Chapter Eleven

Troubles 'a comin'!

Chapter Eleven

 

 

Nothing stood before me.  I waited to be pounced but nothing was there.  My heart was in my ears and my hands were dripping sweat.  When I wasn’t attacked, I exhaled- not realizing I’d been holding my breath the entire time!

 

I stood still for about another minute and began to feel my pulse slow.  I relaxed my braced stance and stepped into the doorway.

 

“Ack!”

 

With a loud bang, Shawna slipped on some gumballs.  She landed on her backside and sat still.  I turned to give her a threatening glare, David and I both. She was going to be the death of us.  Literally.

 

I sighed with frustration and turned my gaze back to the doorway.  Out of the shadows a pale, half naked man jumped at me with his arms extended.  His hands were curved into claws. His face was distorted, like he was in pain.  A lot of pain.  His eyes were yolky with pale pupils " like the Nasty in the backyard. The thing that caused my pants to almost thicken with yuck was his mouth.  The man’s mouth was black.  His gums, teeth and tongue were black like he’d eaten tar fur lunch!

 

He growled at me; the sound that emanated from his throat was like a primordial growl.   It was animalistic and uh, hungry.  The sound was hungry.

 

He charged me!  He wore a dirty, white, business shirt, stained with blood.  Half of his neck was missing on the left side, causing his head to hang.  When he ran towards me, it bounced comically.  I wanted to laugh but the adrenaline that coursed through my veins caused me to shout with a startled shake.

 

I felt the jolt of shock and fear stream through me from head to toe before I reacted.  I swung.

 

With momentum coming from my right side, I raised the metal bar upwards, like a golf swing.  The rod made contact with the side of his head.  It snapped against the mans skull so hard that it made a high-pitched ting.  It was so nice, I giggled with excitement!

 

His head shot up right and then flopped up and back, snapping his spine and falling to his back.   I’d have felt victorious if the body had gone down.  It didn’t.

 

He still stood before me, his charge thwarted.  He stood, evidently confused and still walked forward with a sort of Frankenstein style.  I brought my right leg back, planted my left leg.  I growled with anger and brought my right leg forward for a kick with the sole of my foot.  The forward shove knocked him onto his back.

 

I hadn’t noticed before but I heard this weird, muffled scream and looked to see Shawna screaming into her hands.  David’s hands were over her hands covering her mouth, dampening the noise.

 

I looked back to the Nasty and found him struggling to get to his feet.  I kicked him over and saw the face looking up at me from his back.  It was so weird.  His mouth was still working; a silent sentence, other than the growling- trying to speak to me.

 

He smelled awful.  He was bathed in blood, probably his own.    He also had bites removed from him; his legs, arms and side were all missing plugs of meat.  I felt bad for him.  I raised my pole and brought it down, into his temple.  With a shudder, his soulless body stilled.

 

The room was quiet.  Shawna was quiet and the Nasty was truly dead.  I stood over the body; breathing so hard I thought I’d pass out.  I didn’t.  No such luck.

 

I looked back at them.  “Stay put.”

 

I walked through the door and waited.  If there were anymore of them inside, I figured they come out.  It would be better if they did; now would be the better time to attack.  I was full of energy and rearing to go!  I stepped further into the doorway, into the darkness.

 

I waited about three feet in and reached with my non-existent psychic abilities.  I got nothing.  I didn’t hear anything either.  I slowly made my way to the right, reaching with my right hand for a light switch against the wall.  I got nothing.

 

I moved back into the doorway, into the light, and swapped hands.  I finally felt the blessed switch.  I almost wished I hadn’t.

 

The light revealed the storeowner’s leftovers.  It looked like the remnants of a five-year old kid.  It didn’t look old but not fresh either.  Some poor mother was looking for their child.  This was unreal, depressing. 

 

I peeked around shelves and found a long table in the far corner and nothing else.  No one else.  It was more like a storage shed built inside of the store.  I figured it was where he kept a lot of supplies and such that wasn’t inventory. 

 

Finding an old push broom, I shoved the body under the table,  in the farthest corner.  I blocked it from view with some boxes of toilet paper. 

 

The office-like room would do for a place to stay the night.  The door seemed pretty solid and it had three locks.  One of those slide bolts from the door into the frame on the top and bottom.  The doorknob had it’s ususal lock with a bolt as well.  Not perfect but safe for the night.  In the morning, we’d get out of the city, find a vehicle, ride to safety.  There had to be a haven somewhere.

