Darkness Falls (Book 1): Rise of the Fallen (7 page)

-5-

Jessie and Kurt returned to the campsite to gather Amy’s belongings. While they were away Sam refueled the van. Dan suggested that Jessie drive once they had returned. Dan told Amy that she should try not to talk for at least a day while she got needed fluids and rested. After drinking around a gallon of water followed by a long nap, she whispered for her purse. She pulled out a pen and small notepad commencing to writing up a storm. She handed over the notepad to Dan who read over her immense novel.

“So you went a little ways into the woods to use the restroom and left your pistol in the tent? Really Amy? After all the
Fallen
you have come across and barely survived, seriously? You’re smarter than that. Hell, you’ve always been smarter than any of your brothers. Now that fact is in question.”

Amy grabbed the notepad while slugging Dan in the arm with her other hand. She wrote, ‘I really had to go’ thrusting it back at Dan.

“Dan read the sentence shaking his head. ‘You’re such a goober. A lucky one at that. Stuck in a tree for almost two whole days while a hungry
Fallen
licked his chops from below occasionally knowing on the wood imagining it was you. You realize that as your brothers we will all have to make fun of you for at least a month?”

Amy stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes. She grabbed the notepad again asking several questions about the woman who rescued her from the tree. Dan introduced Jessie to Amy filling her in on everything up until now. She eventually decided to go back to sleep after multiple more questions which she asked Jessie. By the time they arrived in Denver she was doing considerably better. She drank more water and downed an entire bag of nacho flavored chips from a small convenient store they stopped at for a restroom break.

A short while after making it to Denver Jessie pulled up to a house. She told the others to wait a few minutes after explaining that it was her house and she lived alone. She pulled out a key from her pocket letting herself in the front door. Ten minutes later she returned wearing a fresh clothing and carrying a couple duffle bags. She was barely able to stuff the in the almost full van.

“Someone else’s turn to drive. Also, we should probably find some way to refuel that tank on the trailer if we are heading all the way to New Mexico.” Sam climbed out of the back seat letting Jessie take his place next to Amy.

“What is in New Mexico?” Amy looked intensely at Jessie.

“Seems to be our new home according to your brothers.”

Amy glanced over taking in Jessie avidly for the first time. “Thanks for saving me by the way.” She quickly kissed Jessie on the lips before looking over at Dan. “Dan be a doll and rub my feet while I get some more rest.”

She lifted one of Jessie’s arms ducking underneath as she sprawled across the entire back seat. She rested her feet in Dan’s lap while laying her head in Jessie’s. She snuggled up with Jessie’s arm which she tucked around her pressing tightly against her breasts. “Night.” She closed her eyes smiling while biting her lower lip much as Jessie had done when she first saw a photograph of Amy. Jessie was a little shocked but that’s not why her heart was beating fast in her chest.

“Looks like you made a new appreciative admirer,” Dan laughed as he began rubbing Amy’s feet. “And you’re lucky that you are my little sister Amy or I’d toss you and these smelly feet out the van on your head.”

Amy stuck out her tongue again a Dan. Jessie couldn’t help herself from gazing and imagining what that tongue would taste like or feel like between her legs. Amy opened her eyes for a moment while still sticking out her tongue intentionally to see Jessie’s reaction.

“Later sweetheart, promise.” Amy winked before closing her eyes again.

Jessie blushed closing her own eyes and leaning back against the seat. She went back to her personal thoughts until she fell asleep. She woke several hours later finding the van had stopped moving. It was dark outside but Jessie had no great night vision. They were parked in a parking lot of a motel. Amy began to stir awake herself seemingly confused where she was. Several minutes passed before flashlight temporarily blinded both of them. The brothers climbed into the van all breathing hard.

Amy sat up and stretched. “What time is it? Where are we?”

Dan replied, “Little after two in the morning. We are in Oklahoma at a debatable looking motel in the middle of nowheresville. That does not mean we are desolate enough not to have
Fallen
about however. Ran into about seven of the creeps. Surprised us a little bit. Had to use a quite a bit of ammo putting them down. Pretty sure we got all the ones lurking about, but no way to tell for certain. Anyway, got a few room keys. Would you ladies like separate rooms or rather share one for safety?”

“Share,” both women answered at the same time.

“Fine, but don’t stay up all night even though you both napped today. You’re both on drive duty tomorrow.”

“No worries. We’re going straight to bed mommy.”

“Funny Amy. Here’s your key.”

Sam moved the van over to a group of room for which they had grabbed keys for. The numbers were large enough to see even without the parking lot being lit. Outside of the van Amy took Jessie’s arm in hers while whispering in her ear. They both giggled while they walked to their room. After entering, Jessie closed the door locking it from the inside.

Kurt grabbed a few things from the van he wanted to take inside his room. “I swear Amy always steals the pretty ones for herself. Skank.” Kurt appeared to be mildly upset.

“Now Kurt, she is your sister. Second, I’m pretty sure Amy did not steal Jessie from anyone. If you were interested you should have made your intentions known. However that does not mean that Jessie would have chosen any differently, being that it is her choice. Just let it be and get some sleep. We’re all a little cranky after being cooped up for hours in the van.” Dan shouldered a duffle bag going off to his room.

The entire Weatherford family and Jessie all somehow managed to sleep in until a little before noon. Shortly after leaving the motel the women began trying to talk the others into finding a source of water to take a bath. They suggested finding a map somewhere or a phonebook to look for swimming pool locations perhaps. They also suggested it would be a good idea to stop for essentials like soap, shampoo, razors, and toilet paper.

“Just find the nearest place you can to stop Dan. If you don’t they will nag us the next thousand miles. We need to refuel anyway.”

