The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval (44 page)

She grinned at him. “That’s okay.”

“We’ll lead,” Riley said as she walked around to the passenger side. “Route One was a mess, but we know some back roads that will hopefully get us to Wrentham and maybe, fingers crossed, Franklin.”

Carl and John nodded as they retreated back to the truck. John held the door open for Rochelle and waited for her to climb in before following her. Riley rested her arm on the roof of the car as she leaned across it to study him. “Are you ready for an adventure Al?”

“What’s the rest of this day been?” he asked in surprise.

“An experience. It’s been an experience, but I have a feeling this is when the real fun begins. This is when the shit hits the fan so to speak.”

Al stared at where she’d stood even after she disappeared into the car. He yearned to believe that she was wrong, that it wasn’t going to get worse; that is simply had to get easier. But Al had never been one to lie to himself, and he wasn’t going to start now. She was right. Things were going to get a lot more grueling before they got easier. He just hoped they were all up for the challenge as he drove back onto the road.

CHAPTER 30

Xander

Foxboro, Mass.

They kept close to the river as they jogged across the parking lot toward the highway. Staying to the river wouldn’t have been his first choice, but he’d far prefer to jump into it and take his chances with the water, rather than try and fight the lava. The current was still strong but there was a chance they could survive it now.

He didn’t like the idea of being in the crowd, didn’t trust most of the people around him, but there was no escaping it. Not anymore.

His lungs and legs were already burning; the heat of the day was dragging him down faster than he had anticipated. “We have to get a car,” he panted to Bobby.

“No kidding,” Bobby muttered.

Mary Ellen placed a hand against her side as she winced. “Al and I had one, but it’s on the other side of the river now.” Relief filled him as he realized that at least Riley and Lee would have a vehicle. “We stole it.”

Mary Ellen stared forcefully at him with assessing eyes. He knew she was trying to judge his reaction, trying to see how far he was willing to go. There wasn’t much he wasn’t willing to do to stay alive, and to find Riley and Lee again though. “I guess we’re stealing a car,” he said.

She smiled wanly at him as she nodded her approval. The crowd jostled and bumped against him as it bottlenecked toward what remained of the gates they had entered through. Xander grabbed Mary Ellen’s arm, pulling her closer to him as Bobby pressed against her other side and elbowed the people pushing and shoving at him. Xander turned sideways to maneuver through the crush. It wouldn’t be the lava, or even the river that killed them he realized, it would be the stupidity of the people that wouldn’t stop shoving and trampling each other long enough to escape the hazards coming their way.

“Xander!” He glanced at Bobby over top of Mary Ellen’s head. He was pointing to the left where a group of people were pushing against the fencing. He nodded to Bobby and began to shove his way through the crowd to join the growing mob trying to take the fence down.

His fingers curled through the holes of the metal fence as he thrust his weight against it. A loud groan went through the crowd as one of the poles twisted and bent, but didn’t quite give way. He could almost feel the sand slipping through the hourglass as his lifespan seemed to be shortening by the second. He refused to look back the way they had come.

“Now!” someone shouted.

He thrust his weight forward again. Something snapped somewhere; a startled cry ran through the crowd as the fencing gave way without warning. He tripped, nearly fell, but managed to catch himself before he was flattened beneath the rush of people shoving against his back. Other people weren’t as lucky as they were thrown forward and instantly trampled.

He turned away as someone screamed from beneath the horde. He caught only a brief glimpse of a woman in her fifties before she was buried. His stomach somersaulted but he grasped Mary Ellen’s arm again and fled as fast as he possibly could. Bobby met his gaze briefly, looking sick as he shook his head and turned away.

They pounded over the pavement, running toward the highway and away from the screams of misery and anguish that howled endlessly over the open expanse. He shuddered as more screams filled the air.

“Don’t look back!” he hissed at Mary Ellen when she turned sideways. “There’s nothing any of us want to see back there. Not anymore.”

Though tears shimmered in her eyes, she turned back around and focused on the land ahead of them. They climbed up a steep embankment before arriving at the ruined expanse of road that had once been the highway. Cars were scattered everywhere, most were broken down but a few looked like viable options. Unfortunately, they were also viable options for the entire crowd spilling onto the road with them.

His teeth clenched as his breath hissed out of him. Glass began to shatter around them, shouts and cries went up. He was pulling Mary Ellen toward a newer looking Chevy when two men reached it first. One of the men eyed him warily, but Xander wasn’t going to fight them for it. Five other men began to fight over a Jeep that was sitting half in a ditch. Xander took a step back as it dissolved into a physical altercation he knew none of them were going to win.

“We should get off this road. We’re never going to find anything here,” he said as he turned away from the increasing brawl.

“You’re right,” Bobby agreed.

They jogged across the medium, and the other side of the road, before entering the woods. They wound their way through the trees before coming across a side road that was far quieter than the pandemonium they had left behind. They cautiously moved down the tranquil street, catching their breaths as they searched for another vehicle, but there were far less options here than there had been on the highway.

