The Dark Trinity (Book 1): Shuffle (35 page)
More silence followed. Bataviah’s logic made sense. The
safety of the bus had come to an end. For the second time that day, the
survivors left their only safe haven. Gathering up their gear, they climbed
over the first barricade.
BLOOD STORM
The winter storm pummeled the landscape as it sped towards
Pittsburgh. The clouds were black and low in the sky; blotting out the sun.
They churned and rolled as they bombarded the ground with large, wet
snowflakes. Below, the tempest’s shadow crept, blanketing the undead army and
its queen, in darkness.
****************
Sunshine’s eyes opened. The Sleep was over. She could hear
her followers begin to stir. Their bodies moved and undulated as their skin
became pliable and hydrated. The mental link between her and her children
intensified tenfold. The cocoon which encased her began to breathe. It was time
to rise and claim her prey.
The carapace collapsed onto the zombie queen, but she was not
crushed. Instead, the bodies flowed around her. Hundreds of hands carried her
upwards until she finally emerged into the snowy maelstrom. She stood atop an
immense mound of bodies that had served as her refuge. Now, it would be her
chariot into battle.
She let out a screech which echoed throughout the valley. The
bodies below her lurched forward and began to move as one. Four arms reached up
from the tangled mess and grasped her legs, steadying her as they began to
travel forward. Those of her children in the front ranks toppled from those
behind them. They in turn, were overrun by the ones behind them and so on. They
looked like a lava flow of limbs, claws and death.
They reached the edge of the cliff that rose up behind the
Pittsburgh Pleasure Palace, but they didn’t stop. They didn’t even slow down.
Bodies began to pour over the edge like water; down onto and around the
building and continuing onto McKnight Road. Sunshine’s chariot of the dead
moved swiftly, flowing over wrecked vehicles as if they weren’t even there.
She could hardly contain her ecstasy as the Horde sped
towards the stadiums. Finally, her hunt would be over. It perplexed her that
she didn’t know the reason behind her infatuation with the former human known
as Nathan Ackland. Something drew her to him. A familiarity of sorts, as if she
had known him from a past life.
Impossible,
she thought. Her time on the
Earth had passed eons ago. No, it had to be something else. Perhaps he held
something inside of him that could help her, or maybe harm her. Was he even
aware of it?
She would discover that soon. One way or another. The snow
pelted her alabaster face as the Horde rolled and flowed south, with the storm
heralding their impending arrival. Her children numbered in the tens of
thousands. Worldwide that number reached into the billions. The fall of Man was
at hand. Her revenge was inevitable.
****************
“C’mon guys, hurry it up!” Daniel shouted to the three
zombies in the group.
Nathan, Evelyn, and Ronnie struggled to make it over the
sandbag barricades. The Dead Sleep made their joints stiff and awkward, which
made climbing quite humorous to behold.
“Going as fast as we can,” Evelyn responded as she finally
crossed the third barricade.
The group hadn’t seen a single zombie after abandoning the
bus, except for the three traveling with them. Even still, Sam, Daniel, Chatty,
Maalik, and Bataviah encircled the others. Their weapons locked, loaded and at
the ready. Alison, Theresa, Carlos, and Pete carried the supplies within the
circle, while Nathan, Evelyn, and Ronnie brought up the rear. Boomer weaved
around everybody while he kept a vigilant watch over Master and Lady.
Fifteen minutes later, the survivors crossed over the last
barricade which stood between them and the North Shore. They were now
underneath Route 65, which traveled parallel to the Ohio River and elevated
above the North Shore. A large section of the four lane road had collapsed just
off to their right, forming a small mountain of broken concrete and twisted
metal.
Ten yards ahead, the trolley tracks of the North Shore
Connector rose above the parking lots to join Route 65 in ferrying the public
to the attractions which lined the shore. The tracks stretched and curved with
the road until they dipped below street level. There it fed into the tunnel
which ran underneath the Allegheny River, joining with the main trolley line
underneath downtown. A sore spot for many Pittsburghers, the Port Authority
intended for the Connector to help ease congested parking and traffic downtown.
