The Dark Trilogy (6 page)

When he realized who had spoken, he unclenched his fists. Seeing that she was holding his keychain in the palm of her hand, Jeff felt the urge to plant a big sloppy kiss on her lips. Instead, he grinned wildly and scooped up the keys, fumbling with them until his fingers found the long, slender key with the Honda logo on it.

He nearly let it fall through his fingers when the first fist smashed into the hood. Another ear-piercing scream from his passenger didn’t help, but he managed to hold on and jam the key home. Jeff barely waited for the engine to turn over before slamming the gearshift into drive.

The twosome was pushed back in their seats as the engine roared and the minivan nudged a cluster of bodies out of its way. The echo of arms, legs, and other body parts slapping on sheet metal was sickening. Spinning the steering wheel wildly, Jeff dodged random strays as best he could.

Clear of immediate danger, he let out the breath that he had been holding and slowed the van down. They were safe for the moment, but he knew as he peered at the rearview mirror that the angry mob would not stop chasing them. True to form, they were marching behind the van, trying to catch it.

Jeff’s rear view was suddenly obscured by the face of his passenger.

“
Please … can we get out of here?” He turned his head as she spoke, her words tinged with fatigue and desperation. There was a worn look in her face, a look that told him a great deal about what she must have gone through. But on closer examination, there was a gleam in her eyes that took him by surprise. He was not sure what it signified, but he hoped it meant his new partner wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

When he did not answer immediately, she pointed down the street.

“
This is a dead end.”

Jeff’s gaze followed where her finger was pointing. The subdivision was large, but they were approaching the end of it. This particular street ended in a cul de sac. He already knew that there was nowhere for them to go up ahead and that there was a wall of infected bodies closing in behind them.

He also knew that behind several of the houses in the cul de sac was a retaining wall with a twenty-foot drop.

“
You have to turn around … get past them somehow. This street ends-”

“
I know. It ends up ahead. I got it.”

“
Then turn around before it’s too late!”

Jeff was surprised at the strength in her voice. She had gone from a squeaking mouse to a roaring lion in an instant.

Shaking his head to stave off further protests, he replied, “The exits to the subdivision are blocked off … a bunch of cars and trucks are piled up. We’re stuck for now.”

Jeff could hear her slump in her chair and hoped the conversation—or rather the potential debate—was done. He was not prepared to explain what he had in mind just yet.

The respite lasted only a few moments.

“
So what good is heading toward a dead end going to do us?” The question hung in the air, and he cursed silently. “I mean, shouldn’t we be trying to find a way out of here? There’s no way we can drive out of the neighborhood down this way … there’s too many trees and there’s this wall-”

“
Yeah, I know about the wall!” Jeff spat out, hating the anger that rose up in his voice. Calming himself, he kept the pace of the minivan slow and steady. They would be in the cul de sac shortly.

“
Look, I understand this is a dead end, and I know all about the wall. I realize this entire area is infested with those things. But I also know we won’t survive long if all we do is drive around in circles until we run out of gas.”

The van came to a stop next to one of the houses in the cul de sac. Jeff put the vehicle in park and turned to face his passenger just in time for the assault.

“
Are you kidding?”

Jeff’s eyes went wide with surprise at the growling tone coming from her throat. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“
I stepped out of my house for this? After all this time, when I was safe inside? Just so some idiot can get me killed at the end of my street instead of letting me starve to death in my own bed? Jesus Christ!”

“
Now wait just a second!” Jeff cut her off, watching as she tore at her short hair with growing rage. Anger dominated her visage now, her fear in remission.

Jeff tried to maintain his composure in the face of the distant wail of the infected.

“
Have you looked at them? I mean up close?” Jeff spit out the words as he glared at his passenger. The fearful look she’d had when he first approached her returned to her face. A tickle of guilty pleasure ran through Jeff at her reaction.

“
Have you studied them at all? Watched them? Figured out what the hell they are or what makes them tick? Because I sure the hell have!” He tried to control his volume, but his voice grew louder with each word.

Too quickly for Jeff to see, her fear was gone again, replaced by an even greater anger than before.

“
Them?” She tossed her head back. “You mean those monsters that tore apart my neighbors? The ones that killed my husband? YES! I have looked at them, you bastard! I know what they are. But tell me, please, what the hell does that have to do with us being stranded on a FUCKING DEAD-END STREET?”

It was Jeff’s turn to be speechless as he tried to absorb the verbal assault just laid on him. He could see tears rimming the eyes of the young woman he guessed couldn’t be much older than twenty-five. She rubbed at her eyes angrily, embarrassed at the reaction he had elicited.

He closed his eyes, and his shoulders slumped as he began to feel about two inches tall. Up until that moment, it had just been him and a desire for vengeance against the infected. There had been no room for anything else inside his head. Even after saving this poor wretch of a woman and dragging her into his van, he had not given much thought to what she must have gone through as the world around them collapsed.

As Jeff sat halfway out of his seat, trying to figure out how to apologize, the sound of her fumbling with the door handle made his eyes pop back open.

“
No! Wait! STOP, please!”

He grabbed for her wrist as he pleaded with her. Embarrassment over his behavior mixed with cold panic at her attempt to escape. She attempted to dodge him, but he was too fast. He’d just gotten a loose grip on her wrist when she punched him. The blow grazed his chin, surprising him. Jeff let go, staring at her in shock. Her hand went back to the door, and she twisted the handle. It began the slow process of sliding open. She pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t move any faster.

