Emperor of a Dead World (30 page)

“Such a shame,” Brad said as he walked over to the window. “We could have formed an alliance against a common enemy.”

At first, the men were holding off the creatures but they soon became overrun. In an effort to get away, two men got into a truck and headed out. As these made their escape, three more men got into another vehicle and started out. They made it past the gas trucks and it looked like they would also escape when a creature jumped onto the hood of the truck and pounded on the windshield. The driver hit the brakes to try to get it off and two more creatures attacked. One broke the passenger window and pulled out a screaming man. The driver tried to speed away but the other creature climbed in through the broken window and the truck rolled over.

“They are here,” Brad stated solemnly.

“Look,” Tyrone pointed.

Several advanced creatures were running into the parking lot and attacking the men that were trying to escape. Five more trucks started out but only two made it through. A few other men were trying to fight the creatures but none survived.

“Get to the shelter now,” Brad said to Lisa. He then turned to the engineer. “You need to get the gas ready.”

The man sat in front of his control and wiped the blood from his face. When the window had shattered, it cut his face pretty badly.

Rudy ran in with a man behind him. “What do we do?”

“Get everyone into the shelter.”

He turned to go out

“Take Lisa,” Brad demanded.

“No,” she protested.

“Drag her there and tie her down if you have to,” Brad threatened.

Rudy looked at his man and he advanced toward Lisa. She relented to save her dignity and the man followed her out.

Brad once again focused on the threat out front. Many more creatures were coming in and about one in twenty of these were the advanced killers. Most of them stayed behind the trucks but a few ventured forward.

“Spray a little gas just to make sure it works,” Brad said to the engineer.

“It will work,” the man replied.

“I am a little concerned about this plan,” Tyrone said.

“You are concerned about the plan,” Brad chuckled. “I am a little concerned about the creatures.”

Tyrone shrugged. “Remember your last big fire?”

While they were looking out the window, a creature looked up and ran toward them.

“Everyone back,” Brad shouted.

The creature made it to the barrier and tangled itself in the barbed wire. As it flailed around it attracted others and more started forward.

“Turn on the gas,” Brad cried.

The man opened the valves and soaked the creatures as Brad grabbed a flare gun and watched. The drone was still circling above. First one, then another, and now several creatures came forward all soaked in gasoline. Suddenly it was as if the floodgates opened and the crowd came on. Brad shot a flare and an explosion of fire erupted. This however did not stop them. They ran straight through the flames and into the barbed wire. As the creatures struggled in the snare, the fire spread back and engulfed the trucks. Now it was only a matter of time. Brad left the drone circling and told everyone to get to the shelter. He grabbed the laptop with joystick attached and followed them out onto the track. He was only a few feet from the entrance to the shelter when the explosions started. The ground shook so much that he lost his balance and fell to his knees. He looked back and saw a huge ball of flame climbing up into the sky.

“Come on, let’s go,” Tyrone called to him. “That fireball is going to attract more creatures.”

Brad got up and ran down to safety pulling the door shut behind him. Once inside, Lisa ran to him but he did not know what to say. Everyone was frightened and many were crying. He hugged her and said, “I am glad you are safe.”

She smiled in return but her eyes reflected her fear.

He gazed at all the people in the subterranean shelter and for the first time realized how small it really was. They had packed over two hundred people into a hole only fifty feet by eighty feet. The entire area was about the size of his backyard in Sunny Park Estates. The floor and walls were simply dirt and the wooden ceiling, which was less than seven feet high, sat on a wooden frame. Over the ceiling, a thin layer of dirt hid the structure from view so that it appeared as part of the racetrack. Aside from the main room, a couple of ten by ten closets held food, water and other supplies. There were of course no windows but solar power supplied ample light. To escape, only two stairways led to doors lying flush upon the ground that opened to the world above.

Everyone calmed when Brad entered but then another gas truck exploded and rattled the place back into panic mode. As the shelter shook, dirt rained down upon them through the cracks in the ceiling. Brad told everyone to remain calm then opened his laptop and checked on the drone. It still circled above. Tyrone and Rudy joined him while the guards held everyone else back.

“What do you see?” Tyrone asked.

“Flames cover the parking lot and the creatures are everywhere,” Brad replied as he held the computer so they could see.

The slow creatures wandered aimlessly on fire as the faster ones struggled in the barbed wire with many burned to a crisp. While the drone circled, Brad felt relief that none of these things had found their way inside the racetrack. He checked the battery and it was at about twenty-five percent so he set the drone down and let the solar panels do their job. He and the others would spend the night in the shelter then he would check out the situation in the morning. He turned off the laptop.

Chapter 25

Brad awoke to the sensation of gravel falling on his head. After wiping his face, he looked at Lisa lying against him as she slept. He kissed her then gently laid her aside as he rubbed his stiff neck. When he looked up, he noticed a few people mingling quietly while the rest slept.

Glancing at his computer he noticed dirt covered the top and when he reached for it, he thought he heard something above. He brushed off the dirt then opened the lid and pushed the power button. When it booted up he clicked on the drone’s camera and saw something walk past the lens. He slowly turned the camera toward the shelter and gasped in shock. The advanced creatures were everywhere. Fear consumed him as he gazed at this terrible sight. When he stood, those nearby looked at him and he motioned for them to be still. He now awoke Tyrone, Rudy and Lisa so he could explain the situation then told them to wake the others and make sure everyone remained very quiet.