They also hoped to attract more people to the stadiums and casino.
Unfortunately, the project spiraled into a budget nightmare, with costs
exceeding $5 billion.
Beyond the rails, the charred remains of Rivers Casino, Heinz
Field, and PNC Park stood as monuments to a society which, until yesterday, had
flourished. Now, they were nothing more than a morbid reminder of the life that
was no longer. Further past the stadiums, the city burned. The smell of burning
rubber, gasoline, and bodies hung thick in the air. Downtown proper was silent.
The screams and cries that echoed throughout the streets just hours before had
finally faded.
"Jesus..." Sam uttered.
"I don't think Jesus can hear you," Carlos replied.
Boomer started barking towards the north. Not his playful
bark, this one held a low ominous tone to it. One which heralded the arrival of
awful things to come.
"What's with him?" asked Pete.
Bataviah watched the dog intently as he stood with fur on
end, barking non-stop, standing guard between the group and the unseen danger
that loomed. Suddenly, Boomer shuddered, his fur dropping out in clumps as
long, sharp, black barbs replaced his fuzzy fur. His muscles rippled in a
rhythmic heave, doubling in size with each bone crunching shudder. Teeth,
snout, ears, and claws elongated and grew. The barking deepened until it became
a monstrous roar.
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??!!"
exclaimed Daniel as he raised his gun to shoot the beast before him.
"NO!" Nathan shouted as he lunged for Daniel's gun.
He didn't make it in time. The bullet propelled out of the
barrel and careened towards Boomer. It hit the near-impregnable quill armor;
only breaking three quills before crumpling into a deformed blob of metal.
Boomer turned in Daniel's direction and unleashed an angry roar towards him.
"NO! Leave it!" Nathan commanded. Boomer shook his
massive head and huffed, then turned his attention back towards the north.
Nathan looked at Daniel and saw pure terror on the kid's
face. Looking down, he noticed that his skin was no longer dehydrated. His
senses had sharpened and the fog in his mind was gone. Bataviah looked at
Evelyn, who was now moving fluidly and looking at the world with the
bewilderment of a child seeing things through new eyes.
"The Sleep has lifted!" she shouted to Maalik.
"We must go. NOW!" he exclaimed, turning towards
Heinz Field.
"Just hold the fuck on a second," Sam said as he
grabbed Maalik by the arm. "What just happened to that dog? We don't move
until we get some answers!"
Maalik looked at the terrified faces of the humans. He felt
for them. Nothing could have prepared them for this. There was no way they
could comprehend. There was no time for them to reconcile what they saw
standing in front of them, roaring at an unseen foe. He turned to Sam.
"You would not believe me. Not now. You will soon find
out though. The scourge that has stricken your world is on its way for us. She
will be here soon and when she arrives, the Hell you think you are in will get
unimaginably worse. I cannot prepare you for what you are about to witness, but
you must trust me when I say that my kind and I will do all in our power to
keep you and your companions alive."
Sam stood, confused. "Who’s coming for us Maalik? We
deserve to know. Either you tell us, or we're outta here."
The snowstorm descended upon the group as suddenly as
Boomer's transformation. Snow fell in white sheets as it began to cover
everything it touched. Dark clouds rolled overhead like the churning waters of
a black ocean. Boomer bellowed his monstrous bark more fervently.
“We are out of time,” Maalik stated.
He and Bataviah began to haul ass towards the elevated rail
tracks; towards the spot where the tracks dipped down below street level. The
humans followed, not wanting to be alone with three zombies and a giant
wolf-dog monster. Nathan, Evelyn, and Ronnie brought up the rear.
“Aw man, shit is about to get REAL, isn’t it?” Ronnie asked.
“Yes,” Nathan answered. “She’s coming. I can feel her.”
“Who?” Evelyn asked. “Who’s coming, Nate?”
“The one who’s been chasing us all night.”
Alison helped Theresa, who had tears streaking down her face.
“What’s going on?” the woman asked in total panic. “How did that dog change
into that… thing?!” She was out of breath from the running and from the fear
which pounded in her heart.
