The Remnants of Yesterday (12 page)

34

THE CREATURES CATAPULTED themselves from the roof, dropping two floors and landing upright on their feet as if it were nothing at all. They padded forward, slow and deliberate. A couple of them broke away and circled behind their prey, blocking the only avenue of escape.

Now the Crazies became agitated, realizing their predicament. They jostled and pushed each other in their haste to retreat, but there was nowhere to go.

For a brief moment, time seemed to stand still. The monsters and Crazies faced each other, a hushed silence falling upon the scene. Even the breeze subsided, dying down to nothing.

And then, as one, the creatures leapt, as if responding to some imperceptible cue. They landed among the Crazies in a fit of snarling and biting and snapping.

I stood temporarily transfixed, my eyes riveted to the bloodbath unfolding before me. The creatures tore into the Crazies until the ground was slick and red, and body parts fell like rain. Here there was an arm, there part of a leg. I wanted to look away, to run and never stop, but like a gawker at a traffic accident I was hooked, at least until I felt a gentle tug on my arm.

“We have to get out of here.” It was Clara speaking, her face twisted with fear and loathing. “Before they turn on us.”

The spell was broken.

“Let’s go.” I pulled the pistol from my belt, released the safety and racked the gun.

We made our way along the corridor, keeping as close to the inner wall as we could, lest we draw any unwanted attention. Behind us the melee continued, the creatures snarling and growling, the Crazies grunting as they were cut down. Although I could not see the action anymore, it didn’t take much to imagine who was winning the fight. Soon, the creatures would finish up with their meal of formerly human nut jobs and come looking for fresh meat. I had no intention of being that meat.

We reached the stairwell and could go no further. Our path was blocked with dressers and box springs dragged from nearby hotel rooms and piled there the previous evening. As one, we set our sights on clearing the way, now heedless of making too much noise given the racket coming from the direction of the road.

We dragged the heavier items, the dressers, out of the way. The lighter stuff, such as box springs and nightstands, we either heaved to one side or pushed forward until they lost their balance and toppled down the steps. Soon, we had a clear passage through the mess, enabling us to make good our escape. We tackled the stairs at such a clip that we risked falling, but none of us had any intention of slowing down. The faster we went, the quicker we removed ourselves from the vicinity of the creatures.

Upon reaching the ground floor, we made a beeline for the fence, our feet pounding the pavement, drumming in syncopated rhythm, as we ran. Had we been a little more cautious, rather than focusing our attention solely on reaching fence, and the comparative safety of the woods, we might have seen the danger skulking near the dumpsters. As it was, we didn’t take notice until it was too late.

35

THE CREATURE HIT CLARA midsection, and together they tumbled to the ground, rolling over and over before coming to rest with Clara on the bottom.

“Shit.” I skidded to a halt and turned in time to see the beast rear up ready for the kill. For a moment I froze, paralyzed, unsure what to do, then I remembered the pistol. I raised it and aimed, squeezing the trigger. The gun bucked, sending a jolt of pain up my arm.

The bullet missed by a mile.

Instead of hitting the target, it whizzed harmlessly right of the mark and thudded into the fence beyond.

Clara screamed, thrusting the tire iron upward to deflect the descending jaws of the beast. It bit down on the metal rod and shook, ripping the weapon from her hands, then tossed it aside with a flick of its head. The tire iron clattered to the ground, useless, out of reach.

I fired again.

This time the bullet smacked home, burying itself into the muscular flesh of the beast’s shoulder. It let out a high-pitched squeal full of pain and anger, then swiveled toward me, releasing Clara as it did so. She scuttled backward, grabbing the tire iron lest the creature turn its attention to her once again.

It didn’t.

Its attention was fully on me now. It took a step forward, then another, flexing the huge talons on its front paws as if warming them up for the kill it surely anticipated. Brown saliva oozed from between bone heavy jaws as it lowered itself and tensed on bulging back legs, ready to attack.

Then it leapt forward.

I fired wildly in the direction of the fast approaching creature until the gun clicked empty, scoring a direct hit by pure luck. A single bullet smashed into the beast’s exposed underside, twisting it around mid-flight. It crashed to the ground and slid for a moment before coming to rest in a heap several feet away.

“Are you alright?” I asked Clara.