As the creatures walked above, dirt continued to rain down and Brad regretted the hurried job they had done and wished they had taken more time to build a better ceiling. Once everyone gathered, he explained the situation and begged them all not to speak. If not given a reason to stay, these things would eventually leave. The hardest part was controlling the weeping of the children.

“Can these things get into the shelter,” Lisa whispered.

“I don’t think so,” he replied, “but it is probably best that we do not give them a reason to try.”

Tyrone and Rudy’s girlfriends were in tears and Tyrone had his eyes focused on the ceiling just above his head. After a moment, he directed the women and children to the center of the shelter and instructed the men to gather their weapons and prepare to fight.

Brad glanced at Tyrone then he too focused on the creatures walking only inched above his head and he wondered why they lingered. Did these things smell them? As he focused on the ceiling, he heard a scratching sound. A man standing nearby with his weeping daughter pointed and Brad saw dirt streaming down near the noise. He walked over to get a better look and suddenly two grotesque fingers pushed down between the boards. When this happened the young girl screamed. Her father covered her mouth but it was too late. The creatures had heard her and all at once began banging and pounding on the ceiling. This caused several others to cry out.

Tyrone warned everyone to be silent as Brad hurried over to his computer. The drone was his last resort. As soon as he started the engine, the pounding stopped. The sound and motion of the drone attracted the creatures and they ran after it. Brad gave it everything it had and just barely got it off the ground as one of the creatures swung its arm and knocked the drone sideways. The view on the monitor became a blur but Brad instinctively pulled up, banked left and by some miracle kept the drone in the air. He now circled around and clicked on missiles. Before he tried to shoot one off, he checked to make sure he did not have to override any permissions Danny may have installed. Once he was sure it would fire, he checked the inventory and found he had several missiles but only two bombs left. Since he could not possibly kill all these things with the few weapons he had he must find a way to lead them away from the shelter.

He circled above to study the situation and saw a lot of the exterior fence lying on the ground. Apparently, as these things had tangled themselves in the barbed wire, others had come along and walked over them. As he made another pass, he noticed a hole in the wall near the clubhouse. The explosion he heard before the creatures attacked must have caused this. Hoping to get them to follow the drone out through this opening, he buzzed over the top of them and they jumped at the drone even though it was still ten feet above their heads. Every pass he made got them closer to the exit and finally some started to leave. He now took off to create a disturbance in hopes of getting them away from the property. Half a mile away, he flew over a gas station and dropped a bomb sending two pumps flying into the air. He barely got the drone clear before the place exploded in flames. The sound of the explosion and the sight of the flames caught their interest and the creatures headed for this new diversion. It order to make sure they did not lose interest Brad used the drone to lead them in the right direction. He only hoped they did not have any coherent memory and would not return.

For over an hour Brad worked on getting the creatures away from the property. Once he had them on the move, he focused on those that remained inside the track. In order to get rid of them he told a dozen guards to follow him out with assault rifles. They headed up to rid the place of the unwanted loiterers but as soon as Brad stepped out, the stragglers came at him. When he turned to go back down the creatures suddenly began to drop around him. He glanced over and saw the long-nosed man and the other runners had returned and were shooting them. Their trench coats allowed them to walk amongst these things. Brad and the guards now came out and quickly put an end to their problems.

Now that it was clear, Brad landed the drone and put it on the charger then searched the grounds. Inside their defiled sanctuary, they found only three more creatures that the guards easily put down. Convinced these things did not have the intelligence to hide and satisfied the place was safe, Brad told the rest of the men to come out and set them to work repairing the damaged wall. While they were doing this, Mickey the Horseman walked up to Brad.

“How do we keep the creatures from coming back?” he asked.

“I learned something from the men at Boeing,” Brad smiled. “We will line the fence with corpses and their odor will hide us. There are already a lot of these things tangled up in the barbed wire so I will have the men kill them as they repair the fence. While they are doing this, I will have some others stand guard and kill any that come close then pile them up along the perimeter. As far as going outside, I have to go out eventually so I might just as well do it now.”

“Don’t you think you should wait a while for things to calm down?”

“I need to take care of this now.”

They walked past the building housing the chickens and Brad smiled. It was untouched. When they got to the horse stables these were fine as well. Brad had already used the idea of lining these building with corpses of the infected. After glancing at the horses, he walked over and opened a crate then pulled out his old trench coat. The thing reeked.

“This worked for the other men,” he shrugged, “it should work for me as well.” When he walked out of the stable Tyrone, Rudy and several guards approached. “Don’t try to stop me,” Brad insisted.

Tyrone handed him his sword and shield. “I saw you coming over here and I knew what you were planning.” He turned to a man that handed him a trench coat. Rudy was holding one as well.

“What are you guys doing?” Brad asked.

“We are coming with you,” Rudy smiled. He showed Brad his rod and Tyrone held up his crowbar.

“We already wiped our coats in the ones we just killed,” Tyrone said. He pointed at the other men. “These men will cover us.

Brad shrugged and said, “Let’s roll.”

They walked out through a gate near the stable and three creatures were nearby. The things looked but did not attack. The men went straight up to them and killed them then dragged them over to the fence as the guards observed from a distance.