Tainted Reality (The Rememdium Series Book 2) (24 page)

Cooper knew the girl was dead. No one could remain quiet while being eviscerated.

Or survive with and empty body cavity.

Without hesitating, Cooper fired. The bullet tore through the man’s chest, center mass, yet didn’t faze him in the least. The impact knocked him to the ground. Before Cooper could blink twice, the man was on his feet, making short order of the distance between them.

Motion to the right caught Cooper’s attention. The other two men stopped fighting, drawn to the sound of the gunshot. Stunned and in shock the bullet hadn’t killed the first man, Cooper shut out the crazy thoughts spinning through his mind. He pushed away the law-abiding cop, the one trained to diffuse a volatile situation with minimal force. Brushed off what the aftermath might be when the incident made the news—the kind filled with headlines about a rogue cop losing control and blowing holes in innocent civilians.

Because something was very, very wrong with these men. Alarm bells rang in Cooper’s mind, warning him if he didn’t take out the three bastards, they’d continue to kill until someone else intervened.

While exhaling, he steadied his aim and fired again. The round pierced the space between the man’s eyes, blowing chunks of brain matter, skull, and gore as it exited the back. The body collapsed in midstride with a loud
thump
.

Turning his focus on the other two, who were less than ten feet away, Cooper didn’t hesitate. In less than two seconds, he took in every visual, auditory, and sensory input. The boys—
no, things
—were directly under the light in the parking lot. Cooper noticed a weird, bluish array of zigzagging lines all over their bodies. The coppery odor of blood filled the air.

A shudder of fear wracked Cooper’s body. There were no puffs of air streaming from their mouths, no rise and fall of their chests.

They weren’t breathing.

Both sets of hands were covered in red blood dribbling down their chins and onto their bare chests. One opened his mouth and hissed, almost like a pissed off cat. Each had the same, awkward gait the other had and Cooper noticed their eyes were solid black.

Acid? PCP? Something new? What kind of drug turns eyes black as coal and stops a person from breathing, yet allows them to keep moving? Even the sclera is dark! Like that matters, dumbass. They. Aren’t. Breathing.

“One more step and I’ll—”

The grumbling, guttural roar from both men made sweat burst from Cooper’s skin. Two quick, well-placed shots later, their halting advancement was over. All three men were down, dark rivulets of thick, mahogany-colored blood seeped from their wounds into the snow. A light groan from one of the girls made Cooper’s heart skip two beats.

Sidestepping the three dead men, Cooper went over to check on the girl. The other two were dead, ripped to pieces as though a horde of wild hogs tore them apart. He swallowed the burning stomach juices rumbling inside him.

He couldn’t tell which sister he was looking at because the girl’s face was gone. How she was still alive—at least enough to moan—made Cooper’s head spin.

Crouching next to her shredded and mangled body, Cooper knew she wouldn’t make it another two minutes. The amount of blood loss was staggering, and even if she was at a hospital and on an operating table, she stood no shot of surviving. Bubbles of blood oozed from the gaping wound in her neck. Cooper could see every one of her white teeth—including the back molars—since the skin and most of the flesh of her face had been torn off. Rather than let her die in the cold snow alone, Cooper reached out and took her frozen hand and squeezed.

“Go in peace. I got them. Go in peace,” Cooper whispered. Tears clouded his vision, thinking how close in age the girl was to his own kids. He would want someone to offer a warm hand and kind words to one of his children if ever—God forbid—in a similar situation. A memory of the last words his mother said to his father in the hospital popped into his mind. They seemed appropriate. “Let the angels come and take you away to a place where you’ll never hurt again.”

“What the hell did you do?”

Cooper jerked at the sound of a man’s voice behind him, raising his weapon. He let out a small sigh when he realized the kid—no older than eighteen—posed no threat. Other than holding a cell phone in front of him, the boy was unarmed. “That’s your contribution to this? Standin’ there filmin’? Why don’t you call for help instead of tryin’ to be the next YouTube star?”

“Screw you, old man. I’m not the one who just shot and killed three people in cold blood!”