He recovered quickly, spinning her around. Before she could attack again, he wrapped her hands in his and shook her, rattling her teeth. “Please! Listen to me. You can’t just run away. There’s nowhere to go. There’s nothing left out there!” Pausing, Jeff caught his breath in an effort to calm down. Getting worked up was doing neither of them any good. “They’re coming for us, yes. I know that. But if you run now, you will die. You’ll become one of them …”

He moved one of his hands up to her face slowly and carefully, even as she flinched away. When he gently caressed her cheek and gave her a small, sad smile, she relaxed slightly.

“
I can’t fight them and you. If you run now, they’ll follow you. I’ll live and you’ll die. It’s that simple.” He stared into her eyes, loosening his grip on her hands. She was still angry and terrified, but at least she was listening. “I plan on surviving, with or without you.”

Jeff let her hands go. The door was wide open, and they could both hear the moans getting closer. “Together we can make it, but you have to trust me.” The last words were barely above a whisper.

She glowered at him and did not respond immediately, forcing him to bite his tongue and wait as the cries of hunger grew louder behind them.

“
Okay.” Seeing the doubt in Jeff’s eyes, she repeated herself. “OKAY!” It was clear she was still angry with him, but that anger would take a back seat to survival for now. That would have to be good enough.

“
So what are we doing?”

She shivered, and goose bumps stood out on her arms. It was a thick, humid summer day, and Jeff knew she wasn’t cold, just afraid. That was something he could handle.

His eyes sparkled as he answered her. “I have an idea.”

Chapter 8

The retaining wall at the back of the cul de sac dropped off to a field dense with wild grasses riding in clumps and spreading off into the distance. A small wooded area surrounded the field in a fifty-foot semicircle that swept around until it met the walls on both sides. It was a dried-out hunk of hard top with clumps of weeds and a wealth of mosquitoes. Trees surrounded the area, and the soil was elevated at the tree line, giving it a scooped-out, bowl-like appearance. The wall ran the length of three properties and tapered off at the edges as the soil and trees merged with the top of the wall. There was a barbed wire fence across the top of it with a few “Danger” signs attached.

Jeff spied the drop-off in the distance behind the middle house. The back yard was overgrown but essentially pristine. No trees, and a nice flat expanse that ended abruptly. He could see trees off in the distance, beyond the property line, but not the sudden drop-off that had nothing more than a raised concrete lip to indicate its demarcation point. The metal posts driven into the concrete along with the barbed wire attached to them were virtually invisible from in front of the property. The houses to the left and right had fences surrounding the back of their lots—big square barriers stretching all the way to the wall.

He reached for the glove box and pulled something out, jamming it into his pocket before stepping out of the van. As he leaned in for his bat, he motioned for his passenger to join him. She hesitated, biting her lip nervously before realizing that Jeff was leaving with or without her. She slipped out and followed him toward the side of the house with no fence.

He moved toward the door leading to the garage, motioning for her to stay back as he raised the baseball bat and peered through the window.

She stood with her arms crossed and rubbed them continuously as she bounced on her heels, searching the area for movement. Her eyes gravitated back up the street, where she could hear more than see the mob coming for them. There were no immediate signs of danger elsewhere. With the thick trees and drop-off surrounding the dead end, it seemed as if they were sheltered on several sides from the approach of more infected. But she was beginning to think “boxed in” was a more accurate description of their situation.

The sound of shattering glass made her turn, and she saw that Jeff had broken one of the window panes on the door. He was already reaching in, twisting the deadbolt. He slid inside quickly, taking the bat with him. She followed as he slipped into the darkness of the garage.

“
Perfect.”

She heard the single word as her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Jeff was taking an extension ladder off one of the walls.

“
Can you give me a hand with this?” She hesitated, her eyes wide with confusion.

“
Come on!” Jeff gestured with his head, encouraging her to grab the front end. “Let’s get it outside, and then let me take the lead.”

They moved carefully from the garage, the ladder barely clearing the ground on the side she carried. Grunting with the effort, the sickly woman held on tightly.

“
Good. Just keep up with me.” He swung his end around and headed toward the back yard.

A puzzled look crossed her face. All she could see was a yard surrounded by fences, with the drop-off beyond. She tried to slow down and nearly tripped as Jeff kept going. “Could you tell me what the hell we’re doing, please?”

He stopped and carefully set down his end of the ladder. She hissed in relief and followed suit. The sweat was pouring off of her in the mid-afternoon heat, and her breathing was heavy.

“
I am going to take a pair of wire cutters and cut that barbed-wire fence. Then we’re going to drop this ladder down the retaining wall.”

The slight woman looked at Jeff as if he were speaking in tongues. He made a pretty educated guess as to what was going through her mind and could almost see the gears whirring behind her eyes. He decided to explain before she drew her own conclusions.

“
We’re not striking out on foot. We’re just going to lure them down there,” he said, pointing past the retaining wall to the pit beyond. “And once they’re down there, we can circle back to the neighborhood … without them following.”

Jeff watched her eyes widen. They had a mesmerizing quality to them. He was prepared for her to erupt again, so he was surprised at how calm she was when she finally spoke.

“
And then what?”

He was surprised at the question, expecting more of a protest. He could detect an almost morbid curiosity in her voice and had to resist smiling, knowing it would probably freak her out.

“
Then we get the hell out of Dodge.”

The sudden elevation of her eyebrow made it clear that the answer didn’t satisfy her. Her hands were on her hips, and Jeff was reminded of the look his wife would give him whenever he came up with a half-baked idea.

The background noise was increasing, and he tore his eyes away from the woman to look past the houses, toward the street. He could see them coming. They were progressing faster than he had expected. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.