 

***

 

We did our best to block off the huge opening in the storefront’s window.  Anything could get in if it really tried.  We didn’t want any late night visitors while asleep and unguarded.    We put shelves in front of the window and a few boards.  There wasn’t much but we were going to sleep in the office and didn’t want the light from under the door to lead any of the Nastys to us. 

 

Next, I had them lay some of the candy jars and glasses about the floor in front of our blockade.  I figured the Nastys acted on instinct and not on thought.  It made me suppose they wouldn’t worry about knocking things over or stepping on anything of unimportance.  With any luck, they’d fall over one another while we got away.

 

If they wanted a meal, they’d charge, right?  I hoped so.  David and Shawna didn’t object.  Our next move was for food.

 

They sifted through the items strewn about scavenging. My main concern was weapons.  I wanted something more than a thin bat.

 

I made my way behind the cashier counter.  I checked for a safe or compartment below the register, thinking that something would be there like on tv.  No such luck.  There was a trashcan and a real bat though.  I swapped my metal rod for the aluminum club.

 

There were many inventory paper stacks and a wooden stool to park on, nothing more.  It was both upsetting and exhausting.  I dropped onto the stool and looked at my companions.  They were bent over, spying everything from candy to jerky.

 

That’s when I saw them.  Everywhere, all about the store.  Pretty much hidden, they were small but still visible.  They were also sporadic, spread all over the walls, floor and even a few on the ceiling.

 

“David, could you come here for a second?”  I asked in a low speaking voice.  We weren’t sure if the Nastys could hear us or if any were nearby.

 

He made his way to me and stood to my left.  “You notice anything about the room from here?”

 

David studied the store.  He eyed the area, concentrating here and there but I could tell he wasn’t seeing it before he answered.  “Nah, what’s up?”

 

I waited a little, thinking he’d catch what I saw.  I moved from behind the counter and pointed to small spots all over the store.  I pointed to a small hole, about the size of small, blouse button in the wall.  Outside of the hole, wood had been splintered.

 

I pointed to another on the floor about a yard away.  I showed him another above me, in the ceiling.  Shawna stopped her looting and followed me as I found many others.

 

I walked to another hole, this one through a can of jellybeans.  It too held the same sized hole as the others.  I looked to David.  He wore a puzzled look.  Good grief.

 

I pointed to a wooden barrel that held pounds of caramel cubes.  The side of the barrel held three more similar holes.

 

“You don’t know what these are?”  I asked in shock.

“No”, he said looking goofy.  How old was he again?  This was beginning to irritate me.  Neither of them seemed to get anything!

 

“These are bullet holes!”

“Ah yeah”, was Shawna’s thick response.  You know, like she knew all the time but didn’t want to let on.

 

“Okay, so?”  David asked.

“Bullet holes means there was a gun here!  Look about and see if it’s still here.  It’ll help us out if we’re attacked.”  We began a new search.

 

I was beginning to think I was better off alone.  David was smarter than Shawna but that wasn’t saying much.  I was impressed with him before; I think I was impressed because he kept his mouth shut.  The more we interacted, the more I was doubting his usefulness.

 

“You know how to shoot a gun?”  Shawna asked.  She popped a caramel cube into her mouth.  She chomped on the taffy, making nasty, saliva-like noises.  It was so disgusting.

 

“Yes I do.  I "” I do? 

 

I do!   I do know how to shoot guns, handguns particularly!  That’s awesome.  “Yeah, I know how to shoot.”

 

“You sure?  You seemed like you weren’t a second ago.”

“I do and I will use it if I have to.  We don’t know how many of those things are out there but if it’s anything like the movies, sound attracts them.  We can’t go shooting like bandits holding up a stagecoach.”

 

Shawna didn’t say anything.  I would be the keeper of the boom stick, no doubt.  I didn’t receive good vibes imagining her taking aim, shooting for our lives.  Not much better with David either.

 

While looking around, we picked out candies and other snacks to put into my bag, making sure that we had something to eat, when we left the shoppe.  There were only a few items that weren’t loaded with sugar.  I made sure to pack the jerky, chips and crackers, along with a few more bottles of water. 

