The Dark Trilogy (17 page)

“
Jeff … JEFF! Look out!” Megan screamed in his ear. He swung his head back around and swallowed hard as he slammed on the brakes.

The military had not only built a wall back up the road, they had built one here as well, at the edge of the school campus. Neither Jeff nor Megan had seen it when they had stopped and were too busy gawking at the crowds behind them to notice until they were almost on top of it. This wall was different than the other one. There were no concrete barriers or razor wire this time, just a row of trucks stretching across the road and into the grass on both sides.

The anti-lock brakes on the van kicked in, and they ground to a halt short of the wall. Jeff quickly turned the vehicle around to face the oncoming horde.

Megan looked behind them at the assortment of big rigs and military troop transports that had been cobbled together to form the barricade. As she looked closer, she saw wire peeking out from the various openings and nooks that might allow someone to sneak through. She quickly realized that much of it had already been pushed out of the way, and there was movement on the other side of the vehicles. As she looked closer, several hands peeked through, grabbing for purchase as they pulled and scratched their way over and under the mechanical fortification.

“
We’re going to have company behind us pretty quick.”

Jeff ignored the comment as he focused on what was in front of them: the schools, the jammed parking lots, and wooded areas beyond. The van was no four-by-four and would not make it off road. Heading back the way they had come was becoming less of an option every second. A line of infected was strung from one side of the road to the other, three deep at the weakest points and thicker in most places. There were a few gaps, but nothing they could plow through.

There were hundreds of them, and more were coming. They crept over and around the trucks behind them, and the buildings ahead kept dispensing an endless supply of corpses. The infected were everywhere.

Gritting his teeth, Jeff turned to Megan. She was afraid but looked composed, surprisingly enough. Her semi-calm state helped him stay cool as he spoke.

“
I think we have one chance. It’s not a good one, but ...”

Megan nodded, ready for him to get on with it. She looked at the slowly advancing army and reached for her revolver. Gripping it tightly, she stared ahead.

Looking out into the crowd of rabid faces, Megan locked onto one. It stood out as different in the sea of gray, green, and black rot that covered most of them. It had been an adult, probably a man, although most of its hair had been ripped away—along with its scalp—and gave no hint as to its gender. Its clothing, a shredded t-shirt and what were probably blue jeans that had been split up the seams, also gave no clues. There were no breasts, but the stomach was swollen, filled with corrupt fluid and undigested meat. What stood out about this one, what had made her zero in on it, was the face. It was purple. It was not bloated, and the damage was minimal. Both eyes remained, set deep within a sea of violet flesh that drooped but still retained the shape of a human visage. They were pig eyes. The purple wasn’t just old dead veins showing through the skin filled with drying blood; it was as if the ghoul had been dipped in dye. Megan hadn’t seen a stiff quite that hue before. She gripped the gun tighter as she realized that it was staring back at her.

Jeff floored the minivan and turned the wheel sharply to the right, heading for the wide parking lot that the junior high and elementary schools shared. Between the two buildings was a massive glut of ghouls, and behind them, a small road running between the buildings. He swiftly dismissed the idea of trying to get past the crowd and down the road when he saw a logjam of more vehicles there that would prevent their escape.

“
Hang on; this might get a little rough.”

Megan braced herself as the van dipped down and rose back up as they traversed the shallow ditch at the edge of the parking lot. She shifted the revolver to her left hand and gripped the handle above her door. They avoided the paved entrance to the lot, which was crowded with bodies. The van went airborne for a split second and landed roughly on the pavement.

Megan closed her eyes and cringed as several bodies bounced off the bumper. As the fat rear end of the Odyssey swung sideways, she heard more bodies being knocked over behind them. Jeff floored it again, spinning the wheel frantically left and right, trying to avoid the larger pockets of rotters. He moved in close to the junior high and, at the last moment, turned sharply to the left, weaving around like he was on an obstacle course. More and more thuds were heard as the infected bounced off the van in rapid succession.

Jeff gripped the wheel like he was strangling it, refusing to let it direct him, which it seemed desperate to do as the front wheels hit more and more bodies and were forced to turn in directions other than that in which he wanted to go. His foot hit the gas and brake in rapid succession as he slalomed around the human pylons he was trying to avoid.

They worked their way across the parking lot toward the church, and Jeff set his sights on the road. They had to try to return the way they had come. It was the only reasonably clear path remaining. The crowd heaved and quivered like a single entity and refused to grant the leeway they needed.

Jeff hit the brakes. A moving fortification of bodies was closing in from the front and sides. He looked in the rearview mirror, hoping he could throw the minivan in reverse. Seeing it was even worse behind them, he knew going forward was their only option. The bodies were several deep up front, but the driver knew if he could gun the engine and build up some speed, the van might be able to break through.

That’s when he saw the others: the crowd that had been following the van from the intersection, the ones they had left behind not so long ago. The newcomers were getting closer and blending in with the infected from the schools, creating an impenetrable wall of rotten meat in front of them.

A whimper escaped Jeff’s throat. He had forgotten all about them. The horrid parade of infected streamed down the road, swelling the ranks of the horde. In no time, they would overwhelm the van and crush it with their sheer volume. There was no place left to go.

“
I’m so sorry.”

Jeff couldn’t look at Megan as he spoke. A cacophony of moans surrounded them, rising in pitch and increasing in volume by the millisecond. The ghouls would be on top of the van in moments.

“
I am so sorry Megan … so, so, sorry.”

He felt her finger sliding under his chin, raising it up. Jeff tried to avert his eyes, but Megan moved his face toward hers. He felt her lips, cool and dry, on his cheek.

