The Hunger (Book 2): Consumed (3 page)

A throng of daywalkers surrounding the still-running Cavalier snapped to attention at the cry.  They abandoned the vehicle and shambled toward the lawn.

Two dozen more tore through the screens enclosing the porch.  They tripped over each other, sprawling into the damp grass, crawling across it in unending pursuit.

Cass took the lead, weaving through the tree line.  Brown and Lance followed, their breathing labored.  They stopped at the edge of the water, waving their arms at Eifort.

The soldier stood on the deck of the ship, rifle leaning over her shoulder.  She returned their waves before pressing a button by the bridge, starting the slow process of lowering it.

“Hurry!”  Lance looked back over his shoulder.  Sweat stung his eyes as he watched the daywalkers cross the lawn, crying out as they chased their next meal.

“How many are following you?  I heard a gunshot a few minutes ago.”  Eifort raised a hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun.  “Oh shit!  Get down!”

Lance dropped to a knee and turned around in time to see the nude woman burst through the trees.  Cass kneeled beside him, baskets dropping to the ground, her hand grasping the handle of her axe.  A pained grunt escaped Brown as he got down.  His sweat-soaked shirt clung to his back and chest.

Eifort’s rifle cracked behind them.

A bloody hole punched through the woman’s chest.  She squealed as her waist twisted from the impact, sending her to the ground with a wet thud.

The motor of the drawbridge droned behind them.

Two more infected staggered to the edge of the water on their right, the rocks along the shore slowing their progress.  Eifort dropped them with two shots each, their torsos pocked with exit wounds.

Cass grabbed the baskets again and spun around.  The drawbridge had lowered to head height.  She threw her elbow over the edge and heaved it down, bringing the platform a few inches lower.  The motor whined under the pressure, the end of the bridge wobbling.

When it reached her waist, Cass slid one of her baskets onto it and grabbed the railing, dragging herself onto the platform.  She scooped up the bin as she sprinted toward the boat.

Eifort fired again, clipping a daywalker in the shoulder as it cleared the trees.

“You’re next, Doc!”  Lance grabbed Brown’s shirt and pulled him to his feet.

They ran up the drawbridge as it clanged against the rocks on the shore.  Cass punched the button to raise it again when they hit the halfway point.

Eifort’s rifle clicked as she squeezed the trigger again.  “Damn!  I’m out.”

The bridge bounced as Lance and Brown stepped off it.  It began to rise again, the agonizingly slow progress taunting them as they watched a massive herd of the infected smash through the foliage.

Lance stared in awe as hundreds of victims of the Xavier virus filled the street, lawn, and shore, descending upon the river in a hurricane of madness.  They hadn’t seen a group this large since they’d fled the North Shore, watching as the stadiums drowned in vampires.

Three of them reached the platform as the end hovered six feet above the ground.  Their hands fumbled at the railings and posts, latching onto any surface they could.

The engine protested under their weight, the ascent halting.  Smoke puffed from the pulley system.

Lance tossed the fishing poles to the deck and hit the stop button for the drawbridge.  He grabbed the handle of his knife and slid it out of the sheath, taking a few deep breaths.  Attacking a handful of daywalkers with a small blade made his stomach twist.

“I’ve got this,” Cass said as she stepped past him.  The axe was already in her hands.

“But—”

“No time for chivalry.”

Lance watched as she strode down the platform, meeting the first of the infected halfway.  She buried the head of the axe in its chest, knocking it backwards.  Blood bubbled from its mouth as she tore the blade free and kicked the body into the water.

The next daywalker pulled itself onto the bridge in time to look up at the arcing axe.  Its head bounced into the river, followed by its wriggling body.

Cass stomped on the hands of the last.  Its fingers crunched under her heel.  Unable to maintain its grip with its digits rending in different directions, it fell to the rocky shore, wailing up at Cass.

“Hit it!”  Cass sprinted up the platform as Lance started the engine again.

Hundreds of the infected stormed the shore, splashing knee high into the water.  They grasped at the air, cries of rage and mania filling the morning.  The bridge dangled over their heads as it lifted away, drawing closer to the boat.