“You should listen to Sam. She always was annoying on long trips. Plus know Amy always gets her way in the end on everything,” Kurt laughed.

Around an hour later, Dan pulled into a MegaMart Plus Groceries and More (there wasn’t much that they didn’t carry including a fueling station). The fact that there was twenty cars parked meant finding gas would not be a problem with a hose to syphon from. It also meant there were likely several
Fallen
around. They drove through the lot several times looking in, around, and under vehicles. Dan finally parked right next to the main doors in case they needed to make a hasty escape. They all got out cautiously with guns at the ready except for Amy who refused to budge. She told them the place was too big and in no way safe to be going inside. The others walked inside finding that the store was way indeed large. There was no way to sweep the entire area without missing something or potentially having moving targets that could travel to areas they already believed clear. Instead they decided that they would stay together to gather supplies. At each row that had necessities one of them guarded each entrance onto the aisle while the other two gathered items stuffing them into backpacks they had first grabbed from a back to school aisle. On the way to hardware to gather a hose and plastic gas container they all began to think the same thing. They had not run across even one
Fallen
so far which made no sense. Just as they were passing a set of swinging doors that led back into the overstock area Jessie motioned for the group to stop. She gave a sign to be quiet while kneeling down. The others ducked down in unison following her as she moved slowly about an aisle past the doors. Sam started to ask what the big deal was, but the frightened look on Jessie’s face was enough to freeze your blood solid. They got to hardware grabbing what they needed then headed straight for the front doors as quickly as possible. Once back in the van, Jessie told Amy who sat in the driver’s seat to drive immediately. Seeing the look on Jessie’s face Amy took off without question.

About a mile down the road Dan gently rested his hand on Jessie’s shoulder feeling her mildly shaking. “It’s alright now. We’re safely away. What got you so spooked back there Jess? What was it that you saw?”

It took a minute for Jessie to calm down. She explained that when they were passing the double doors she glimpsed through the plastic windows. In the back there were thirty to fifty
Fallen
huddled back there. Many were devouring rotten bloody meat from an open butcher’s storage freezer. Others were congregated around bodies that had been torn apart with the flesh completely gnawed off the bone. The brothers suddenly realized how lucky they had gotten that the massive group of
Fallen
had not heard or seen them thanks to Jessie.

It was decided to find somewhere much smaller to safely syphon gas. A tiny convenient store with a couple cars was where they eventually stopped. The main thing that caught their eye was a small refueling tanker truck had parked in an empty lot of a boarded up building right next door. Amy suggested that Jessie stay in the van with her from which she got no argument. She reminded Dan to look for a phone book or map as he got out. Inside they took out three
Fallen
without any issues. Kurt found a phone book near the register and a map on a spinning rack full of tourist items. Sam grabbed a plastic bag stuffing it with junk food they had forgotten to get at the MegaMart being in such a rush to leave. Back outside Dan backed the trailer up to the refueling truck. He got out tapping on the truck’s fuel tank finding it was about half full. Unlatching an opening on the top of their tank he saw it was barely big enough to fit the housing of the release valve attached to the house from the tanker truck. All set up he went to attempt to turn it on finding the keys were sitting in the seat of the truck. The pressure from the hose was pretty strong. Luckily Sam and Kurt were positioned to hold it in place while they refueled. They were able to completely fill the tank in the trailer. After shutting down the tanker and removing the hose, they filled the van up with gas.

Back in the van Amy had already located a nearby indoor pool at a YMCA building. A short while later they pulled up to the YMCA finding it was completely empty of cars. Kurt broke the glass on the mostly metal door to reach inside and unlatch it from the inside. After making sure the place was empty the ladies decided to go first at bathing while the men guarded the entrance from outside smoking cigarettes they had also pilfered from the convenience store. The water was extremely cold making the women huddle together for warmth. They helped each other bath while occasionally making out. The men were next while Jessie guarded the door. Amy was too busy primping in front of a handheld mirror to be much use as a lookout. Afterwards, the group had a small picnic with the junk food before loading back up in the van with Jessie at the wheel.

-6-

With not enough daylight to view the cabins after loading everything Jerod slept in one of the guest rooms at Rye’s cabin. I wasn’t too worried that I had allowed a stranger into my home. He only seemed dangerous to the
Fallen
with that sniper rifle. The following morning after boiling some water for coffee I suggested we go take a look at the properties. Jerod appeared elated like a kid in a candy store for the first time. We arrived to the neighborhood shortly after finishing off our coffee. It didn’t take long for Jerod to make a choice on the cabins. One of them had a real western feel about it. Cowhide rugs, a bison head mounted on a wall, and rusty wagon wheels out front half buried to name a few of its unique traits. Jerod’s eyes lit up with anticipation of unloading his personal belongings.

“I’ve been thinking. If we really want this place to be secure maybe we could put up steel bars on the windows like at the gun shop. Maybe put up some wire fencing or something around each side of the block.”

“Not a bad idea. I helped install the security bars at the store. Pretty easy with the right equipment. Need to find some better doors too. Seems like they were too easy for you to break into.”

“If you make me a list of what all is needed I will get the equipment. I will do my best to assist you in any way I can even if I don’t have welding experience. As for the doors I’m sure we can find some that are more solid. Might need to do a little repair on the frames. Throw in removable metal bars and locks we should be good.”

“I’ll go with you to get the stuff. I may not be able to do as much heavy lifting as I used to but I can watch your back if nothing else.”

“True enough. Never know when I might drop my keys again and need saving. By the way, there is one cabin that is beyond redemption. The smell and blood are too big of a problem to attempt fixing it up. May put all the bodies in there. Perhaps set it on fire. Let the thing burn down.”

“What if the wind spreads the ash carrying the infection somehow or causes a mutated strand?”