Shaking his head, Cooper turned his attention back to the girl. Her entire body quaked then tensed up. With one, last burst of air, she was gone. Cooper recited the Lord’s Prayer in silence then stood. He glanced over at the kid with a wild mop of curly, black hair. He’d turned the camera on the corpses of the men. Irritated and ashamed of how the upcoming generation seemed more obsessed with making a name for themselves rather than helping a fellow human being in distress, Cooper came up behind the boy and snatched the cell phone.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

“Never said it wasn’t. Keep your pants on, junior. Just need to call for help.”

“Won’t do you any good. Phones are out. Net is too. Power probably won’t be on much longer, either. Haven’t you been watching the news, old man?”

Ignoring the brash upstart, Cooper clicked over to the keypad and dialed 9-1-1. Just like earlier, he was greeted with the same message. “Shit!” He handed the phone back to the kid. “Where’s the nearest police station?”

“Like I know! I’m not from around here. I tried calling the cops before I came outside. Actually, I’ve been calling them for hours. Nothing happens but some weird recording. I heard gunshots so figured I’d at least get evidence of what was going on to give the police when they did arrive. Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I’m a heartless fucker.”

Motioning for the kid to follow, Cooper walked away from the bodies and back toward the edge of the parking lot. He didn’t want either of them to contaminate the scene any more than what they already had. Glancing around to see if anyone came outside to investigate the sounds of gunfire, Cooper grimaced. No one appeared to be interested. “What’s your name, son?”

A flicker of distrust sparked behind dark blue eyes before he answered. “Mason Hall. Yours?”

“Cooper Hollingsworth, Chief of Police in Malvern, Arkansas.”

Mason cocked his head in curiosity. “You’re a cop? No wonder you’re such a good shot. You on vacation, too?”

“Yes, with my wife. You mentioned you’ve been callin’ the police for hours. Why?”

A look of sorrow flashed across Mason’s face. “My parents…never came back from town. They left last night to see a show. I’ve got a wicked case of altitude sickness and stayed here. I gave up calling them when their cells went straight to voicemail. I thought maybe they had an accident or something. That’s when I started calling 9-1-1. Then, I watched the news and changed my mind about them having a wreck.”

The dread in Mason’s voice put Cooper on guard. “You mentioned the news earlier—what did you mean?”

Mason put his phone back in his pocket and replaced it with a cigarette. He lit up and Cooper noticed his hands were shaking. “Man, I can’t believe you don’t know, being a cop and all.”

Frustrated and cold, Cooper’s temper flared. Just as he was about to give Mason Hall a piece of his mind, more gunfire broke the stillness of the morning, followed by faint screams. Cooper looked in the direction of the noise, cringing as the morning sun’s rays bounced off of plumes of dark, black smoke. Judging from the location, Cooper assumed it was from downtown Steamboat.

Gunshots? Screaming? Fires? Where’s the sirens? Where’s all the emergency personnel?

Tamping the rising fear back down, Cooper said, “Wife and I were hikin’ all day yesterday and into late evenin’. When we got back, we crashed. Made a rule about cell phones and TV—no watchin’, textin’, surfin’ the net—while on our vacation. So no, I missed the news. What’s goin’ on?”

The expression on Mason’s face shifted. Cooper could see the fear in his eyes. “Bio attack of some sort. People are dying in droves all over the world. President Thompson was in the middle of a news conference yesterday morning, talking about what the government would do in response. He gave a nice little speech until several reporters went all nuts and attacked each other. It was a bloodbath for several seconds until the transmission ended. The emergency broadcast service came on right after. Said everyone’s supposed to get to their local high schools for testing of some sort. Then bam! The screen went black and TV’s been out ever since. Not long after, the net went down, too.”

Before Cooper had a chance to digest the news or even respond, Karla appeared on the walkway. “Cooper? Cooper! You okay?”

“I’m fine, Karla. Any luck gettin’ through to the police?”

“No. TV seems to be out, too and I—”

Karla’s comments were interrupted when the security lights went out.

“See? Told you the power’s next,” Mason muttered.

“Get back inside, Karla. Right now,” Cooper instructed. He grabbed Mason’s arm and tugged. “You too. Come inside with us.”

Mason didn’t offer up any resistance.

Once back inside the warm condo, Cooper ushered Karla and Mason into the living room. He addressed Karla first. “Honey, I need you to keep calm. Somethin’s wrong like you said, and Mason here is gonna share all the information he has about the situation with us. Right, Mason?”

