After Dark (20 page)

Luckily, Jimmy threw an uppercut under my arm that connected with Creed's jaw. Her mouth snapped shut with a sloppy click, bringing me out of my trance, and I followed his uppercut with a hard punch to her gut. Her hands fell off my shoulders, and she stumbled back a step.

“Get
in
!” Jimmy cried.

I whirled around and saw that Miles was halfway into the backseat, so I dove in toward Jimmy's feet. As I did, one of the zompires, possibly Creed, grabbed on to the back of my T-shirt.

In horror movies, there's always that one poor sap who gets dragged into a seething mob of monsters while his friends look on. I kind of always pictured myself more as the smart-alecky hero, rather than the bit-part player who gets eaten halfway through the show, but I had a sinking feeling I was about to become that minor player. I heard my shirt rip a little and hooked my fingers under the front of the seat.

“Get off him!” Jimmy Brooks growled, as the car's engine revved.

Elizabeth floored it, and the tires screeched. Someone else out there latched on to one of my legs. I had a vision of them crunching down on it, and I kicked both legs desperately just as the car shot forward, knocking them away.

My shirt stretched, and there was another rip as the seams around my neck started to give out. Whoever had the other end wasn't letting go, even though we were already flying down Beech Street. The part of the collar that hadn't ripped yet was digging into my neck, and I was slowly being dragged out of the window.

“Faster!” I croaked hoarsely. I could barely breathe anymore, and my grip on the seat was loosening.

Elizabeth shifted gears again. The collar dug even deeper. I closed my eyes. I heard another rip, like a short but powerful fart, and then another.

I groaned. Black dots were popping up in front of me. I was going to pass out.

“Hold on!” Elizabeth yelled. “We're turning!”

Tires squealed so suddenly to the left, I thought the car was going to roll over. I lost my grip on the bottom of the seat and jolted backward a few inches. Jimmy grabbed on to me. “I got you,” he said.

In my mind's eye, I imagined my shirt stretched out twenty or thirty feet behind us, with some determined zompire being dragged along the wet asphalt.

“Hold on!” Elizabeth screamed again, as I grabbed on to the drink console.

For an instant, I thought I was going to lose my grip, but then my shirt whipped off of me with hardly a sound, leaving only the collar, which hung around my neck like an enormous cloth necklace.

“I'm in,” I gasped, finally pulling my legs inside and clambering into the back with Miles.

“Hold on,” Elizabeth said, as we went around a curve in the road.

“What now?” Jimmy asked.

“To the highway,” Miles said.

Rain was pelting in through the open window, splattering my face and chest. Jimmy rolled it up as Elizabeth swerved around another bend in the road.

“We need to go back to the inn,” I said.

“No, no, no, no,” Miles said. “We can't. We barely made it off of Beech Street. I know you want to save your mom, but our first priority should be to get out of Rolling Hills and alert the authorities immediately. We've got a car full of witnesses now, who will verify the existence of a deadly infection spreading through this town.”

“Just drop me off,” I said. “I'll get her, and we'll make it out of here on our own.”

“I don't think that's a good idea,” Jimmy said, but Elizabeth was slowing down.

“I understand if you don't want to stick around. Just drive me back to the inn, and you can run for the hills … or out of the hills, I guess.”

Elizabeth pulled over to the side. She was practically hyperventilating, and her arms were trembling as she gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles. I didn't know what street we were on, but it was lined with big old houses just like all the other side streets in Rolling Hills.

“My dad …” Elizabeth said, her voice shaking. “He was out there with them. What's wrong with him?”

“Ah, well …” I started, not really knowing how I could explain this. Her eyes were welling up with tears, and then Miles cut in.

“We're dealing with an infection,” Miles said matter-of-factly. “It appears to be caused by a parasitic organism that attacks the brain …”

Elizabeth started crying, and I racked my brain for something to say that would make her feel better, but I was coming up empty. There's just no way to put a silver lining on a mind-altering parasitic plague.

“I can't believe I didn't notice it,” Jimmy said. “I was so worried about getting all those stupid graduation announcements in the paper that I didn't notice a zombie outbreak in my own town.”

