. "They all came in at that point. Just broke down the doors. Crashed through the windows. You name it."

"How'd you escape?" Maya's eyes were wide as she listened to the story. Chelsea stroked Buster's fur, her eyes focused on the floor as she tried not to tremble, remembering what the fast ones were like.

"I don't even know," Kelly said soberly. "I was just like gone, crying and screaming hysterically. I have no idea how Roger got us out of there. The next thing I remember we were someplace else and Roger was trying to calm me down."

That night all three girls cried together. It would be the night that cemented their friendship.

Once they were through the wall and outside the compound, they covered the hole up, placing branches across the entrance. “C’mon,” Chelsea whispered once they were finished, “you’re not gonna believe the Riverwalk.”

The Riverwalk, decayed, mostly destroyed, and long overgrown, still held the fancy of the kids. With one canoe still operational, it was a favorite place to explore.

“We’ll show her the old hotel as well,” Maya said excitedly. Heavily mined, the hotel was the only building near the Alamo still standing. They used it as a lookout station. With 22 floors, there was only one pathway to the top that wouldn’t result in death. The kids all figured it out.

“Where to first?” asked Maya.

“Let’s do the canoe!” Chelsea answered excitedly. “You’re gonna love it,” she said to Kelly.

On the outskirts of San Antonio, the group of Plaguers now clustered at close to one hundred.

“I can feel it,” Marty said, staring through binoculars at the demolished city. “The Curse is somewhere in there.”

The crowd behind them all huddled close together to avoid being singled out.

Sitting next to him on horseback, Stephen squirmed with discomfort. “I don’t like being this close. It makes me jump out my goddamn skin.”

“Me too, but it’s the only way to end this.” Marty handed the binoculars to Joline, who sat behind him on his horse. “See it?”

Peering through the binoculars, Joline scanned the environment. “It looks like the whole city burned down.”

“Exactly. All except that one tall building." It was the hotel near the Alamo. "That must be the epicenter. It destroys everything around it.”

“I feel it,” she answered. “We’re here, aren’t we?” she asked as desire for bloodshed surged through her being.

“Yes, now we free the world from this shit. We go in, annihilate it and all who protect it.”

The chanting started slowly behind them. “Kill, kill, kill, kill...”

Marty said, “Tsk,” and his horse trotted forward.

“This water is disgusting,” Kelly said, peering into the murkish water as they climbed inside the canoe. “It’s all green.”

“Drink it and you get Monticello’s revenge,” joked Maya, not knowing what she was saying.

Chelsea grabbed an oar once they were all inside and pushed off the side. “Buster even knows better than to drink it. I think the boys pee in it.”

“Gross,” Kelly exclaimed as the boat suddenly rocked. They all sat down to keep it from tipping over.

“There are a bunch of dead bodies down on the right under the bridge,” Chelsea explained. “They’re totally gross.”

“I think I can smell them from here.” Thoroughly disgusted, Kelly asked, “What's supposed to be so fun about this?”

“We’re on the water!” exclaimed Maya. “Where else can you do that?”

“Shhhh,” said Chelsea suddenly. She thought she heard a noise in the distance. “Hear that?”

The repetitive drone of something clomping became clearer. They heard muffled voices from far away.

“What is that?” whispered Maya as a sudden chill ran up her spine. “It sounds like they’re saying ‘Kill’ over and over again.”

Kelly felt claustrophobic in the boat. “We need to get out of here.” She started to panic. “We need to get back.”

“Wait!” Chelsea whispered sternly. “It’s getting closer.”

“Kill, kill, kill, kill..."

The chant became clearer as the steps drew closer. They spotted the people on horseback first, then the throng following behind. They were still a distance down the Riverwalk past the bridge.

“What do we do?” whispered Maya as she looked around.

“We need to get out.” Chelsea said, as she started to stand. The canoe rocked precariously.

“They’ll see us!” Maya responded excitedly.

“If they chase us, we’ll lead them towards the mines.” Chelsea balanced herself and the boat settled down.

“Shit,” said Kelly. “What the fuck have you gotten me into?”