Mason sank into the soft folds of the couch and nodded. Karla’s faced blanched. Cooper knew she sensed his own fear. Years of being the wife of a cop taught her to recognize dire situations.

“Mason? Start from the beginnin’ and tell us everythin’ you know. Don’t leave any details out. Okay?”

“If you really want to know what’s going on, watch this,” Mason answered. He held out his phone to Cooper. “I downloaded two videos from the news to my phone before the internet died. Just watch.”

Cooper took the phone with trepidation. Karla moved over behind him to view the screen as well. Taking a deep breath, Cooper’s other hand instinctively found Karla’s. By the time they finished watching the disturbing videos, Cooper was shaking and Karla was crying.

“Karla, how fast can you pack?” Cooper asked.

“Five minutes and we’re outta here,” Karla replied through her tears. She took the stairs two-at-a-time.

After handing Mason his phone, Cooper said, “Where’s home for you, Mason?”

“Phoenix.”

“You’re welcome to come with us. We could try to get you close to home.”

Tears glistened in Mason’s eyes as he shook his head. “I’m going to wait here in case my parents…”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mason. Not after what we just watched.”

“I really don’t care what you think. I’m staying,” Mason said. He stood and headed for the front door. “If…
when
…they come back, and I’m not here, they’ll come looking for me.”

Cooper glanced at the kitchen then back to Mason. He sensed the kid wouldn’t budge, and he certainly had no right to make him. “Let me give you some extra food and water.”

Mason opened the door and walked out. “No thanks. I’ve got plenty. Good luck, Chief. Hope you make it home.”

“Stay safe, Mason,” Cooper replied. He watched the kid walk away then closed the door.

“Cooper? Bags are ready. Help me carry them, please.”

Without a word, Cooper bounded up the stairs and helped tote their luggage down to the main floor. Karla was bundled in her ski gear. “Let me bag up the food and water and then we’ll head out.”

Karla paced back and forth in front of the door. “Hurry, Cooper. I can’t get in touch with Charlie or Charlene. Jesus, what’s goin’ on? Were those videos even real? How can they be? People were eatin’ each other! That can’t happen! Maybe it’s some sort of trick or somethin’?”

Cramming the food and water into the big cooler they brought with them, Cooper wanted to lie to Karla. Smooth her frazzled nerves by telling her things would be fine and they’d be home soon, yet he couldn’t utter the words. He’d seen the real deal with his own eyes—even though he didn’t want to believe what he’d witnessed.

If he lied to Karla, she wouldn’t stay on guard and that might cost them both their lives. “Yes, they’re real. Those boys I shot looked just like the ones on the videos. And they attacked the girls and…well, just like in the videos. We’ll talk about this once we’re on the road. Stay here and let me load up the truck. Okay?”

“Hell no. I’m not leavin’ your side. Ever. We go together,” Karla responded, picking up a suitcase. “We can get all this in one trip. I want to go home. Now.”

Cooper finished with the supplies and walked into the living room. He could tell by the look on Karla’s face she wasn’t going to change her mind. “Fine, but let me go first. I’ll get the suitcases and you grab the food. Ready?”

“Ready to wake up from this awful dream,” Karla whispered after grabbing the box of supplies.

“Hang on,” Cooper replied while walking to the window. He clicked the key fob and remotely started up the SUV. “Go straight to the passenger side and get in. Don’t stop. Okay?”

Too frightened to respond, Karla simply nodded. Cooper picked up the two suitcases and motioned for Karla to open the door.

The morning sun was bright and gave them plenty of light to see. As they made their way down the walkway and out to the parking lot, Cooper heard Karla gasp when she saw the bloody corpses. More random gunfire erupted in the distance and the screams intensified. Dark, thick smoke filled the sky.

“Dear Jesus,” Karla whispered. “Please protect us!”

They made it to the SUV. Cooper opened the back hatch and tossed the suitcases inside while Karla stuffed the supplies in the backseat. He looked around once more when he heard footsteps crunching on the snow near the passenger side. Assuming Mason changed his mind and decided to join them, Cooper shut the door.

“Cooper!”

Karla’s scream sent Cooper’s heart rate sky-high. He moved too quick and lost his footing on the slick snow and landed hard on his ass.