She was on her feet now, a trickle of blood running down her face from an inch long gash above her left eye. She lifted her hand to the wound and winced. “Could be better, but I’ll live.”

“Is that thing dead?” Darwin was wide eyed, his face ashen.

“I have no idea.”

“It’s bleeding,” Emily said. “And the blood is black.”

A pool of thick black liquid oozed from the bullet hole, spreading across the ground like an oil spill.

“Come over here.” I motioned to Clara.

She hesitated, her attention on the prone beast.

“Come on.” I reached out to her. “I don’t know if that thing is dead or just stunned. We have to go, now.”

She nodded and skirted around the creature, making sure to keep well away from the curved claws and ferocious jaws. She ran the last few feet, then threw her arms around me and buried her head in my shoulder, weeping softly.

“Uh, guys?” Emily spoke softly, her gaze focused past me toward the motel. “We might have a problem.”

I turned as two more creatures rounded the building, their heads swaying from side to side as if they were following our scent. When they saw us they froze, their gaze moving between the downed beast and us.

I knew their caution wouldn’t last long.

“Go. Run for the fence,” I shouted, taking hold of Clara and propelling her forward. “Find a way through.”

Darwin grabbed Emily’s hand and took flight.

I didn’t need to look back to know the beasts were giving chase. The heavy thud of their feet as they ran was enough.

Darwin and Emily reached the fence line and took hold of the slats, pulling with all their might. The first came off with ease. They discarded it and went to work on the slats on either side.

I turned to face the approaching beasts. They had slowed, splitting up and circling from both sides, keeping low, their bodies stretched out, muscles taut.

“Hurry.” I glanced back toward Darwin.

“This one won’t budge.” He was tugging on the fence.

“Mine’s coming loose,” Emily said as her slat gave way with a groan. She threw it to the ground and immediately turned to the next. “Three of these should be enough of a hole for us to get through.”

“Agreed.” I watched the beasts, sensing their intentions a split second before they attacked.

The creatures arched through the air.

Darwin gave up on the fence and swiveled, scooping up a slat from the ground as he did so, then brought it to bear on the closest creature’s head. The slat broke, crumpling around the beast’s skull in a hail of splinters. The creature’s head snapped sideways and it dropped to the ground, momentarily stunned.

Then he rushed forward, pushing me out of the way and bringing the broken piece of fence up with all his might, impaling the second creature mid-flight. The beast’s momentum forced it down further onto the sharp shard of wood as the slat ripped from Darwin’s grasp.

The beast crumpled to the earth, tongue lolling from its open jaws, eyes glazed over.

“Done.” Emily discarded another slat. “This should be big enough.”

“Just in the nick of time,” I said as three more creatures emerged from the around the side of the motel, their bulbous heads raised as they sniffed the air for our scent. “When you get through the fence run for the trees, and whatever happens, don’t stop.”

36

WE RAN FOR WHAT seemed an eternity, putting as much distance between the creatures and ourselves as possible. I weaved in and out of the trees, pushing deeper into the woods until my legs felt like lead and my lungs screamed for relief. Eventually, able to run no more, I collapsed against a tree trunk, wheezing like an eighty-year-old asthmatic.

Clara flopped down next to me. “Do you think we’re safe?”

“I don’t think they followed us.” We were deep in the woods, and I hadn’t heard any sounds of pursuit. I turned to Darwin. “That was pretty brave, what you did back there.”

“Yeah.” He grimaced, gripping his left side. Blood oozed between his fingers. “I think one of them got me though.”

“Let me see.” Emily pushed past us and pulled his hand aside to reveal a deep gash, the skin sliced clean through to the muscle. “Oh man, it’s pretty deep.”

“I’m fine,” Darwin said. His face told a different story.

“It’s going to need attention before we can travel any further.” She shrugged off her pack and delved into it, bringing out a small red plastic box with a white cross printed on top.

“Where did you get a first aid kit?” Clara asked, her face full of admiration.

“Found it back at the motel, in the office. I thought we might need it, and I was right.” Emily opened it up and took out a small bottle of antiseptic. She turned to Darwin. “This is probably going to hurt a bit.”

“Okay.” He drew a sharp breath and looked away.

Emily opened the bottle and sprayed a good measure of the liquid on the wound.