 

As it grew late and I wanted to make sure we had the place secure for the night.  I made the suggestion to sleep in the closet where the storekeeper hid.  They both agreed. 

 

I had forgotten to tell them about the kid’s body.  It wouldn’t be right to lead them in there and not.  Plus, the smell would have given it away.

        

“Oh, um- there’s a body in there.  It’s not dangerous but I hid it.”

“No!  No way I’m sleeping where a dead body is laying out!”

“Look, it’s so jacked up, there’s no threat.  We don’t have anywhere to put it and it’s late.  We need to rest until "“

“No way.”  Shawna stood her ground.  She even crossed her arms across her chest for emphasis.

 

I stared at her blankly and thought it through.  I guess I didn’t really want to sleep with a corpse, a half-eaten corpse either.  The idea of it possibly getting up was frightening but if it hadn’t gotten up with the storekeeper was with it, why now?

 

David didn’t say anything.  I felt like he was waiting for me.  With a heavy sigh, I put down my bag and we walked over to the spot that encased the kid.

 

There were some plastic bags on a shelf, the large ones.  I grabbed a bunch of them and handed some to David.

 

“This body isn’t pretty to look at.  If you have a weak stomach, you don’t’ have to help.”

“No, I can do it. “  He looked back to Shawna.  “Why don’t you take the bag and sit over there Shawn.  This might be ugly.”

 

She didn’t say a word.  She walked away and plopped on her bottom.  I was liking her less and less. 

 

“You ready for this?”

“As I’ll ever be”, he stated while taking deep breaths. 

 

I heaved the large boxes away and ta-da!  The body was still there, motionless.  It was a gruesome sight, enough to almost make me cry. 

 

I think it was a boy, for obvious reasons but it wasn’t all there.  The belly was a cavity, empty.  Inside you could actually see the back skin and the spine, broken in some spots.  The face, hands and arms were gnawed on so badly, meat was left in strips.  Almost all of  the soft flesh was removed, leaving a husk similar to that of a Thanksgiving Day turkey.  Not pretty at all and the idea of picking any of it up to move was repulsive.

 

“Let’s get it done”, I said.  We go to it.

 

***

 

 

It wasn’t long before sunset.  The hues of the sky changed before our eyes as we kept an eye out for stragglers or them.  We snacked and whispered about what we thought would be out there.  It didn’t help to just sit quietly.  Our minds tended to wander, taking our imaginations with them.  Ideas of how this came to be were all the same. 

 

Military or government conspiracy to punish the little people.  Somewhere the president and his staff were living it up in a cave in the mountains, unscathed.  Whatever.

 

“I think it’s God.”

 

Shawna and David froze, looking to me in shock.  “Why would God do this to us?”

I turned to look out the window.  “I think it’s punishment.  This planet has gone to hell in a hand basket and it’s our faults.  We didn’t live right; we didn’t love each other as ourselves; heck- we didn’t even love ourselves as we should love ourselves!”

“You’re crazy!”  Shawna snapped, not realizing how loud she had been.

 

I flinched at her response but not because she thought I was crazy.  She had a big mouth.  She could draw them to us.  I looked at her and was about to tell her to keep her voice down when she stood over me and glared.

 

“You are a nut!  I shoulda known when you came up with David to pull me from under that tree!”

“If I was crazy, I’d have left you there.”  I kept my voice down, hoping she’d lower hers.  She didn’t.

 

“I don’t need you, you nut!  I coulda got outta that mess with the tree.  I don’t have to take ordrs from you either!  And I don’t have to listen to your righteous, crazy talk!”

 

“Shawna”, David said taking her hand.  “Sit down and lower your voice.”

“No!”  She shouted.  Then she got quiet.

 

I looked to the window, where I sat in the shadows.  If someone had looked inside the window, they wouldn’t see me but they would see Shawna.  She was right in line with the large, broken window.

 

I hadn’t noticed while she raved but as soon as she got quiet, we all heard.

 

Footsteps.

 

Not far away, people were walking quietly.  They weren’t moaning and groaning like in the movies.  I couldn’t even see them but they were coming. 

 

I jumped up and stole a peek.  They were across the street, using their milky eyes to search of their next meal.  I froze and held my hand out behind me.  I counted five Nastys.  I held out my fingers to let them know behind me.