Lance peered at Cass as she secured the axe on her back.  His ego still struggled with the fact that she was a much more advanced fighter than he was.  He appreciated her skill and prowess, but hated the fact that she put herself in danger so often.  Whether it was chauvinistic or not, he wanted to protect her rather than having it the other way around.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said.  “That little pig-sticker you have there doesn’t have the range this bad boy does.”  She patted the handle.  “And don’t even give me any of that bullshit about keeping me safe.  Anyone who can’t take care of themselves nowadays won’t last long.”

“I could have handled that,” he said with little conviction.  He knew she was right.  She handled them with ease, whereas he would have struggled with his short knife.  He needed to find a better weapon.

“Who cares—it’s over.”

The shrieks from the beach escalated, making it difficult for them to hear each other.  Doc Brown pointed at the window looking into the dining room inside the boat.  Lance nodded and grabbed the fishing poles, heading into the interior of the Duchess.

Eifort closed the door behind them, muting the wails somewhat.  There were so many of the infected lining the river that nothing short of a vacuum could have insulated their cries entirely.

“I guess our theory about them dying out doesn’t hold up,” Eifort said as she joined them at a round table along the right wall.  “There’s an entire army of them out there.”

Because they hadn’t seen as many of them over the past three days, they’d pondered whether the infected were consolidating in the heart of the city or if they were killing each other for meat.  The mass outside proved both of those ideas wrong.

Perhaps they were all mutating into full-blown Vladdies.  No one wanted to voice that possibility.

Lance and company stayed in the suburbs because of the strip malls and department stores.  Having quick access to a multitude of supplies made their scavenging easier.  At night, the inhuman cries of the vampires still came from all sides, but the boat kept them relatively safe.  If the population of daywalkers wasn’t as thin as they thought, it would only be a matter of time before one of their morning trips got them killed.

“We should move on.”  Brown took one of the baskets from Cass and dumped the contents on the table.

“I agree,” Lance said with a shrug.  “I think we should go to the next safe zone.”

Cass shook her head.  “Why?  The last one we were in went tits up as soon as we got there.”

“But the Greensburg location is still going.  We hear them on the radio every day.”

“So?”

“So we can go there and get some supplies on our way to the mountains.  Maybe some other people will come with us.”

“Some other people who we’ll have to feed and keep safe.  That isn’t so appealing to me.”

Lance stared at her.  “You mean like the doc and Eifort here?  They’re pulling their own weight.  Like me?  You yanked me out of that alley, knowing damn well it could have gotten you killed.”

“It still might if you keep trying to get me to do stupid shit like go to Greensburg.”

Brown popped a pill into his mouth and swallowed it dry.

“What’s that?” Eifort asked.

“Antihistamine.  My allergies are killing me.”

“We risked our lives so you wouldn’t have a runny nose?”  Cass’ eyes narrowed.  “Am I the only one here who doesn’t want to get eaten alive?”

Brown remained as calm as ever.  “We also have painkillers, vitamins, aspirin, penicillin, and a multitude of other antibiotics.”

“Oh.”  Cass relaxed in her chair, though her brow furrowed.  “Ignore me then—I’m being bitchy.”

“Yeah, you are.”  Lance tried to keep a straight face as he watched Cass, but he cracked when her cheeks flushed.  “I’m kidding, relax.”

Eifort slipped her camouflage jacket from her shoulders and draped it over the back of her chair.  She wore a white tank top underneath that showed off her small figure.  Dog tags hung around her neck.

Lance caught Brown giving her a quick look and suppressed a grin.  The doc didn’t talk much about anything other than what they needed to do to survive.  It was good to see him notice something other than how much food or medicine they had left.  The man was human after all. He needed the occasional distraction as much as the rest of them.

“We can’t risk having you go to the shore again, Doc,” Lance said.

“What?  Why?”  Brown gave him a confused look.

“You’re too important.  We can’t chance you getting hurt.”

“I don’t deserve anything more than the rest of you. If you’re going to risk yourselves to gather supplies, then I will too.”

“If one of us gets injured or sick, you’re the only one who knows what to do.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” Cass said.  “You’re too valuable to risk.”