Darwin let out a small cry of pain, then gritted his teeth. “Christ that hurts.”

“I told you it would sting a bit.”

“Well you lied. It hurts like the devil.”

“Don’t be such a baby.” Emily chastised him.

I exchanged a glance with Clara, surprised at Emily’s sudden take-charge attitude.

“Now what.” Darwin looked down at the open wound, moving his hand to cover it once more.

“Don’t do that.” She slapped his hand away and shot him a withering look. “We have to close it up and dress it or you will get infected.”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Darwin looked miffed.

“With this.” She delved into her pack a second time and came up with a small sewing kit.

“Oh hell no.” Darwin squirmed out of reach and shook his head. “You’re not sticking me with any needles.”

“I am too.” She looked over at us. “Hold him still will you.”

“Are you sure about this?” Clara looked worried.

“I’m sure.” She rooted through the kit until she found the longest needle and held it up, then took a reel of white cotton thread and twisted the end tight with her fingers before deftly threading the eye.

“Wow. You nailed that the first time.” Now Clara looked impressed. “It takes me about fifty tries to thread a needle.”

“My mother taught me how to sew when I was a kid,” Emily said. “Plus I got a little bit lucky.”

“Can’t we wait until we find a doctor?” Darwin looked like he was about to throw up.

“Absolutely. I’m sure there’s a doctor running around here somewhere.” She motioned to us. “Keep him still. If he struggles, I’m likely to stab him instead of fixing him.”

“Got it.” I took a step forward.

“Alright, alright. I’ll keep still and let her mutilate me.” Darwin waved me off. “You don’t need to hold me.”

“Good, now keep still.” Emily took the wound and pinched it together.

“Yow. That hurts.” Darwin exclaimed.

“Yeah, well this is going to hurt a whole lot more before it gets better.” She pushed the needle through the clenched skin until it poked out the other side, and then pulled it all the way, tugging tight. Looping the thread she repeated the procedure, eliciting another whimper from her patient.

“Aren’t you done yet?” Darwin looked miserable. He clenched his fists as she made a third pass.

“Almost there, just a couple more.”

“Well hurry up.”

“Stop rushing me.” She pushed the needle through once more, and then looped the end in a knot, tying under and over. Finally, she took a small pair of scissors from the first aid kit and snipped the thread. “How’s that feel?”

“Done?” Darwin asked, hopeful.

“Done.” She picked a large self-adhesive bandage patch, ripped off the wrappings, and applied it to the sutured wound. “There. I think you’ll live.”

“Thanks for the hearty prognosis.” Darwin touched the bandaged area gingerly. “It feels funny.”

“Just leave it.” Emily packed everything away and slipped it back into her pack. “I’ll dress it again the next time we stop.”

“How did you learn to do that?” I asked.

“I took a year of pre-med before switching majors. I liked the idea of being a medical student more than the practice.” She shouldered her backpack. “At least it finally came in useful.”

“I’ll say.”

“We’ve been here too long,” Clara said. “We can’t take a chance that those things back at the motel followed us.”

“Agreed.” There was no indication that the creatures had given chase once we entered the woods, but I didn’t like the idea of being caught in such a confined area. Plus, the beasts were clearly adept at climbing since they managed to get on the roof of the hotel, which meant they could be above us, in the branches.

“Which way?” Emily looked around. “It all looks the same.”

“I think we came from that direction. It looks kind of familiar.” Now that I thought about it, I had no idea from which direction we had come. We were running blindly, and I took little notice of landmarks or the scenery.

“We’ll nothing looks familiar to me,” Clara said.

“Me either.” Darwin shook his head.

“Great. We’re lost.” Emily leaned against a tree. “Now what do we do?”

“I guess we pick a direction and hope it doesn’t lead us back to the motel.”

“What about the sun?” Darwin suddenly looked hopeful.

“What about it?” I said.

“Well, it sets in the west right?”

“So what?” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“So, the sun always sets over the highway in front of the hotel. The sunlight coming in through the windows almost blinds me in the late afternoon when I’m at the front desk. That means that if we were running away from the motel, out the back, then we were running east.”

“So all we have to do is see where the sun is.”

“Exactly.”

As one, we looked up past the canopy of trees toward the sky, but there was no sun, instead all we found were angry black storm clouds.