Winter's Salvation (3 page)

Chapter 2

The Road

              They traveled to the second level watching as more wild people seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

             
“I’m going to grab my gun.” Dave said and ran back up the stairs.  As he ran a low growl that turned into a wild scream came from behind them.  Before anyone knew what was going to happen, Rodriguez pushed Drew back against the green wooden railing and stood in front of him.  Eric turned to see a man wearing a torn button up shirt that used to be white before his blood completely covered it and a black neck tie hung loosely around his neck.  He turned the corner to run up the stairs and looked directly at the three.  It’s left arm grabbed the railing and his right arm supported it’s weight as it crouched for a charge. 

             
The crazed business man looked as if he were in a car wreck with the right side of his face smashed in.  The charging man’s left eye was opened wide with focus and fixed on Eric.  It stood straight up and revealed an open and exposed ripped out chest under the torn button up shirt.  Bare and broken ribs were open to the elements for all to see. 

             
The crazed man dashed wildly up the stairs and Eric stood prepared for the impact.  He lifted his right leg and connected cleanly with the man’s face with his foot.  Red and black blood shot out in a spray under his boot.   

             
Any other man would have done back flips down the steps, but the mad man’s head snapped back violently.  It stumbled down one step and continued forward as if he just miss placed his footing.  During the creatures charge it lowered its head, mostly to regain his balance, and Eric stepped in front of Rod and Drew and connected with a punch, that landed square in the creatures face.   It flew against the railing and turned immediately.  The force and speed of the turn flung blood from the right side of its face splattering over the three of them and he charged wildly back at Eric. 

             
Eric side stepped it again, tripped it to the ground and jumped on top of its back.  He grabbed hold of its hair and smashed its face into the wooden platform.  Again and again he smashed it’s head into the deck.  The crazed man fought to stand up, but was never able to buck Eric off.  He continued to drive the man’s head into the wooden deck until the smashed right side of his face, touched the left side.  It may have stopped fighting before Eric stopped, but he could not control himself.

             
His world had changed.  The only things he held dear to his heart were his parents, and they are alone in Maryland.  “I’ve gotta go.”  He said to Drew and Rodriquez and started to walk away. 

             
By this time David was on his way down to the second level.  He looked at the body lying in a running pool of blood that flowed between the wooden deck boards.  Eric turned his back to him and Dave could see his fingers were red and black with the creature’s blood. 

             
They followed behind him careful not to step in or on any of the blood the man was spewing.  The parking lot was vacant with the exception of a few manic people devouring their victims.  A mob had grown around the crashed car and they were already consuming the crash victim.  Where Eric parked his black Jeep Grand Cherokee was away from the crowd and coincidentally was in the darkest corner of the lot.  They all pilled in the car quickly and tried to close the doors as softly as possible.  Eric turned his phone on speaker and tried to call his father again, but the phone system was not operating.  He hung up and tried again, but with each try
network busy
continued to appear on the phone. 

             
The roads out of the complex were filled with crashed cars and as the lights to the jeep shinned down the street piles of bloody corpses were always close to the wrecks.  There were a few wrecked cars with no bodies around them, but piles of blood and ripped clothing were close by or hanging from the open doors of the vehicles.  The streets were empty of any humans, but as the light past the balcony of one of the complexes they were filled with commotion as if the entire side was having a party.  The only difference was the fun was replaced with horror and the screaming of playing games was replaced with screams of pain, agony and fear. 

**********

              The main streets were filled with racing cars.  Everyone was trying to go somewhere else, as if anywhere was better than where they already were.  They sat and waited for a chance to make it out of their complex.  Car after speeding car flew past.  There was a car directly across from them in their sister apartment complex across the busy street.  Its high beams were on shining brightly into the eyes of Eric and Dave.  The car looked as if it were a van of some sort, whatever it was, it was perfectly angled, so the lights shined like spot lights to help the frenzied find their way for a meals on wheels feast.  The vans lights shined directly into the jeeps passengers eyes hampering their vision.   

             
He flashed then shined his high beams on the van in sheer disapproval hoping it hampered his vision as well.  As soon as his high beams shined he noticed the vehicle pull out of the complex as many other vehicles had, but the lights were moving faster than normal.  It pulled out and the sound of squealing tires followed the van.  The van turned to its right and the passengers in Eric’s jeep could see four people clinging to the tan colored vehicle and more chasing after it.  As soon as they could make out the details of the van and why it pulled into oncoming traffic a black truck rammed into its side.  The truck crushed two men holding onto the side of it and another two went flying through the air on the passenger side of the vehicle.  The two men that were crushed were smashed in half. 

             
The van and truck went spinning into oncoming traffic and spun into both lanes, while the two smashed in half bodies were thrown from the spinning vehicles.  The cars that followed the truck slammed on their brakes and slid off the side of the road.  The traffic that was coming in Eric’s direction slammed their brakes and tried to swerve to avoid the crashed vehicles with no success.  Instantly a wall of metal was formed that allowed them to pull out. 