“My life isn’t—”

“I agree,” Eifort said.

“If you don’t like it, you can call Human Resources and complain.”  Lance leaned back in his chair.  “How many doctors are left in the world?”

Brown grumbled for a few more minutes before finally relenting.  He went back to sorting their new stash of drugs.

“I think you need to be his bodyguard,” Lance said to Eifort.  “Keep an eye on him.  It’ll be good for all of us if he keeps on kicking.”

“Sounds like a decent detail.”  Eifort pointed to her rifle, which she’d placed in the corner by the door.  “That was the last of my rounds, by the way.  We need to find something else.”

Lance grimaced.  Other than Cass’ pistol, that was their only ranged weapon.  Eifort’s aim was extraordinary and allowed her to cover them from a distance.  They would need to replace it as soon as possible.

“We’ll grab something on our next trip.”  Cass stood and walked around the table, grabbing Lance by the elbow and pulling him from his chair.

“What?”

“You know what.”

“Again?” Eifort asked, rolling her eyes.  “You guys are doing it like rabbits.  It’s ridiculous.”

Cass winked at her as she led Lance to the upper deck.

––––––––

A
slight breeze cooled Lance’s sweat-covered body.

He lay on his back, watching clouds roll across the sky.  Cass was beside him, her head resting against his chest, his arm draped around her.

“This is definitely the best part about risking our lives a few times a week.”  Lance grunted as she gave him an elbow in the ribs.  “I’m just saying—it is.”

Whenever things went awry for them and they had to run for their lives, Cass brought him up to the roof and ravaged him.  The excitement of so many near-death experiences fired her sex drive up.

He wasn’t complaining.

The last week had more sex in it than the past ten years of his life.

“You aren’t going to get all girlie on me, are you?”  Cass got up and stretched.  Her naked body glistened in the sun.

Lance enjoyed the view, taking in her athletic build and alluring tattoo.  They’d just run from a massive hoard of brain-dead monsters, yet he felt at peace in her presence.  Food, water, and safety would be a concern for them for the rest of their lives, but he was content.

“Nope, I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Good.”  She grabbed her clothes from the deck.  She’d made a new outfit the day before, tearing off the bottom of a brown t-shirt, leaving her tattooed stomach visible.  The sleeves were gone as well.

She’d found a pair of shorts in an abandoned house by the river, which she cut short, exposing her long legs.

Lance laughed at her when she first walked out in her new garb—he just couldn’t help it.  She looked ridiculous and sexy at the same time.  Cass explained that she wanted functional, but he didn’t think having that much skin exposed made a lot of sense.  Scrapes and nicks could turn septic nowadays.

Fortunately, they had a doctor with them.

Cass, of course, wouldn’t listen to anything he said, so he simply enjoyed having her to stare at every day.

“What?”  She looked down at her bare chest.

“Nothing—just watching the show.”

He caught a hint of a grin on her face as she slipped her shirt—or what used to be a shirt—over her head.

“What’s this bullshit about going to Greensburg? We have a good thing going here.  Why would we fuck it up by leaving the boat?”  She pulled her shorts on and fastened her ludicrous belt over the top.

Lance hopped up and got dressed.  “I don’t like being surrounded by those things.”  He pointed to the shore where the daywalkers moped around, occasionally screeching at the boat.

“They can’t get to us.”

“One of these times, we aren’t going to be so lucky when we go scavenge for supplies.”

“But you think trekking to Greensburg is going to keep us safe?  We won’t last the first night once the Vladdies come out.”

Lance watched as the infected snapped at each other and tripped over rocks by the water.  He knew she was right about the safety of the boat, but the idea of spending the rest of his life floating on the Allegheny River didn’t appeal to him.

“We need to move upstream, at least.  There’s too many of them around here for us to risk going ashore again.”

“Are you guys done yet?”  Eifort’s voice floated up from the side of the boat.

Lance chuckled.  He’d come to like Eifort quite a bit.  She didn’t have the attitude or quirks that Cass had, but she was a spitfire in her own right.

“What do you mean?” Cass asked.

“You know... ”

“What do you think we were doing up here?”

“Oh, stop!”