Season Of Decay (The Decaying World Saga Book 2) (21 page)

Another turn exposed a wide ray of light cascading into the hall up ahead. Rowan didn’t look back until the edge of the doorway and the shattered wall was within reach. The lantern light zigzagged through the darkness as Kuru closed in. Rowan stepped across the room and out onto the landing where the immensity of the gorge was thrust into full view.

Connor’s limbs hung lifeless as Rowan stopped. A flurry of movement ended with Rowan’s arms giving out and Connor falling down onto the metal grates. His eyes sprang open as a wave of horrible sounds filtered into the open space. Rowan shoved him into the center of the large flap of material he’d brought down with him.

Kuru slipped into view as the sounds of countless infected flooded the landing. The last of the evening light caught Kuru’s face. The view was an instant reminder of what he truly was and more so, the possibility of what he was capable of doing. Rowan hadn’t forgotten the fear of what Kuru had become. He’d allowed himself to push the thoughts aside for the sake of their mutual needs.

“Get me out of–”

Rowan pulled the edges of the sack up around Connor, muffling off his pleas. He gave the attached rope a yank and the entire contraption lifted off the landing. He wrapped his hand around the ropes and held on as it rose. Kuru spun around and Rowan met his stare. He took one step into the room and Rowan lifted his gun. Rowan kept the gun sight steady on Kuru until he was lifted from view.

21

They walked in a well-spaced line, two by two. Mia kept to the front of the formation with Marcus. Bree and Bale moved in step with her several paces behind. Weapons were at the ready with most of the group choosing to keep the few guns they had holstered.

Silence was the key. Marcus was clear about his beliefs. Mia knew the truth in his warning. Getting caught in a building was far more dangerous than running into the dead or infected out in the open.

Mia found her memories of Cheyenne far less useful than she’d imagined. Her knowledge of the streets didn’t provide much assistance on their approach through the outlands. It was left to Marcus to guide them. Time ticked by at a painfully slow rate as they halted for every distant whisper.

The sun slipped from the sky and took the last bit of warmth with it. Mia pulled her coat tight around her chest and zipped it up. She kept her sword drawn, her eyes shifting between the first row of buildings to the south and the tree line in the north. Marcus was a step ahead of her, holding onto a contraption he called a crossbow. Mia was fascinated by it, although she didn’t fully understand how it worked.

The formation climbed to the highest point of a ridgeline running between the city and the forest then looked down on an extensive open valley. The grass ran off straight ahead of them broken by a wide six-lane highway dotted with the husks of long-forgotten vehicles. The road led directly into the heart of Cheyenne.

“Can you get us there from here?” Marcus asked and his breath rose up above his head.

Mia nodded.

“Not far now,” she said.

Mia led them down the ridge and into the snowy grassland. They met the road as the last of the light vanished and an impressive display of stars took control of the sky. Mia skirted around the vehicles with a heightened sense of anxiety. Moonlit shadows reached out from the edge of the city creating a clear line of demarcation between the grassland and what awaited.

The natural sounds of the valley disappeared the moment they reached the edge of the city. The group came to a stop and gathered in the darkness as they plotted a way forward. Mia kept her eyes on the way ahead. There was movement in the dim light between the first few rows of buildings. The slow, shambling forms reeked of the undead, but it was impossible to be sure.

“We stay out of the buildings,” Marcus said. “We get to the gardens and do what we need to do, that’s it.”

Mia wasn’t certain that getting into the gardens would be as easy as that. She believed a majority of the walls and barricades were in place, but the dead and infected had worked their way inside a long time ago. All they really needed to find out was if the defenses could be repaired in a hurry and if the tribe could make a stand if they needed to.

The people of the Canaan tribe would have the gear and supplies to do the job as long as they could be protected long enough to fix the gaps in the barricades. The move would force them to start over as a tribe, to rebuild everything from the ground up. The thought of it was daunting, but Mia reminded herself that their options were dwindling with each passing moment.

“This way.”

A strange but familiar sensation crept through the back of her mind. She didn’t realize how much she missed Cheyenne. The impression brought with it a sadness that she hadn’t expected. Mia had a longing to see her home. Flashes of memories from the final view were marred with blood and flames.