“They're not zombies,” Miles said.

“Vampires?” Jimmy asked.

“Is my dad a vampire?” Elizabeth asked, her voice rising.

“No,” Miles said quickly. “They just exhibit some of the behaviors that are typically associated with vampirism, like heightened motor skills, increased strength and speed, telepathic communication, and they have fangs. But I wouldn't classify them as vampires, not in the classical sense.”

“Why are they so fast?” Jimmy asked, looking back at Miles.

“I don't know for sure, but I think the invading organism may shut down the body's normal pain responses. So, it drives the host far beyond any normal human limits. It may also tap into regions of the brain that we don't normally use, or don't know how to use properly. But that doesn't matter right now. We're dealing with an epidemic here, people! A real infection that's hurting real people and we have to do something about it! We have to get out of town and tell someone in a position of authority so it doesn't spread beyond the borders of Rolling Hills.”

“Winehurst,” I said, “take me back to the inn. Just drop me off, then you guys can make a run for … what's the nearest town?”

“Hillsboro,” she said.

“Right, make a run for Hillsboro. My mom might not be infected yet, and I'm not a hundred percent certain about Lilith. If Lilith is okay, there's a good chance my mom will be okay. I've got to try.”

“Listen, Charlie, my mom's out there, too,” Miles said, “but we can't risk getting caught. We have to make it to Hillsboro and spread the word.”

“There might be others,” I said. “And besides, if we get my mom, we can pick up the truck, then we can go to your place and pick up your mom, too. We could all get out of town together. Please, Winehurst.”

“The sooner we get word out about this outbreak,” Miles said, talking to Elizabeth, “the sooner they might be able to help the people who are infected, including your dad.”

“I can walk,” I said. “I just don't want to leave her up there.”

Elizabeth sighed and wiped her eyes. “Okay, Charlie. I'll take you back, but you have to promise me one thing: if she's infected, we just leave. You're not going to try to capture her or anything.”

“If she's infected, I wouldn't have a prayer against her anyway. I'll just walk away … actually, I'll probably have to run.”

“I'll go with you,” Jimmy said. “Man, when I run this story, I could land a big-time job, maybe the
New York Times
!”

Miles sighed. “I'm really going to regret this when I'm completely surrounded and about to become one of the infected, but fine, okay, I'm in.”

“All right then,” Elizabeth said and pulled a U-turn. “We're going back to Elm Street.”

Sunday, 9:30 p.m.

I was terrified there would be another mob of zompires waiting for us by the Baxter place, but the road was clear, and the Baxters' house looked as normal as ever. Although, I did make a mental note that their car was not in the driveway.

As we approached the inn, Miles said, “I don't think we should park in the driveway. They'll see us coming, and it's way too easy to get boxed in.”

“It's going to make for a long run,” Jimmy said, “if we're in a rush coming out.”

“They're going to be moving fast,” I said, but Elizabeth was already pulling onto the side of the road, about fifty yards from the inn's driveway.

“Jimmy, Miles, let's move,” I said, as the car came to a stop. “Winehurst, we'll be back ASAP.”

“I'm not staying in the car by myself,” Elizabeth said.

“Someone's got to stay in the car,” Miles said as Jimmy climbed out. “If things get messy, and we can't get back, or if we get infected, then one of us has to get out of town and spread the word.”

“It's going to be dangerous,” I said. “You're probably better off if —”

“I stay behind?” she said sharply. “Listen to me, Choke, I'm not going to bother telling you all the ins and outs of how I arrived on Beech Street and saved your spoiled hiney, but it wasn't because I'm not capable of dealing with dangerous situations.”

“She's right about that,” Jimmy said, pulling the seat forward so that Miles and I could get out. “I'd still be trapped inside The Opal with about thirty other people if it weren't for her.”

“It was a stupid thing to say,” I said, sliding out. “We all go inside together. Besides, people are always splitting up in horror movies, and it never works out. It will be better this way.”

