Season Of Decay (The Decaying World Saga Book 2) (20 page)

Marcus raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Then we better dig down deep people, ‘cause that doesn’t leave any time for rest.”

20

The explosion in the gorge did not produce the effect Rowan had hoped. Instead of cutting off the last of the infected trapped down in the bowels of hive six, it served more as a dinner bell of sorts. Kuru had a charming effect on the undead and that was enough to keep the small group alive, but the terrorizing sounds confirmed they were being hunted. There was no clear count of how many infected still lurked the halls of the hive. However, it was clear that they were all aware of Rowan and Connor’s presence.

“I have to stop.”

Connor didn’t wait for permission, collapsing on the floor.

“I can’t take this much longer,” he said, grabbing at his stinted leg.

It was easy to see his badly damaged knee even in the pale lantern light. Rowan had heard the story from Mia and knew Jonah was to blame for the injury. The leg was not Connor’s sole problem. A lack of food had left the former military man feeble. It was no minor miracle that he’d managed to keep to Rowan’s forced run during their escape, let alone climb up the rope onto the railing without being picked off the line in the process.

“There’s still a long way to go,” Kuru growled.

Connor brushed him off.

“Then you might as well leave me here,” he said. “It’s as good a place as any to die.”

Rowan pointed his gun at Connor.

“Get up.”

Connor raised his hands.

“All right, all right,” he said then rolled onto his side and pushed off. “At least let me catch my breath.”

Rowan gave him two additional puffs before sticking his hand out. Connor took it begrudgingly then grimaced as he stood up. They followed Kuru to a small crack in the foundation above them when the guide came to a stop. He studied the opening and held his hand up before Rowan could get out a question. Rowan bit his tongue, but quickly discovered the reason for the halt. Light from somewhere on the floor above showed through the crack. The glow broke several times in succession as something stepped over the gap.

“They’re closing in,” Kuru announced, “Trying to corner us.”

Rowan waited for more detail that didn’t come.

“So how do we get around them?” he pressed.

“We have to wait them out,” Kuru said.

Rowan had a strong urge to get topside. He guessed the opportunity to get Jonah and Tate back would be a few days at best before whoever took them was long gone. He couldn’t imagine what was going through Mia’s mind. He wanted to be there for her and was certain she would need him more with every passing day.

“We can’t wait,” he said.

“I can’t keep them off of you,” Kuru said.

Rowan glanced at Connor.

“We’re going to have to take the chance.”

Kuru shrugged.

“Have it your way.”

They pushed farther toward the center of the hive and turned off the main hall before they reached the elevator. Kuru led them through a side room and into an open bay. The space was smaller than the massive area they’d used to stage Connor’s escape, but larger than any of the other rooms they’d encountered. They weaved between crammed walkways of man-high crates to reach an opening in the wall. Kuru pointed at the first step of a staircase ascending to a dark, slender landing on the floor above.

“There are several rooms in a row beyond the door,” Kuru explained. “Most of the walls are down. We can use the wreckage to hide, but there’s not much else to cover us.”

Rowan could hear the doubt in his graveled description.

“And there’s no other way?”

Kuru shook his head. Rowan had to remind himself that no matter how little he trusted his guide, Kuru needed him alive in order to escape the hive. He checked his gun and counted out the few remaining rounds. He slipped his gun in his waist, pulled out his knife, and drove Connor up the stairs in front of him. They were all on the landing close to the door before Rowan eased it open.

The room looked like a destruction zone, with few of the walls still standing. Light filtered into the space from gaps running the length of the wall closest to the door. Rowan put out the lantern and clipped it to his belt. He tried to steady his nerves before opening the door wide enough to step out into the open. He kept his eyes trained on a tall pile of rock.

Rowan had a hold of Connor around the wrist, pulling him as they rushed for cover. They were crouched as close to the ground as they could manage when Rowan looked back for Kuru. The way behind them was still. Rowan made out Kuru in the shadows of the landing behind the door. He waved him out, but Kuru slowly shook his head and pointed at something beyond their cover.

Rowan slid his face over the pile of rocks until his eyes broke free. He scanned the dim space directly in front of them all the way out to a view several rooms down. He held his breath and the sound of his heart rose in his ears. There was movement in the open space. The sound of Kuru’s shuffling feet pulled his attention around and Rowan put the pieces together a split second before Kuru announced it.

“They found us.”

Rowan didn’t look back. He pushed Connor, forcing him to stand and run in a series of awkward steps. Kuru was out in front of them. He moved over the remains of the wall between two rooms and pulled himself out of view. Connor hobbled over the broken barrier as a deafening howl blared across the destruction zone.

Rowan didn’t need to look back to know the infected were moving toward them. He grabbed a hold of Connor’s shirt as he leapt into the adjoining room and the force nearly took both of them down. Kuru was close, waving them toward a narrow gap in the remains of a central hallway. His decaying skin was difficult to ignore, but there was something very living about the fear in his eyes.

“Get in here,” he said.

Rowan shoved Connor again as another round of howls reached them. The jolt sent Connor to the ground and Rowan diving over the top of him. Rowan landed on his splinted leg and the roar that erupted from him pierced the growls of the infected rushing in for the kill. Rowan was up to his knees when the first of the infected hurdled over the broken section of the wall behind them. Rowan grabbed Connor’s hand trying to pull him up to his feet.

“Get up. Get up now.”

Kuru’s snarling voice shouted something from behind them, but Rowan couldn’t make it out. Connor’s face streaked with pain as he tried to remain standing. Rowan’s brain tried to calculate the time and distance between the gap in the wall behind him and the infected running toward him, but the panic made the equation impossible to crack. A flash of movement beyond the broken wall spoke to what was coming.