Mia kept the highway on one side, guiding her to their destination. They moved in quick spurts, highlighted by tense moments of waiting in the dark. The dead were active, but their numbers were few. There was no sign of the infected.

“The next street over,” Mia announced.

They cleared the block and the first glimpse of the gardens opened up before them. Stonewalls ran the length of the complex south and west highlighted by open gateways evenly placed along the border. Several rooftops pierced the campus, hinting at the structures hidden within. One glance revealed the true size of the space and provided hope that a home could be created inside.

Marcus led them up to the wall then down to the nearest gate. One section of the entrance lay on the ground in the middle of the street with the other rusted side hanging onto the edge of the wall by a single clasp. He gave his instructions with silent commands, sending Bale and Bree across the opening for a better view at the interior. They continued the approach until Marcus and Mia were the last pair to enter the complex.

The initial view took Mia by surprise. The interior structures were worse off than she’d imagined, few of them with four standing walls. A number of the roofs were collapsed, leaving the internal space open to the elements. Mia wasn’t sure what she expected, but the scene was disheartening.

They worked their way between a series of small structures to reach the center of the complex. The remains of a wide field spread out on the far side of the buildings, running up to the southern barrier. There wasn’t much to see, but Mia envisioned a sustainable food source. The evidence of planting rows worked across the dirt from east to west.

“There.”

Marcus’ warning pulled everyone’s attention to the largest of the complex structures. The plantation-styled building set against the western wall, overlooking the interior grounds like a watchman. Busted-out windows lined all three stories from one side of the structure to the other. The first sign of movement came from a pair of openings on the second floor. Mia started toward the building before she realized the movements were far too quick to be counted among the dead. The recognition brought her to a stop. She grabbed Bree before the girl could get too far ahead of her then caught Marcus with a hand to the chest.

“If we go in there,” she said, “we might not be able to get back out.”

Marcus spotted the infected trolling the second floor.

“We’re going to have to do some exterminating one way or another,” he said.

His point was valid, but Mia disagreed with the timing.

“Not now,” she said, “not running around in the dark.”

“What more do you need to see?”

Mia wasn’t sure. Her eyes drifted to the skyline along the southern portion of the wall. She couldn’t see them, but she knew the former high-rise home of her tribe was somewhere in the distance. Mia wondered if there was a chance she could bring her people home. Bale interrupted her train of thought.

“I don’t think we’re going to have a choice.”

All eyes were to the main building, and in particular, the double door entrance. The doors had long fallen away and a pair of twitching limbs pulled free from the darkness within the opening. Another figure joined the first, each rushing forward with a piercing cry. Bale released a pair of arrows before Mia brought her sword up in front of her face.

The sound of impact told the value of Bale’s aim with a bow, but neither of the strikes put the lead figure down. Several more infected ran out from the darkness behind the first pair, bringing the count to half a dozen. Mia’s long stride to get out in front was bested by Bree. The young girl quickly placed herself between Mia and their attackers, sided by Bale and two others.

The fight was brutally quick. Mia’s group spread out wide enough that the advancing infected had to focus on one at a time. The formation left them exposed to multiple attacks. Bale led the offensive with another series of arrows, followed closely by one of the other’s bow. There were three infected standing when the hand-to-hand combat began.

Mia didn’t get a good look at the attackers until Bree took a swing at one of them and left an opening for her to move forward. They were scrawny far beyond anything she’d ever seen. Dark, gaunt sockets exposed the haunting golden hue of their eyes, each marked by wild and ferocious blood lust. Unnatural spastic movements produced a horrifying vision.

Bree’s advance put her directly in one of the men’s path. Mia saw the mistake, but couldn’t react fast enough before the two smacked into one another. The force of the impact lifted Bree’s slight frame off the ground, landing with the infected man on top of her. He had one hand on her face and the other around her throat as he bit at her chest. Mia plunged the tip of her sword into the base of his skull as his ghastly teeth tore into Bree’s clothes.

“Get it off me,” Bree screamed as the full weight of the naked man pressed down on her. “Help.”