“This is the real world, Charlie,” Miles said, getting out, too, “and we're dealing with a real outbreak of a real infection. I think someone needs to stay behind.”

“You can hang back if you want,” I said.

Miles hesitated, glancing from me to the car and then back at me. “No, you'll need my expertise. I've trained for this type of situation.”

“I'll leave the keys on the seat,” Elizabeth said.

“Good idea,” Miles said. “I seriously doubt we're all going to make it back.”

“That's uplifting,” I said.

“I'm just being realistic.”

“Miles Van Helsing, Realist,” I said.

Jimmy laughed, and the sound cut through the night.

“Miles might be right, though. Look, this is my family. You don't have to do this,” I said, scanning the road. It was pitch-black all around us. “Maybe you should just drop me off and get to Hillsboro.”

“Excellent idea,” Miles said.

“No,” Elizabeth snapped. “We're a team now — we'll stick together.”

“Agreed,” Jimmy said. “If we can escape from them once, we can escape from them again.”

“Don't count on it,” Miles muttered, but he didn't get back in the car.

“Since we're a team, I don't suppose you've got an extra shirt in the trunk?” I asked Elizabeth, pointing at my stretched-out shirt collar. “Although I like the ventilation, I prefer a shirt with a little more … um, material.”

“I think I might have a bikini top in there,” she said.

“Nah, I don't think that's the right look for me.”

“What's the plan? Are we just going to walk through the front door?” Jimmy asked, as we started down the road.

“I think we should approach the house through the woods,” Miles said. “And use the back door as our entry point.”

“Then what?” Elizabeth asked, following Miles across the street and into the woods.

Sunday, 9:35 p.m.

We huddled together, staring out of the trees. The lights were all off inside the inn, and the moon was stuck behind all those rain clouds, so it was shockingly dark. I could still make out Jake's pickup, though, which was parked in front of Mom's truck.

“That's Jake's truck,” I whispered.

“Who?” Jimmy asked.

“Jake Steel, he's helping us out with the renovations. He has four guys in his work crew, and they're all infected. Five, with Johnny,” I said. “Six, if Lilith is infected, too.”

“That's not good,” Jimmy muttered.

“Stick together,” Miles whispered and started out of the trees.

I followed him, with Elizabeth and Jimmy right behind me. We all ran, hunched over, as if getting a little closer to the ground would actually make us harder to see. It's possible it worked, though, because we reached the back door without anyone leaping out at us. But I wasn't taking anything for granted since they might all be patiently waiting for us to come inside.

“It's unlocked,” Miles said, opening the door. He was about to go in when I grabbed his arm.

“Let me go in first,” I whispered, tiptoeing past him.

The shabby little TV room looked no different from when we'd gone in with Hal on Friday night, but the house reeked of fresh paint. Whatever had happened here today, they'd at least started to paint the place.

“Stay sharp,” I said. It was a ridiculous thing to say, but I had to say something, or my mind was going to crack under the pressure.

The others followed me in, trying to step lightly, but no matter how carefully we walked, the hardwood floor creaked. I was grateful for the rain pelting against the roof, which was loud enough to mask some of the creaking and squeaking. Those were the only sounds in the place. Unless you counted the sound of my heart hammering against my ribs. My senses were so heightened from fear and paranoia at that point, I was pretty sure I could hear my fingernails growing.

We crept across the room, inching along, toward the door in the far corner, which was open. I peeked into the dining room and saw that it was empty, except for the chairs and table, which were still covered by white sheets.

“Clear,” I whispered, and we snuck into the dining room, hugging the wall.

The sitting room floor was covered in sheets, and paint cans were stacked in the corner.

“Stay here,” I said. “I'll check across the hall.”

I crept through the sitting room and poked my head into the foyer. I couldn't see anyone in the drawing room, the hallway, on the stairs or on the upstairs landing, but most of the drawing room was hidden from view, and it was pretty dark, so if someone was hiding, I might not see them. For all I knew, Johnny and Jake's men could be lurking in there with the antique dolls, waiting to pounce. But, I told myself, they could also be out for the night, busy infecting people other than my mom.