Rowan was out of options. He pushed his heels down in one quick thrust as he yanked on Connor’s arm. The force got Connor up, yelling obscene objections as he went. The momentum flung Rowan backward with Connor close behind. The duo fell into the gap in the wall with Rowan taking the impact as they hit the floor on the other side.

Kuru had a shoulder buried into a small, metal crate, shoving it across the face of the opening. The barrier slid into place as the face of an infected man flashed in front of the breach. A thunderous blast erupted from the far side of the crate as the body of the beast slammed into it. Rowan scrambled out from under Connor and stood up.

The lines of light dotting the darkened interior provided few details about their surroundings. Rowan’s fear forced him to pull the lantern from his hip. He set it down on the ground and fumbled through his pockets for the tools to get it lit. Another more powerful bang hit the crate and caused him to drop everything in his hands.

“Damn it,” he said, swiping his fingers across the floor.

Kuru pulled on him, trying to get him to start moving again.

“Forget it,” he said.

Rowan shook him off.

“I’m not running around here in the dark,” he spat back. “Help him up.”

Kuru grabbed Connor’s arm but he slapped it away.

“Get your filthy hands off of me.”

Rowan found the rest of his scattered gear and quickly produced a spark. The lantern came to life as the pounding on the crate increased, so much so, that it pushed away from the wall.

“We’re out of time,” Kuru said.

The beam of light sprang from the lantern and filled the far side of the room. Rowan caught sight of figures moving toward him as he started forward. Hands reached out a moment before the moans of the dead marked their arrival. He kicked at the lumbering undead man and the strike at the knee tore through the remains of its pants and snapped the decaying bone beneath in two. The zombie fell and another quickly took its place. Connor’s cry for help filled the room when Kuru stepped ahead of them.

“Back.”

Rowan felt the release the moment Kuru cried out. The lantern’s light revealed the undead pushing into the space from across the room, each of them now frozen in place. There were more figures than Rowan cared to count. The state of decay was unnerving most of them either peeled, gouged, or partially eaten in some manner.

“Stay close.”

Kuru’s direction left little room for error. He walked forward, directly between the pack as Rowan helped Connor up in a hurry. The dead closed in around them, none of them willing to challenge whatever sway Kuru held over them, but their longing for flesh kept their rotting eyes focused squarely on the fleeing meal. The putrid flesh parted in a narrow path and Kuru led them through it. They broke free from the pack and Rowan pushed past their guide, pulling Connor with him.

A loud screech told them the crate would not hold the infected back for much longer. The sound of the alarm was more than enough to get Rowan to pick up his pace. His desire to increase his speed came to a grinding halt when Connor pulled away. Gasping for air, he leaned against the wall and shook his head.

“Go on,” he said between deep huffs. “You might as well shoot me.” He clenched his teeth and pressed against his knee. “I can’t run.”

Rowan’s eyes went back to the crowd of dead slowly inching toward them. He was out of time and he knew it. He turned his gaze on Kuru.

“How much farther?”

“There’s another two levels,” he said. “Then we’ll have to survive long enough to reach the landing.”

Rowan was stuck somewhere between his need to bring Connor back and a desperate necessity for self-preservation. It took another loud bang on the crate to snap him back to the moment. He held the lantern out for Kuru.

“Take this and lead the way.”

He didn’t leave time for details. Rowan grabbed Connor by the arm then got down on one knee. Rowan ducked in close to his chest, and before Connor could object, he grabbed his good leg and lifted straight up. The result left Connor lying across Rowan’s shoulders yelling at him for it. Rowan barked at Kuru again.

“Lead the way.”

Rowan struggled to keep up. For his part, Connor continued to complain. His new position left his mouth even with Rowan’s ear. Heat built in Rowan’s legs as the pain of his load increased with every step. He was forced to climb over a number of collapsed walls before he reached an erect barrier. Kuru slipped through a hole in the wall ahead of them and the sounds racing up from behind said they had no time to consider options.

“I can’t climb through there with you,” Rowan said.

Connor blared out some indiscernible response that included the dead and the infected behind them. Rowan had a good idea what it meant. He chose the only available alternative. He took a long step toward the wall then ducked, pushing up on Connor with both hands in the same motion.

Connor yelled as he flew. Rowan’s aim was true with one minor degree of error. Connor slipped through the hole in the wall clipping his forehead as he passed. Rowan started in after him before Connor hit the ground on the other side.

Connor wasn’t moving and a line of fresh blood running across his brow gave a hint as to why. Rowan knelt down and picked him up and he got a quick glimpse of what was behind them. There were more infected than he could count and what was worse, they were close. Rowan cradled Connor’s limp body between his arms and pressed on with a vague silhouette of Kuru in the distance to guide him.

He forced himself to run. Connor’s dead weight felt like he’d gained a hundred pounds. The sounds of the infected breaching the hole behind them intensified with every step. The run ended in a collapsed room and sudden dread clung to Rowan as he searched for a way out.

“Here. Up here.”

Rowan spun around at the sound of Kuru’s voice and found him on the floor above. He shined the light at a mound of rock in the near corner.

“Climb!”

Rowan was already on the move. Every muscle in his arms screamed for release. He was sure he would drop Connor at any moment. The moment his foot hit level ground, he turned to find a row of countless figures scowling back at him. Guttural moans gave away their identity. The lantern’s beam highlighted one of them, its guts exposed by a gash below the belly button. The light shifted as Kuru held his hand up.

“Go that way, quickly,” he said.

Rowan ran blindly with a sliver of light to guide him, certain at any moment his strength would fail. The light shifted behind him as Kuru tried to catch up. Rowan reached a split in the hall when recognition struck him. He turned off the main passage, knowing the landing and his freedom were close at hand.