“I… I don’t know,” Alison replied, glancing back at the dog,
who stood barking at the snowstorm. Dogs, and most animals for that matter,
always knew when trouble was approaching.
What could make that creature so
unnerved?
She was afraid to find out.
“Keep moving,” she urged Theresa.
The group caught up to Maalik and Bataviah, who were standing
as close to the trolley tunnel as possible. Jammed underneath the tracks,
dozens upon dozens of cars sat crumpled in a heap among broken slabs of
concrete and debris. The two exchanged an uneasy glance, and then Bataviah
knelt down at the manhole cover before her. She pushed several of the red
bricks which circled the manhole. One by one, each brick depressed, sounding a
loud, mechanical ‘click’ with each push.
Moments later, Bataviah pushed the last brick in the
combination. A loud boom sounded underground, along with a symphony of
mechanical gears. Maalik turned and addressed the group. The urgency in his
eyes could have been mistaken for panic.
“The entrance to our bunker lies before us, underneath the
cars. It travels under the rail tunnel and into town. We must clear the cars before
we can escape.”
“How do you propose we do that?” Carlos asked.
Ignoring the question, Maalik pointed to a toppled semi-trailer
one hundred feet behind them. It lay on its side; the door open. “All you, take
every weapon you have and barricade yourselves in there. Shoot any zombie that
tries to get in.”
Before anyone could respond, Maalik and Bataviah walked
towards the pile of wreckage.
Daniel asked the question that they all were wondering. “They
don't think that they can move all that, do they? Hell, they won’t be able to
budge one of them.”
What came next defied any and all logic that the survivors
possessed. One moment the two strangers stood before the smoldering cars. The
next, they shimmered as long black quills elongated from their bodies. Bones
crunched and tendons stretched as their body mass doubled, tripled, and
quadrupled. Long, razor sharp claws sprouted from their fingers. Their faces
and ears elongated. Dagger-like teeth erupted from gaping mouths.
“Wha… What. The. FUCK??” Sam uttered in disbelief.
The creature that was Bataviah looked back at the stunned
humans and let out a thunderous roar, then turned her attention back towards
the hidden bunker entrance. She grasped the nearest car and hurled it twenty
feet to the left. It landed with a crash. The wolf-creature that was Maalik did
the same, throwing cars towards his left.
“Go… GO, GO, GO!!!” Pete yelled, pushing past the others as
he hurried to the safety of the trailer. The others followed as they kept
glancing back at Maalik and Bataviah. The three zombies followed close behind.
Theresa huddled behind a nearby garbage can. The sight of the werewolf
transformation prevented her legs from moving. Too scared to move, too
terrified to scream, she just froze there. Her fight-or-flight response shut
down by the sight of these new monsters. Spotting a nearby garbage can, Theresa
willed her legs to move. She made her way to the garbage and hid behind the
piles of refuse and debris that surrounded it.
“Eve,” Nathan grabbed Evelyn’s arm. “Stay here with the
others.”
An incredulous look spread over her face. “To hell with that.
Whatever’s coming our way, we’ll face it together.”
Nathan looked into Evelyn's eyes and saw the intensity with
which they burned. He knew that it was futile to argue with her once she'd made
up her mind. Reluctantly, he nodded.
"Alright. Together," he said with confidence,
although his thoughts were anything but.
Nathan spun towards the trailer and came face to face with
the muzzle of Sam's tactical shotgun. Behind it, Sam's confused and terrified
face stared back at him. The old man realized that he was visibly rattled and
he reigned in his fear; smoothing his face over with his usual cold, hard,
expressionless facade.
"Son, I've seen a lot of shit in my day," Sam
started, a slight quiver in his voice. "But none of it can shake a
shit-smeared stick at what I'm seeing now. First you zombie things, then
fucking werewolves?! Jesus Christ, I wouldn't believe it if I didn’t see it for
myself. Something is coming for us and I just want to know what it is we're
dealing with exactly. You've kept us in the dark this whole time and if we're
going to die today, then we deserve to know the Reaper that's coming for
us."