 

I turned and held my index finger to my lips, then pointed to the office door at the back.  We began tip-toeing towards our haven. I bet they weren’t even around until Shawna’s big mouth played us!

 

She stopped to grab a snack bag of pretzels near the cans of jellybeans and knocked a can over.  The sound was like fireworks on the fourth of July!

 

The can bounced twice and then rolled towards David’s feet.  We all froze, praying the Nastys hadn’t heard.  My heart was threatening to burst in my chest. 

 

The three of us looked back, towards the window and saw about twelve sets of milky, yolky eyes looking in on us. 

 

No words can describe my thoughts in that brief moment.  It was like time had frozen still.  No one moved or said anything for like, ever!  They just stared at us, unmoving.  They pale, grayish skin shined in the setting sunlight.  Then they moved.

 

All at once they charged through the broken window.  Knocking down the shelves, boxes and running over the jars and cans that we’d left out to trip them up.

 

To a degree it worked.  The trap slowed them down but it didn’t stop them.  They ran over one another to get at us.  As soon as this registered in our minds, I bellowed a long, “Ruuuuuun!”

 

They didn’t need me to say it twice.  They were on my heels.  We dodged knocked over shelves and jumped away from barrels that could have tripped us up before reaching the open office door.

 

As soon as Shawna and David were inside, we slammed the door shut on the monsters.  They were growling, bearing their blackened teeth and hands extended towards us like claws.

 

With every step they took, saliva poured from their mouths, letting us know just how much they were hungry for us.  I wasn’t ready to be anyone or anything’s main course.  I hit all three locks in an instant.

 

The Nastys banged on the door, full strength!  I could have peed my pants at that moment.   I was breathing heavy, looking around, trying to figure out what we were going to do as Shawna screamed repeatedly.

 

“What are we gonna do?  What do we do?”

“Calm down Shawn.  Maybe they’ll go away!”

“No they won’t!  They’re gonna tear the door down!”

“SHUT UP!”  I yelled.

 

Sweat poured from my eyes, burning and distracting me from coming up with a plan of escape.  With each boom on the door, my heart skipped a beat.  I didn’t want to die.  I didn’t want to be eaten alive either.  We had to get out.

 

I looked up to the ceiling as something flew past my face.  “What tha-“

“They’re breaking it down!  We don’ t have much time!”

 

David looked at Shawna irritatedly and walked to me.  “I think you are coming up with something.  If we stay here, they’ll peel us out like a can of sardines.”

“I know.  The only think I can think of is…”  I looked back up at the ceiling.  Tiles.  There were tiles up there.

 

“Do you think we can climb into the ceiling?

 

David looked up.  We moved simultaneously and snatched the dirty table and slid it to a spot where I climbed on top.  I reached up and saw that the tile moved.

 

I instantly thought of the alien movie where the soldiers looked into the ceiling and found the monsters coming at them up there.  I prayed that wasn’t the case here.

 

I pushed the tile to the side and stood on my tip-toes.  Nothing was there.  The bars weren’t very strong but the railings in the ceiling were.  As long as we stayed on the railings, we could crawl right over the Nastys and wait them out, or better yet, climb to the roof and make an escape over-head.

 

It was dirty and musty.  Cobwebs and probably spider webs were everywhere.  That wasn’t as much of a worry as being eaten though.  I came back down and whispered.

 

“I think we can do it.  That door won’t hold for long so we have to move and hopefully they won’t figure out how we got away.”

“You think they’re smart?”

“I don’ t know but I they don’t seem stupid either.  Whether they’re operating on animal instinct or not, they found us and fast.  Thanks to Miss Smarty-Mouth”,

I nodded towards Shawna.

 

“I didn’t know they were there!”  She defended.

“Enough girl!  Shut up so we can get out of here!”  Shawna gave me a nasty look but it didn’t phase me.  She could always stay.

 

I explained the railing and how we needed to stick to them or else fall right into mob of the Nasty’s.  With them understanding, I went back to my toes, raised my arms over my head and pushed off the table. 

 

I had to swing my legs wildly and pull with my arms in order to get into the small opening.  When I pulled myself into a sitting position, with my feet hanging down, I plopped to my stomach and felt something smack against my ribs.

 

I carefully sat up and looked down.  Something was in front of me in a pile.  I felt about and found a heavy-duty torchlight.  Hot dog!  I turned it on.  The light was weak but it worked.  I shined the light and found a 37-mm riot gun along with some shells.  Awesome!  I leaned down in the opening and reached for the backpack.