“There’s a car down there.” Bobby pointed down a long, tree lined drive to where the back end of a car was clearly visible.

“I don’t think it’s a great idea to go strolling up someone’s drive right now,” Xander told him.

“I know it’s not a great idea to walk all the way to Sturbridge, and we might as well check it out.”

Mary Ellen bit her lip as she turned to him. “It can’t hurt.”

It could hurt if the wrong person lived here, and that was exactly what he was fearful of, but even so he nodded his agreement. Bobby was right, walking wasn’t going to accomplish much, and there weren’t many other options available to them right now. “We’ll go through the woods.”

“Wasn’t going any other way,” Bobby replied with a weak smile.

They slid back into the woods as they cautiously approached the house. Gathering at the edge of the tree line, they stopped to inspect the small ranch nestled within the clearing. No lights were on, but he hadn’t expected any. This close he was able to tell that it was a new Cadillac parked in the drive; the black paint gleamed in the sun over his left shoulder. It would be a good car to have, if they could get their hands on it. He didn't see anyone moving within the home and didn't hear any sounds as they waited for over ten minutes before he finally broke the silence.

“Maybe I should knock.”

“It’s not going to kill you,” Bobby told him with a tight smile.

Xander shot him a dark look as he stepped cautiously from the tree line. “A Smith and Wesson will though,” he muttered. He felt like a cartoon character as he approached the house one awkwardly creeping step at a time. He kept waiting for a boom, kept waiting for someone to shout at him to stop where he was. Eerie silence continued to engulf him.

He winced as the screen door creaked open beneath his hand. He’d make for one crappy burglar he decided as another loud creak filled the air. He stood breathlessly but everything remained still. Bracing himself, he raised his hand and knocked quickly on the door. He almost ducked down and covered his head just in case, but somehow managed to keep himself from looking like a complete idiot as he stood on the stoop.

When nothing but silence continued to greet him he knocked again and rang the bell. “That might have been a better first choice.”

He nearly jumped out of his skin as Bobby’s voice sounded over his right shoulder. “You finally decided to stop hiding in the woods?” he demanded.

Bobby shrugged as he grinned at him and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Thought you might like a little help, you’re horrible at this stuff.”

“And you’re a pro?”

“Far from. I don’t think anyone’s home though.”

“Why would they leave that car behind?” Mary Ellen inquired. “It’s brand new.”

“Maybe they had a better option, maybe it doesn’t have any gas; maybe they just panicked and went to the stadium or something. Who knows what they were thinking, but maybe they left the keys,” Xander replied.

Bobby stepped away from the house and hurried over to the car. He tried the door but it was locked. “Not very trusting!” he called over to them.

Xander turned back to the door and grabbed hold of the knob. If they locked their car, in their own driveway, he highly doubted the house would be open and he wasn’t disappointed. Mary Ellen handed him a broken piece of cobble from the garden edging next to the door. Xander held his breath as he used the cobble to break out the bottom pane in the window. He slid his arm through and fumbled with the locks before swinging the door slowly open.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway as he peered into the shadowed interior of the home. He felt like he was trapped in a bad horror movie as he called out, “Hello.”

The only thing that broke the silence was the distant tick of a clock in another room. He hesitated in the threshold, feeling extremely uncomfortable with just walking into someone’s house, even if he had just busted out their window. He put all morals aside though and stepped inside. “Hello!” he called again even though he knew there would be no answer.

He nodded to Mary Ellen and Bobby before making his way into the kitchen. He searched the table and countertops for the keys but found nothing. The grandfather clock, steadily ticking away the time, was in the corner of the living room. Bobby was already there, staring at a family portrait of a middle aged couple and their two children, a girl and boy that appeared to be about ten and twelve in age.

“They were the perfect all American family,” Bobby said.

“They could still be alive. There’s two of them, I’m sure they had two vehicles.”

Bobby’s eyes were haunted as they met his. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Come on, help me find the keys.”

Mary Ellen was coming out of the bathroom when they entered the hallway. Xander assumed the door at the end was most likely the parent’s room as he made his way toward it. He thrust the door open and instantly recoiled as he was slapped in the face by the atrocity within the room. The scent of decay and something more, something worse, washed over him. Two bodies lay in the center of the bed. Pink, raw flesh clung to bones almost clearly visible through the remaining blood and sinew enfolding their frames. Clumps of skin and muscle had fallen onto the bed around the skeletal remains. It looked as if someone, or something, had dumped boiling water all over them. Except there was no puddle of water on the floor around them, and other than bodily fluids, there appeared to be no other liquids.

Mary Ellen turned away and wretched. “What happened to them?” Bobby’s voice was ragged and broken.

Xander didn’t have the first freaking idea what had happened to them. He couldn’t even begin to fathom what had caused this hideous, foul smelling, goopy mess to form in the center of a perfectly normal bedroom in what used to every day America.