             
One of the cars that slid off the road across from them was trying to free itself from the ditch it was stuck in, but the black cars wheels spun wildly.  The torsos of the two crushed people pulled themselves to the black car, dragging their entrails behind them.  The car was half way down in a ditch and people started moving from the bushes that blocked the apartments from the street.  Maybe Eric wanted to believe these people coming from the bushes were going to push them out of the ditch, but reality hit hard when the back door behind the driver opened and a heavier young woman with black hair holding a small child in her arms came running from the car and darted across the busy street.  A speeding car slammed the breaks and slowed dramatically before hitting the woman and her child, but it hit her hard enough to lift her from her feet and send them flying back.  Eric pulled away knowing there was nothing they could do.  The small car that hit her turned slightly to avoid running them over and continued down the street. 

Eric watched through the rear view window and the other three stretched their necks to watch the mayhem.  The vehicles lights were on due to the back door being left open and was lit enough, that they could make out people being pulled from the car and seeing the white light of the car turn the inside to a crimson
glow.  The crawling torsos of the two crushed undead reached the woman and child and immediately bit into their flesh.

The car was quiet, all of them wanted to help, they wanted to do something, but none of them knew what they could do.  They rode in silence for a minute, which felt like hours, until Dave turned the
on radio.  It was quiet now with the exception of an emergency broad cast.  The news broadcaster was speaking from a helicopter, giving the news report. 

He had an English accent and had to speak loudly over the chopping blades of the helicopter and humming of the motor.  “All the streets are packed.  Bumper to bumper, it’s horrible these raging people are pulling people from their cars.  Some vehicles are, close together they are trying to climb from the windows, but are stuck.  They are so close they can’t move.  The people who can get out are running; their running in all directions.  They look so confused there’s nowhere to go.  Oh my God.  God help us all.  There’s nothing they can do.  If they run they get chased down.  These things don’t rest, they don’t get tired, they just keep coming.  If you are stuck in your car they pull you from it or get in with you.  All they can do is wait, wait for help, but I fear by the time help arrives it may be too late.”  There was a pause in the announcement and they could hear him swallow and breathe heavily, “Please stay home.  If you can hear this, avoid the streets they are all congested.  I’m traveling above Jacksonville and I have not seen a single street that was not completely covered with these crazy people or just jammed up completely and it does not look as if it will clear any time soon.”

Rodriquez put his head between the front seats, “You just want to go to your place?”

Eric answered in a low voice almost to himself, “That’s where I’m goin.”  He looked at Rod quickly, “Yeah,” 

The streets were busy, some cars still obeyed the laws of traffic, but as soon as one stopped for a stop sign a fraction of a second, everyone behind that person jetted out from behind them.  These crazy people the radio spoke of were running wild through the streets. 

They listened to the radio turned down low, so they could hear what was happening around them on the streets.  From the back seat Eric heard a whimper quietly brake out barely over the radio.  He glanced through the review mirror and saw Rodriquez holding Drew’s head against his chest.  Rod rested his chin on his black curly hair. 

You could hear Rod speaking low as if he was keeping the conversation between them two a secret, but he knew Eric and Dave could hear him.  Drew’s whimper turned into a sob.  He was not Rodriquez’s biological son.  The only reason anyone could tell this was because of Drew’s pale white skin and Rod’s dark naturally tanned skin.   

Rodriquez and Julie had been married for eight years and Drew was five when they met.  Julie was a single mom and Drew’s father skipped town and was not supporting them in any way.  Julie was a hard worker; sometimes shuffling three jobs to give her son what he needed.  It may not have been the best name brand clothing or food, but he got what he needed.  

They met while he was stationed at a Coast Guard small boat station in North Carolina, and decided to get married when he was going to be shipped off to Jacksonville Florida.  Rodriquez will openly admit that he loved Julie with all his heart, but was not ready for that type of commitment.  He battled with himself and weighed each option until he came to the decision, that getting married only made sense.  He was not going to be able to afford to travel back and forth every weekend and he did not know who he was going to be roomed with.  He may have been shoved in a small three bedroom apartment with two other kids right out of high school, bringing their high school buddies around every night, so getting married only made sense; to him.  The military would give them money to get their own place, they would pay for their food, and medical benefits and Drew was going to need to see an orthodontist.  Rod had convinced himself that by getting married he was not getting into a long term commitment so to say, but he was helping them and in his mind that is how he coped with getting married.  After they conducted their small court house wedding, he never regretted deciding to spend his life with her.    

When Rod was not working on the Cutter he was with his son doing something.  It didn’t matter what they were doing, but they were always together.  Lately it seemed all Drew wanted to do was play some video game on the computer which really upset Rod, but as long as he was happy he was ok with it.  He just missed when they would go out to the festivals on the weekends and hang out.

Now in the back of Eric’s Jeep they held each other tight and cried quietly together.  Dave turned the volume to the radio up, not to quiet them, but to give them the privacy they needed. 

Eric lived in a town house on a quiet street that for the most part was off the path of any main street.  As they rounded each corner getting closer to his home the traffic became less and less until they rounded the corner a few streets down from his destination and the traffic came to a
dead stop.  Cars lined and filled the street, but there was no one in them.  On both sides of the road, cars were parked parallel to each other, blocking the street.  People were forced to leave their vehicles where they rested and travel by foot if they wanted to get to their homes.     

He pulled up to the truck in front of him and sat behind the line of parked vehicles in the middle of the street.  Eric turned his lights off
and an eerie stillness crept over them.  Rod’s phone made them jump as it rang and vibrated.  He flipped it open, silencing it, and saw Maria Bray on the screen.  “It’s the boat,” he looked at Eric.  “I’m not answering it.”