She managed to roll the limp body off to the side before Mia could get a hand on it. The conflict was over by the time Bree was up and moving again.

“Are you all right?” Mia asked, frantically pulling at her coat. “Were you bit?”

The shock of the question struck Bree all at once and her eyes opened impossibly wide. She patted her hands across her chest, panting wildly. Her hands shook as she stopped, pulling her jacket open. Mia could see through a newly made hole in the shirt to the skin between her breasts. The vision of faint teeth imprints showed no sign of blood. Mia reached out for her and slipped her fingers over the mark.

“It didn’t break the skin,” she said then let out a deep sigh.

It took a moment for the news to break through Bree’s frightened haze. She still had her coat held open when Bale took notice. Mia stepped in front of the girl and pulled at the edges of her jacket.

“She’s all right,” Mia said before taking a head count. “We’re all still here.”

Marcus looked over the bodies littering the edge of the field. He knelt down beside a woman, turned her head to one side then slid his knife into her brain.

“You can bet these aren’t the only infected roaming the main house.”

Mia forced Bree to look at her. “Try to breathe,” she whispered before turning to Marcus. “No one thought the site would be abandoned.” She eyed the wall surrounding the complex, counting the open gates and sizable breaches as she went. “Could we really fit everyone in here?” she asked.

“Will everyone be willing to come with us?” Bree countered.

Mia shook her head. The choices for the Canaan tribe were drying up. They hoped they had several days before the massive undead horde reached the compound, but the army of the Northern Continental Alliance would surround them long before then. Mia knew she rushed away from the compound partly to hide from the decisions that needed to be made, but truth be told, the answers were right in front of her.

Marcus was near the field, digging in the dirt with his knife. He’d found something and worked to uncover it as best he could. Mia went after him with Bree at her side. Marcus motioned at the tubing he’d found buried in the field.

“What is it?” Mia asked.

“Some kind of irrigation system would be my guess.”

Mia knew the word, but not much about its application. Marcus stood up and walked along the edge of the field, stopping every couple of paces to ensure the tubing continued until the plantation building loomed overhead. He let his eyes run the remainder of the distance. He put his hands on his hips as he studied the building from top to bottom.

“I think there’s more here than meets the eye,” he said.

“How so?” Mia asked.

“If there ever was a true irrigation system here,” he surmised, “it would have to be connected to a water source. And that water source,” he paused, “would need some type of power.”

“Like Canaan’s generators?” Mia said.

Marcus shook his head as he turned to face them.

“I doubt it,” he said. “I’d guess it’s something far less sophisticated.” He scratched at the stubble on his chin. “It’d still be beyond what the tribes could have worked out. Probably been here for a long time.”

“But it might still work,” Bree said with a note of optimism. “I mean, some of our people may be able to get it to work.”

“It has to work,” Mia said matter-of-factly, before Marcus had a chance to respond. “We’ll take whatever we can use from the compound and scavenge the surrounding structures for serviceable material.” She settled her sights on Marcus. “If we can avoid the horde, we could settle here and restart.”

The decision brought with it a sizable weight. There was still a persistent hope within the Canaan compound that power would be restored and with it a return to the old world pleasantries most of them had known. A decision to relocate to the gardens would end that hope once and for all. If they gave up the compound now, there was little doubt the commission and the Northern Continental Alliance would reclaim it once the horde moved on. The lingering question in Mia’s mind was if the former commission supporters who elected to remain a part of the Canaan tribe would turn away from the group when they needed them most.

“Mia.”

She heard Marcus, but she was still lost in her thoughts. She couldn’t shake the feeling that everything they’d fought for was about to come crashing down around them.

“Mia?”

Bree grabbed her arm. Mia nodded.

“Let’s get back–”

A brilliant flash of light in the night sky cut her order short. The explosion was far to the south, the source hidden by the towering buildings in the distance. All eyes locked onto the orange afterglow as a nervous silence filled the space between them. Marcus muttered to himself as he took a step away from the others. He was running before Mia realized it. She raced off after him with the sound of the group’s stomping feet echoing behind her.