He opened his red-tinged eyes. They were bloodshot, tired, and sunken. He had nothing left to offer, but Megan was smiling at him. She looked calm, almost serene.

Even as she touched his face with her hands, she retained her grip on the gun. She shook her head to quiet Jeff. “This isn’t your fault. None of it is.” She touched his forehead with hers, and they huddled together, the gun cold and rigid against Jeff’s cheek, a contradiction to the warm and human touch of Megan’s hands. They looked at one another and realized that there was nothing left to say. All that mattered was that they were together.

The pounding on the van began, and the vehicle rocked beneath the blows. The moans were overwhelming. The two survivors embraced one last time, Jeff nodding when Megan slipped the gun down between them. She held it and waited.

More ghouls swarmed the minivan, climbing over one another in a desperate attempt to reach the warm, living flesh that called to them.

Chapter 18

Jeff heard the pistol cock, but only because it was so close to his ear. They had wrapped their arms around each other as the fists began to rain down. The minivan shook gently at first, as the moans intermingled with the wet slapping of rotten flesh against glass and metal. The vehicle held up to the muffled thuds initially, the infected unable to force their way inside as they rammed their bodies against every square inch of exterior space. But as more crowded and pressed against one another, they were starting to have an impact.

The moans erupting from two thousand corrupted throats began to overwhelm the constant and thunderous hammering of fists. The moaning rose in pitch and seemed to unify into an unholy sound as if it came from a single creature crying out in rage.

As Jeff waited, listening carefully, he became puzzled. The final moment he had been dreading was not happening. The glass was not shattering, and the doors were not being ripped open. After a few seconds, he thought he could detect a decrease in the number of fists pounding on the exterior of the van. Fighting a nearly paralyzing fear, he opened his eyes.

Loosening his grip around Megan, Jeff gently pushed her back toward her seat. Bewildered, she opened her eyes and mumbled “What?” in a timid, childlike voice.

Jeff stared out the window, baffled by what he saw. Many of the creatures remained nearby, smashing their bodies against the quarter panels, but those at the edge of the crowd were drifting away. Jeff, then Megan, watched as more of the mob peeled off, especially out front. The sounds emanating from outside were jagged, not in harmony as they had been moments before. Confusion rippled through the crowd.

Jeff sat rigid in his seat, trying to puzzle out what was happening. A path was gradually clearing in front of the van. Not enough to allow him to drive away, but more and more of the foul creatures were wandering off.

“
What are they doing?”

“
I have no idea.”

He searched the crowd. It was hard to see much of anything that would give him an idea what was going on. He puzzled over the possibilities. What could be more important to the cannibalistic infected than a couple of fresh bodies, probably the only two within miles?

His mind raced with possibilities. Leaning forward, Jeff squinted as he tried to peer through the gaps forming in the crowd. Following the path of stiffs that had turned away from the minivan, he could see they were all moving in the same direction. It was a straight line going past the high school. He strained his eyes and cursed silently. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a better angle. Then he stopped, frozen, and saw what was drawing the infected’s attention.

“
Oh my God ...”

“
What? What is it?” Megan tried to follow his line of sight, but it was hard for her to pick out anything even as he pointed at the water tower. There was a sudden intake of breath as Megan finally spied what he was looking at.

At the water tower was the source of the crowd’s interest: a man had climbed the fence and was sitting on top of it, his feet dangling on both sides. He was waving his arms and whooping at the ghouls, luring them away from the van.

“
There. Holy Jesus, what the hell is he doing?” Jeff said, his voice coming out in a confused croak.

The man hanging on top of the fence was yelling like a maniac at the plague victims moving slowly toward him.

“
He’s trying to save us.” There was wonder in Megan’s voice. She looked over at Jeff, her eyes alight with hope, and saw the stunned expression on his face.

“
Jeff? JEFF!” Megan shouted as he continued to stare at the madman on the fence.

Finally, he blinked and looked at her.

“
What’re we going to do?” she pleaded.

Jeff looked back at the man who was currently swinging a leg over the chain link fence so he could drop into the enclosure. Once inside, he would be trapped. There was no ladder leading up to the top of the water tower. The fence looked rusty and probably wouldn’t hold up under much pressure. The infected were too clumsy to climb, but it would still collapse under their weight within minutes.

The man dropped down inside the small corral as the first of the creatures got close enough to grab for him. He was lost from their sight as more of the rotters crowded the fence, blocking the view.

“
Jeff?” Megan didn’t shout this time, but she was demanding an answer.

He didn’t have time to respond before something came crashing down in front of them and clobbered two of the pus bags near the van. They were knocked sprawling, one tumbling into the other as something compact slammed into its skull.

Before Jeff could figure out where the missile had come from, something else slammed into the back of a one-armed man dressed in a tattered business suit. Jeff’s gaze followed the object as it went spinning down to the pavement in the church parking lot. It was a book.

A wide circle of infected surrounding the area where the book had landed turned as one and stared up at the second floor of the church.

Megan noticed the attack as well and watched in silence as more books flew from one of the windows of the church and crashed into the group that had suddenly lost all interest in the van as well as the man at the water tower.

As they both peered at the window, an arm popped out. Another man, waving and screaming in the same suicidal fashion as the one at the tower, was climbing out onto the roof of the church. He was African American, and as Jeff looked closer, he realized he was just a kid. He was too thin and gangly to be an adult.

The crowd had splintered entirely, with a large portion starting to assault the church.

“
How many of these people are there?” Megan asked. Her tone was awestruck but laced with excitement.