 

“David, help Shawna up and then we’ll bring you up.”

“Okay”, he said and helped Shawna up on to the table.

 

The banging on the door was deafening now.  Each pound they gave made the entire room shake.  They’d broken the top slide lock and the doorknob was about to give way.  If the knob gave out, they’d be inside in no time!

 

Shawna was about halfway up when The bottom slide lock gave way.  Oh crap I thought.  We’re outta time.  I yanked Shawna up as hard as I could, bringing her into me and off to my right.  She landed so hard, her arm went through the tiling, causing her to hang down into the room again. 

 

“Dang it girl, come on!  David, get on the table!”  I shouted.

 

David ignored my command and stepped to the left of me.  He jumped and shoved Shawna’s hand to push her back up into the ceiling. 

 

“No, no no!  Get up here!”  They’re coming!”

 

I shoved Shawna away from the hole as David’s hands made it through the opening.  I grabbed him and pulled.  He was so heavy, I hardly made any headway.

 

“Jump”, I yelled and he did.  I still couldn’t get a good enough grip to get him through.  “Shawna, get over here and help me!”

 

Shawna sat on the railing, sniveling and whining.  She wasn’t helping but freezing up instead!  The door downstairs didn’t have much time.

 

I looked down at David again and told him to jump.  He tried again and I did my best to get him up and inside but I couldn’t do it alone.

 

“Damn it girl, help me save your boyfriend!”

“I-I can’t.  I can’t move!” She whined. 

 

David looked away from us towards the door, then back to us.  The sheer fear in his eyes made me determined more than ever.  We had to get him up.

 

I let go of David’s hands and wiped them on my jeans.  I made sure they were completely moisture-free and I reached for him again. 

 

“Come on David, I’ll get you.  I promise.  I need you to jump one more time.  We can do it.”

 

Bang!  Bang!

 

“I’m not going to make it”, he said.  His face was red and wet with perspiration.  His hands were too, making it harder for me to help him up.

 

“Yes you will.  Please, just jump as high as you can and I will be pulling.  We will all get outta here”

 

Bang!  Bang!

 

“On the count of three, okay?”

“Yeah.”

 

On one, the door broke free of it’s hinge.  David looked away from me to see the hoard coming at him.  As he turned back to me, I saw that we were too late.

 

“JUMP!!!!!”  I screamed.  And he did.  I had him!  His pasty skin gave me nothing for gripping.   His sweaty arm was as slippery as a grease-covered pole.   

 

When he fell away from me, I saw the desperation in his eyes; the fear of what was going to happen next.  It was all there, in his eyes.  His feet landed on top of the table.  With a loud thwack his feet crunched across the center, causing the ends of the table to fold upwards, throwing David to the floor. 

 

The impact rocked his knees, making one crunch.  He yelled out and fell to his bottom.  The moans of the dead came through with them door busting visitors.  They shuffled towards David.

 

I leaned down again, I but I just couldn’t reach him.  I watched the hungry hoard ascend on David, like wolves.  The first one snatched his injured leg, making him fall.

 

The Nasty opened his gaping jaws and leaned in for a bite.  David screamed so loud, it shocked me.  I almost fell through the opening.  He began to push and shove at the Nasty’s but it was no use, there were too many.  Another grabbed his hand and removed a finger.  One came up behind him and bit into his left deltoid muscle like a hamburger, pulling away a large chunk of the young man.  Many more followed suit.  Blood was everywhere.

 

We screamed together, him from the fear and pain and me from seeing it all.  This was a true nightmare.  I hadn’t realizedit but we were still reaching for one other but it was no use.   My heart was in my throat and my stomach was pushing up, towards my chest.  He was being eaten alive.

 

Bile rose instantly and I vomited on the horrid scene.  I heaved about three or four times before a few of them started looking up at me and reaching. The rest didn’t notice, while eating David.  He didn’t notice either. 

 

I screamed, “God!  Darren!”

Author's Note

Please don't worry- tell me what you hunk.

Reviews

[Cre8nFrmWithn]

:)

[DeliriousCerises]

This was gripping for sure. You got me feeling the fear for David, the desperate hope that she would save him, although knowing she wouldn't. This chapter also had a good balance of description and action.